Welcome to the Rueckl Retreat!
Grab a Cocktail...
Get in the Pool...
Relax...
526 Spring Lake Blvd. NW
Port Charlotte, FL 33982
Welcome to the Rueckl Retreat! We hope you will enjoy your stay in our beautiful oasis! The home is a 3Bd/2Ba, 1925 SF home with a private, heated salt water pool. It is located in a quiet neighborhood in SW Florida on the Little Alligator Creek. It is North of Ft. Myers and South of Sarasota.
If you fly into the Punta Gorda Airport, you’ll be “home” in 15 to 20 minutes! We fly on Allegiant Air out of Appleton. We can make the trip from our home in Luxemburg to our home in Port Charlotte in under 6 hours….door to door! You can also fly into Ft. Meyers or Sarasota. Those are around 50 min to an hour ride to the house.
"Peanuts" the local Gator
Birds and other wild life
The Home:
Once inside, you will find ample space to stretch out. The spacious living room/dining room area with a 55” TV will be a great place to relax after a long day of beach combing or shark tooth hunting. The well apportioned kitchen has everything you need to do some cooking (if you are interested in that). On one side of the home, you will find the Master Suite with a king bed and french doors to the pool. The newly remodeled bathroom has a beautiful tiled shower and dual sinks. One closet is reserved as an “owners closet” and is locked. Feel free to use the other one and the dressers.
On the other side of the home, there you will find a den with another TV, 2 additional bedrooms and a second bathroom. One of the bedrooms (The Mint Room) has a large closet and a queen bed. The other (The Yellow Room) is set up with Bunk Beds. The top bunk is a twin and the bottom bunk is a full. As a bonus, there is a trundle (full size) bed that can be pulled out for additional sleeping space. The Bunk Room has another TV and a DVD player.
One sofa in the den is a pull out (Queen). The other sofa (brown one) can also be made into a bed. It will need to be moved slightly forward to set up as a bed. Unzip the arm rests. The seat pulls forward, then the back folds down to make a bed. Extra blankets are in the linen closet. Or inside the black bench in the master bedroom.
We do not subscribe to any cable package, but all of the TVs have a streaming stick on them. Feel free to download any apps you need and log in to your accounts. If you switch to the antennae input, you will get a few “live tv” channels off the air. In the Bunk Room, there is a DVD player you can use.
At the back of the home, you will find the private, heated salt water pool. This is where you can spend your days soaking up the Florida sun. Watch the waterway for all of the various wildlife, including “Peanuts” the local alligator. You will see various birds and maybe even a dolphin or manatee!. The pump and heater will turn on automatically in the morning and off automatically in the afternoon. We can control the heater remotely. We will heat the pool to 85 degrees, but know that if the weather gets very cool, it may not get up to temp. The lights around the pool are controlled by a switch on the cord. Click the button once to turn on, again for “Pulse” mode, again for “Blink” mode, and again for “Strobe” mode. A final click will turn them off. Please be very careful with any glass items around the pool.
There is a bluetooth speaker and a “Music phone” in the laundry room. Feel free to connect to it and use it at the beach (the music phone only works on wifi) or around the pool. There is also a charging station that has cords for android and apple devices.
The ceiling fans are controlled by remote controls. The bedroom lights and fans are also controlled by the remote controls. I have the switches taped in the ON position so just use the remotes to switch lights and fans in the bedrooms. The light for the dock is taped ON. The dock light and green fish light are on a photocell and will come on at dusk and turn off at sunrise. (Check out the green fish light at night)
Spacious Living/Dining Room
Newly remodeled master bath
Our home is your home
Make yourself at home! There is a full sized fridge, oven, microwave, dishwasher, grill and Keurig machine. You can go to a Publix or Winn Dixie to do your grocery shopping. You will find that we have quite a bit of “stuff” in the house. Feel free to use anything you need.
There is a garage door opener in the drawer to the left of the kitchen sink. Feel free to use it during your stay, but PLEASE, please, please make sure to put it back before you leave!
The house is on city water, so it is drinkable out of the faucet. If you use the water through the fridge, it is filtered. We also use the Bria pitcher to have filtered water for the coffee machine or drinking.
Linen closet in the second bathroom has towels, sheets, etc. The washer and dryer are brand new and use only HE detergent. If you need to buy detergent, please only use HE. Again, if you need anything, look around. Don’t be shy! You can use anything you find.
Garbage and recycle bins are in the garage. They need to go out on Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning (they come through by 7 am most times). On your last day, just make sure all of the garbage and recycles from the house are taken out to the bins.
Please do not smoke in the house. There is an ashtray by the grill, so smoking is OK on the pool deck and anywhere outside. ABC Liquor on Tamiami has a really nice humidor with a huge selection of premium cigars.
Please add water to the pool, if needed. The proper fill line is when 2 1/2 rows of tile are under water. Turn the water on and set the timer for 30 minutes. I usually have to add water once per week. The pool girl, Ashley, comes every other Wednesday.
