Luretta Wilson needs one last goodbye.
Damage from Hurricane Milton was just too much for her iconic Bokeelia restaurant overlooking Charlotte Harbor.
“I haven’t seen it yet,” Luretta said late Friday from Kentucky, before taking a plane back to the island on Saturday. “I’m coming back. My kids don’t want me to, but it’s my decision. ( Capt’n Con’s ) has been my baby for a long time and I really want to see it.”
Still recovering from Hurricane Helene’s floodwaters two weeks ago, the historic waterfront restaurant couldn’t withstand Milton’s wrath.
“We are done,” Rachel Wilson, Luretta’s youngest daughter, said. “We won’t even bother after this. We lost the whole front dining room. The front porch, the kitchen is all messed up. The last (security camera) photo I saw, water was past the foot ramp.”
The ramp is gone too, some of it pushed into the building along with sand and mud. A glimpse inside the blown-out windows showed interior fixtures, appliances, mugs, plates, and provisions haphazardly stacked against the surviving back wall.