The Hatch Gallery, In Charlotte County in Placida A Fertile Family In Design Crafts

P1060199 — **Owner, Jon Hatch had a plan, acted on it and today has a fine crafts and antique business!**

American Press Travel News – April 6th, (Bob’s Birthday) Team Barb and Bob in Charlotte County, “Stopping to Smell the Roses” Visiting the Antiques and craft of Placida’s breeding ground of entrepreneurship! We met up with dad John Hatch and his wife at the old clam farmers shack and purchased by son, John Hatch in 2003. What John did with this was just perfect for a family creative arts and crafts business. Located N.E. of Gasparilla Island, overlooking Gasparilla Sound and next door to The Fishery Restaurant.

The little re-purposed shop, has many fans both in and out of town, wanting much of the crafted items in the shop, for decorating the walls of their high end condo’s and homes. Many of Jon’s and his father’s creations are shipped all over the USA. Who wouldn’t enjoy viewing, what most people would think of as flotsam and jetsam, seeing that same discarded and passed-by-as-junk, become a true piece of cherished art, such as a palm branch turned into a gorgeously crafted croc or alligator that doesn’t bite! Well, at Hatch Gallery you’ll see this and true collectible land and sea antiques as well! Check out their website: www.john-hatch-originals.com and give the Hatch Family a call at: (941)-697-9531

I found some early musky lures and old metal tackle boxes too!

**The Hatch Gallery, once a clam farmers shack, now a place of some gorgeous art and antiques.**

**Jon and a few of his extremely different creations!**

The Fishery Restaurant Was Our Go-To Lunch Place After Fishing

P1060179 — **Paella, full of rice and seafood! A very good rendition of this Cuban dish!**

**Gorgeous wall decor at the Fishery Restaurant!**

P1060182 — **A snapper specialty! Fab tasting dish!**

P1060181 — **Shrimp over a bed of crab cakes! So good, but I had to stop and take home a doggy bag for next days lunch too!**

P1060177 — **From boat to pan at the Fishery!**

P1060166 — **Back yard of the Fishery Restaurant. Come by boat or vehicle!**

**Entrance to the waterfront Fishery Restaurant! Dog- friendly outdoor area. Meals were quite good and Terry got his water and crackers.**

**Outdoor patio of the Fishery Restaurant that is also dog friendly!**

Flats and Light Tackle With Capt. Mike Slattery, Palm Island Outfitters, In Charlotte Harbor

P1060139 — **Captain Mike Slattery in his “sweet spot”**

APtravelnews-April 5th,-Port Charlotte, FL.-Team Bob and Barb “On The Road Again” and Stopping to Smell The Roses”, this time the salt air! We met Captain Mike early morning in Cape Haze, on the bay! Mike took us out for some light tackle fishing and our first fish was a very fat and later on tasty sea trout. Capt. Mike knows his fish and area-he was brought up here and for the past 9-years has been chartering hundreds of days a year. He developed his business at a 4-Star Resort area on Palm Island accessible only by private boat and a neat ferry-barge “back and forth.” Mike is a pet-friendly charter guy and so Terry came along with us during our quest for tight lines and a couple of filet’s which we definitely enjoyed having it cooked up, at the nearby Waterfront Fishery Restaurant. We viewed manatees, bottle nosed dolphin and saw Ospreys carrying their mullet dinners to their nesting fledglings. We ran a bit offshore in the Gulf of Mexico and found a beautiful small Triple-Tale fish to admire and release. A fine sea trout grabbed a bait off the bottom and ate it deep. The 20-inch fish was too damaged to release so it became our luncheon fish filet’s that the Chef at the nearby Fishery Restaurant cooked up for us! Mike told us about how development as in other areas is strictly watched over and enforced to keep the beauty of what has been here for so long doesn’t get degraded as in other areas along Florida’s East and West Coasts. “See all those tree-lined areas, they are water-front, government protected parks. That really helps keep the creep of multi-story and other housing in abatement.” We did feel we were traveling through and by “old Florida” and it was a great feeling to know we were experiencing some of the best of Florida here. Mike in the off fishing season does sea side style furniture with fish and other bayfront style cutouts. Mike also fishes and sets up charters through his Palm Island Outfitters Guiding business, that runs out of Palm Island. A cable TV company run by Captain Mike called Charlotte Harbor Chronicles profiling the best of what the area has to offer. www.charlotteharborchronicles.com and go palmislandoutfitters.com for more information. You can call Captain Mike Slattery by phone at (941) 626-6946

**Standing up high on the console gives the Captain a better view of the fish on the flats!**

**Bringing Terry aboard using a neat harness that supported his weight perfectly!**

**Was cold no Barb is not with child! Several sweaters. This trout was hooked in gills so we took this fish for lunch!**

**We found a Triple Tail and released it! Terry wanted a snack!**

Florida Tracks & Field Bring Parents & Children Together in the Outdoors!

APtravelnews-March 3rd,-Bob & Barb “On The Road Again” this time in Port Charlotte, FL.-After settling in at the Sleep-In & Suites Port Charlotte, we headed over to Florida Tracks & Trails. This new big and little kids outdoor, very interactive attraction, sits on a portion of about 1000-acres, of which many of this original cattle ranch has been turned into tracks and trails for all manner of powered, off trail equipment. Have you ever wondered where all those pick-up trucks are going loaded with 4-wheelers and off-road motor cycles, well wonder no more, we found out where. They are heading for Florida Tracks & Trails in Punta Gorda, Florida. Eddie Lopez Chief Public Safety and Security took us around some of the property and it was a lively and active place. Everywhere we went we saw no cell phones being used by teenagers here. The park according to local business owner who grew up working on the previous properties ranch and cattle farm, is all about family values. Parents and children that play together stay together! This project is ongoing and planned is a large RV park, fee fishing ponds, a zip line, a drag strip, (they already have a helicopter pad). Bob & I felt that watching the children swimming in the crystal clear, beautiful lake with a sandy beach that several Caribbean Nations would envy, was very refreshing, being that whole families were involved together on a fine Sunday afternoon. For more information give a call to 1-844-RIDE-FTT (743-3388)