The Bunk Room - Twin over Full with Full Trundle
The "Mint" Room - Queen bed - Walk in closet
Getting around:
There are grocery stores (Publix, WalMart Neighborhood Market or Winn Dixie), fast food, gas stations, etc, within a few miles of the home. Just go out to Hwy 41 and everything is there. I’m going to assume you can use Google and GPS. Wal Mart will deliver anything you need for free. One of our guests ordered ahead of time and their groceries were waiting for them when they got there!
You will probably want to rent a car during your stay, but there are Uber and Lyft drivers around. If you haven’t used Turo, I would suggest checking it out (www.turo.com).
There is also a Public Transit option with limited hours. More info here: https://www.charlottecountyfl.gov/transit/
Places to eat:
Wallys BBQ-excellent BBQ and try the chocolate puff dessert
Celtic Ray – If you buy a hat or t-shirt and then wear it on Monday, they give you some discounts.
Brothers Fish house – hole in the wall but very good fish selection
Gatorz – good bar food. Always something going on – karaoke, live music
The Grill at 1951-Upscale – Live Jazz music every night – One of our favorites!
Chicken Salad Chick-pick up a quart for quick lunches
Farlow’s – Upscale – GREAT selection of different seafood – not your standard grouper or tuna
Twisted Fork-live music all the time – HUGE place with a Harley dealership
Carmellos-upscale
Peace River Seafood
Island Poke’ – it’s like a Subway, but for Poke’ bowls! YUM!
Los Mariachi’s – Authentic Mexican
Perfect Caper
TTs – good bar food/GREAT wings, on the water! Outdoor seating
Laishley’s Crab House – upstairs outdoor seating over a marina
Fisherman’s village – watch the sunset on the beach and shopping. Dinner at Harpoon Harrys or Village Brewhouse
Curry and Kabob- Great Indian food, closeby on Hwy41
Los Mariachis – great Mexican fare
Visani for dinner and a show (we have not tried this, yet).
Gringoninja.com – Bring the restaurant to YOU. Traveling chef to cook for you at the home. Great fun!
The new Sunseekers Resort has multiple dining options – Really beautiful – “food court” is really nice and has many delicious dining options. Plus, several “high end” dining options.
Use Yelp and Tripadvisor for more suggestions.
things to do:
Rent a boat – (941) 217-0168 Rock the Boat Rental https://www.rocktheboatrentals.com/ John and Lea are GREAT to work with, but they will only drop the boat off as far South as Indian Mound Park. That’s great if you want to cruise the Intercoastal or head over to Stump pass for the day. Not so great if you are looking to go to Fisherman’s Village or just run around the harbor. You can rent a day, a week, or more.
Sandbarz Boat Rental (941) 769-1309 https://sandbarzboats.com/ This service will drop off locally. Use them if you want to cruise to Fisherman’s Village or play around on the Peace River/Charlotte Harbor.
Saturday Night Drum Circle – Port Charlotte Beach Park – there’s a drum hanging by the garage door. Take chairs.
Air Boat rides/gator sightseeing – Arcadia https://seminolewindairboattours.com/
https://peacerivercharters.com/
Check out Sunseekers Resort on 41. The “food court” has excellent choices at reasonable prices. They also have several “high end” restaurants
Hunt Iguanas – Call Cam (239) 234-9608 – Lizard Kings https://lizardkings239.com/
Peace River State Park
Myakka State Park
Go to any beach -Casperson, Manasota Key (Blind Pass/Stump Pass) for shark tooth sifting.
Venice Beach
Golf – there is a “Night golf” course on El Jobean
Punta Gorda Farmers market (Sat AM)
Sarasota Farmers Market – about an hour away, but a HUGE farmers market
Flea market – Red Barn in Bradenton or Fleamasters Flea in Ft. Myers
Walk the Boardwalks – Along Sunseekers in PC and along the river on the PG side.
Iguana land
Shark Tooth Hunting – Caspersen Beach or Manasota Key or Stump Pass Beach
Downtown Venice has a bunch of unique shops
Visit Ft. Myers or Sarasota
Fish off the dock (Shrimp in the freezer, pole in the garage)
In the garage on the shelves there are shark tooth screen and sifters (google it), 2 boogie boards, Pickle ball rackets (go to Port Charlotte Beach Park), Sand toysBag chairs/folding chairs
small portable tables
Beach shelter/tent and umbrella
Use any beach bags laying around
Take a cooler
Other information:
Wi-Fi network is “5RuecklsSouth”
Wi-Fi password is 9203603868
Call or text if you have any issues – Bomber (Tom) (920) 360-3868 or Nikki (920) 366-8192
before you leave:
Log out of your apps on the streaming devices.
Strip sheets and pillow cases and put them in the laundry room.
Close all blinds
Lock all exterior doors – Front door, both sets of French doors, sliding doors, and door to pool from second bath (people always forget to check this one!) Put used sheets and towels in the laundry room.
Turn off all lights and fans
Lock everything and leave through garage, using the pad to close the garage door.
Please make sure the garage door opener is in the drawer!