Florida Fodorites, What Parts of Florida on the West Coast Are Okay?
 

Patrick, OO, TG, Jayne, Joan, Scarlett, and anyone else that I've missed, what parts of the West Coast of Florida are up and ready for visitors?

The reason I ask is that living in a tourist area that has been hit by hurricanes, tourist don't know which areas are okay and skirt entire areas. I know tourism is big business so what towns are going to need the tourists?

I'm ready to shell out my tourist dollars in addition to my Red Cross monies.

Pinellas County beaches are fine. Including, St. Pete, So. Pasadena, Pass-A-Grille, Treasure Island, Madeira Beach, Redington Shores, Redington Beach, Indian Shores, Indian Rocks Beach, Belleair Beach, Sand Key, and Clearwater Beach.
We were on a birthday party in the Gulf on the Pirate Ship in Clearwater Beach on Sunday morning.

The news media is already so advising potential travellers. As they report, the Tampa area escaped, but parts south along the coast were devastated. Suggest you refer people to their weather sites for up to date data.

GoTravel...I'm so glad you are fine. I was <i>really</i> worried about you when I saw the track up the SC coast!! Our daughter's in-laws live in Beaufort (Ladys Island)...what is the word on that area, do you know? They are right on the water.

This area of FL is just fine, Clearwater/St. Pete/Sarasota, etc, all is well. Thank heavens. We drove around yesterday just saying over and over again, &quot;we are so lucky, we are so lucky&quot;.

My husband spoke with the Hyatt Coconut Point (Bonita Springs) and miraculously, even they are OK, which was a great surprise. We were assuming that they would have had tremendous destruction there, but they too were lucky.

I've heard terrible things about Captiva of course, but as it's just rumor at this point, (one boat captain down there speaking to a boat captain up here) it's best to leave that. It's safe to assume that nothing there will be up and running anytime soon.

Orlando has problems, but it is spotty--good areas and some not so good. There are problems with gas there today. We had a delivery coming from the West Marine warehouse in Orlando today, but they say there is no gas from there to Daytona so they aren't making the trips.

All is well in much of FL's west coast so, &quot;come on down&quot;!

GoTravel,

Anna Maria et.al. had unboarded and most instances back in business by Saturday morning and some were even open Friday night. Same for the Sarasota barrier islands from Siesta north. Around the Englewood area I would check in first.

Add the areas south of Ft. Myers to the list of OK places. Naples,Vanderbilt Beach, and Bonita areas escaped major damage. Yesterday power was returned to most or perhaps all of the beachfront in Naples. Other than some landscape clean-up within a few days everything will be pretty much back to normal. Surprisingly areas of Naples are still without power, but that is expected to be corrected today or tomorrow at the latest.

Sanibel is without power and water. I think LMFoodie is in the Ft. Myers area - has anyone heard from her? My parents are next to Anna Maria Island in Manatee County and they said everything was fine there. Up here in Tampa, we really dodged a bullet. No damage whatsoever, except for the people walking on the beach on Saturday morning who got struck by lightning. (St Pete's beach) One man died, the other three were OK. We were experiencing the leftover storms from Charley and they decided to walk on the beach. I'll tell you, the lightening around here is scary. I've heard that Tampa is a derivative of an Indian word meaning &quot;sticks of fire.&quot; I can see why.

Yes, LilMsFoodie checked out on one of the other threads (maybe on the Europe board). She's fine and no damage to their home. Like others, she's busy out doing good deeds for others.

I'm so glad to hear she's OK. Thanks for the update!

OO, the storm came in way north of us around Georgetown, SC and zoomed up the coast. Speaking to the realtor that handles our rentals on Pawleys Island, it was moving so fast, the Grand Strand suffered minimal damage. Mostly power outages, downed limbs, etc.

The weirdest thing is that we lost power for a while and it didn't come in anywhere near us!?!

Thank goodness we had a battery powered radio.

BTW Patrick, great tip about the phone. Never thought of that.

The reason I posted this question is when all of this starts to settle down and people have the chance to get back to normal, an influx of tourist money will help.

Wonder whether an influx of tourists help or hinder now. The poor residents needs time to get on their feet financially and emotionally, and that could take one, two, maybe more years. When were the areas hurt by andrew ready for business, anyone know? If people wnat to spend their dollars to help Fl, Red Cross is the first place to look.

From the noon news reports today, Sanibel, Captiva, Ft. Myers Beach, Pine Island are not open. Not even residents are allowed at these locations. Ft. Myers in general has limited power with more getting power everyday.

Englewood and Venice are fine. The only thing that might be tricky is finding motel/hotel vacancies as many displaced are filling up the rooms.

Blacktie, as I stated earlier, I was in an area hit by Hurricane Hugo in the 80s.

I am not suggesting people head into Punta Gorda for vacation but there are surrounding areas that were untouched that rely heavily on tourism.

One or two years would financially ruin a place.

When tourists don't visit a vacation destination, attractions and restaurants shut down, people lose jobs, other businesses suffer because those in the hospitality business can't spend money they don't have, yadda, yadda.

Example, Disney delayed the opening of the Pop Century Resort for two years after the September 11th attacks because people stopped traveling.

I just spoke on the cell phone to my niece and great niece driving down to return to college in Miami. Last night they started looking for a motel along I-75 at the Georgia-Florida border and gave up after about 20 tries. They ended up spending the night in the car in a rest area. So yes, motels are full -- even much further north that expected. Interestingly enough, they mentioned that at the 7-11 they stopped at in way north Florida there was no ice for the drinks. They said it had all been shipped to Punta Gorda.

Sent post too soon.

The areas that weren't effected need to get people back to them. People may think that the Tampa/St. Pete area needs some time to regroup when what they need are tourists spending money.

I'm in Sarasota but inland. Sarasota is fine. While I was putting away my breakables on Thurs, I started packing for my move. Thankful I still have a house to sell next month. Anyone looking for a 'reasonably priced' home in Sarasota 10 mins to beach - mine will be for sale!! Not due to Charley but due to graduate school and plans to move to Santa Fe.

GoTravel, lovely idea! The Yankee and I already have plans to go to Tampa in September. We have already sent our checks out to the Red Cross and the Humane Society, I like the idea of tourist dollars helping too.
Even if one is nearby (as we are) and goes out to dinner a few times, every little bit helps.
Patrick, how is your Mom? I bet she (and you) were so happy that you were back from your trip .. moms need their boys around sometimes :)

I had just agreed to purchase a lot of land in Punta Gorda and was going to the bank today. As fate would have it,might have to put it off for a while. Values may drop a bit in the next few months in that part of Southwest Florida.

Sorry, Patrick, but wouldn't have tarried and responded if I'd known the discussion had headed south, LOL. Just let me end saying please understand that all of us do care, and our prayers and thoughts are with FL, every area. Happy your area was not hit. Stay well.

Patrick, I hate to assume anything so will ask, do you know how Marco is? Are they up and running?

There are many areas that have been untouched, with the exception of emotional bruising caused by the scare. Sometimes keeping busy is the quickest route to a cure, and certainly staying away from those areas that came through unscathed can do nothing but cause more harm to an economy dependent on tourism. To quote a passage from <u>Reading Lolita in Tehran</u>, &quot;Be Seeing You in Fabulous Florida. Things Go Better with Sunshine!&quot;