Punta Gorda is a city of about 17,000 on the south shore of Charlotte Harbor in southwest Florida.
The first thing you need to know about Punta Gorda is how to pronounce it. At least until more and more northerners move down and change it, locals call it PUNT A GORDA.
That’s like in the football punt the Florida Gators have had to do too often this season. The town gets its name from the Spanish term for the "fat point" of land where the Peace River meets Charlotte Harbor.