Hurricane Charley and a road trip years earlier...

Carmine

Old Man with a Hat
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I don't know why they don't call it "Charlie", but they don't. I know a lot of people here are in Florida, so you might find this amusing... Or horrifying.

Anyway, when I brought up that old picture of my '72 Charger to show the canopy vinyl top, it reminded me of the 18-hour-blast road trip I made back on Christmas Eve '96 or '97. My girlfriend and I left my family's big dago Christmas party in Michigan around 11 pm and drove straight down to Punta Gorda, Florida to surprise-visit my grandparents on Christmas Day. My then-girlfriend is cleaning the windshield in Georgia.

Car performed without a hitch (although we hit a HUGE snow/ice storm on the way back.. That was not fun at all). Anyway, these are the only pics I have scanned into digital. I'm sure others exist somewhere. As a fan of architecture, I took a picture of the big sign, which was pretty outdated even in the late 90s. The actual Publix was a pretty cool 50s relic itself.

When Charley hit years later, (2004?) I went down to help my grandparents sort through their wrecked house. Actually, there wasn't much damage, but they were just condemning everything and my grandparents just wanted to be done with it. That was the first time they ever seemed "old" to me, and they were never the same afterwards. I'm sure seeing what the storm did to them is a big part of my anti-Florida/pro-Arizona bias.

A few years later, my grandmother having passed, we took my grandfather down again to try and cheer him up, let him see some friends down there, etc. While I was there, I wanted to see if the big sign survived. Neither it, nor the store were there. Just the remains of the parking lot. It was fairly depressing for me.

Anyways, that was something that happened.

72charger-1.jpg


PuntaChrager2.jpg


PuntaChrager.jpg


SU1HMDA2ODYuanBn.jpg
 
I love seeing vintage stuff like this. Proves they are just cars at the end of the day. Thanks for sharing!

What I have always believed in. They are an inanimate object. Appreciate them. Don't live and swear by them.

The ability to use them for their intended purpose has always been one of the reasons I've never been in the "build an unstreetable hot-rod" crowd. A one time, '71+ B-bodies were almost as unloved and worthless as C's. I've done MANY a cross-county trip in 60s/70s Mopars, so that's why I tend to be so dismissive of people who think you can't use them as vehicles.
 
I understand completely if they are nice to keep them nice. But you only live once...I am at peace with the world behind the wheel of my Mopars. I'd hate to grow old and not have a license anymore and be like damn...why did I keep it in the garage all them years...
 
Charley was a M'er F'er of a storm. I think the damage to the state would have been much bigger if it wasn't clipping along at 30+mph...

Punta Gorda would have needed a serious cleanup from almost any hurricane strength storm... too old and not hit hard by anything for so long... but it sucks that it impacted them in that way.

Had it hit Tampa, as originally predicted, the damages would still be highlighted on TV (think Andrew footage).

If you're going to live on the coast, buy really good insurance and don't be shy about bugging out early.
 
I hope to have a nice big road trip with one of my cars this year, I just had my first out of state trip last year, now I want more.
 
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Was that Publix near the harbor between the north and south Rt41? My mother in law lives in PG and we went down after the hurricane too. I remember that plaza was pretty well destroyed, there was a gas station/repair shop in there too, the building was gone but there was still a car on the lift.
florida-punta-gorda-hurricane-charley-damage-destruction-business-A7PD0F.jpg
 
Was that Publix near the harbor between the north and south Rt41? My mother in law lives in PG and we went down after the hurricane too. I remember that plaza was pretty well destroyed, there was a gas station/repair shop in there too, the building was gone but there was still a car on the lift.View attachment 269783

Yes it was.
51e867e106db53f0f72c3320368b9017--publix-supermarkets-chevron-signs.jpg

The car on the lift is crazy.

I'd never seen so much destruction. You don't realize how many light poles there are until they're all folded down across the road.
 
Yes it was.
View attachment 269789
The car on the lift is crazy.

I'd never seen so much destruction. You don't realize how many light poles there are until they're all folded down across the road.

It was amazing, we flew in at night to Fort Meyers and PG was a big black hole with no lights. When we went home a few days later you'd see all the blue tarps on roofs. Some of that area is still empty but it's used for fairs/bazaars and other events. There's a convention center and couple new hotels there now too.
 
I don't know why they don't call it "Charlie", but they don't. I know a lot of people here are in Florida, so you might find this amusing... Or horrifying.

Anyway, when I brought up that old picture of my '72 Charger to show the canopy vinyl top, it reminded me of the 18-hour-blast road trip I made back on Christmas Eve '96 or '97. My girlfriend and I left my family's big dago Christmas party in Michigan around 11 pm and drove straight down to Punta Gorda, Florida to surprise-visit my grandparents on Christmas Day. My then-girlfriend is cleaning the windshield in Georgia.

Car performed without a hitch (although we hit a HUGE snow/ice storm on the way back.. That was not fun at all). Anyway, these are the only pics I have scanned into digital. I'm sure others exist somewhere. As a fan of architecture, I took a picture of the big sign, which was pretty outdated even in the late 90s. The actual Publix was a pretty cool 50s relic itself.

When Charley hit years later, (2004?) I went down to help my grandparents sort through their wrecked house. Actually, there wasn't much damage, but they were just condemning everything and my grandparents just wanted to be done with it. That was the first time they ever seemed "old" to me, and they were never the same afterwards. I'm sure seeing what the storm did to them is a big part of my anti-Florida/pro-Arizona bias.

A few years later, my grandmother having passed, we took my grandfather down again to try and cheer him up, let him see some friends down there, etc. While I was there, I wanted to see if the big sign survived. Neither it, nor the store were there. Just the remains of the parking lot. It was fairly depressing for me.

Anyways, that was something that happened.

View attachment 269700

View attachment 269701

View attachment 269702

View attachment 269703


That lot aint there anymore either. There's hotel up now. And one going in across the harbor. People here are pissed off about it. I look at it as dollar bills and either the town grows or it dies.
 
Was that Publix near the harbor between the north and south Rt41? My mother in law lives in PG and we went down after the hurricane too. I remember that plaza was pretty well destroyed, there was a gas station/repair shop in there too, the building was gone but there was still a car on the lift.View attachment 269783
Rotary... that should be in their advertising... and whoever anchored that one did it right.

Kinda funny how that time and place links to so many of us.
 
Rotary... that should be in their advertising... and whoever anchored that one did it right.

Kinda funny how that time and place links to so many of us.
I think there was a post awhile back about someone looking for lift recommendations, hope they saw that.
 
That lot aint there anymore either. There's hotel up now. And one going in across the harbor. People here are pissed off about it. I look at it as dollar bills and either the town grows or it dies.

Agree, we've owned here since 11 and come down for winters since 16 and every year traffic increases. March is definitely the worst but I've been here is the summer months and it isn't much better.
 
The 12 Hours of Sebring ended today and that signals the great migration Northward. As expected, the worst it has ever been. I have never seen so many $80,000.00 trucks with Ontario plates in my life. I'm talking megacab longbeds driven by 80 year old ladies! With Handicap placards, of course. They sure can climb in and out of the 2 ft. off the ground cabs with no problem though. Hosers. :mob: :soapbox:.
My personal pet peeve. When genuinely immobile people can't get a space.
 
You're lucky the snowbirds are leaving already. In AZ we cant get them on the road until spring training is over.
 
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