Bye-Bye Naples, Here Comes St. Pete's Beach

Our was our site at Neopolitan Cove

We leave Wednesday for St. Pete's Beach. We had no idea that we would love Neopolitan Cove and Naples as much as we did, or we would have stayed longer....the managers here are super friendly and super helpful. It's like being with family here. When I did a little Tastefully Simple snack party one day, they chatted it up, put up flyers for me, and encouraged people to come, and they did. The party was much more successful thanks to them. Thanks to Wilma, Janine and Ralph for making our stay so wonderful! When we left, Wilma gave me some homemade granola! Yum!

Our patio "screen"

We're going to miss a lot of things here...the beautiful flowers, especially all the hibiscus that bloom so easily here, the beautiful city, all of it clean and beautifully landscaped no matter where you go in Naples, the great temperatures for this time of year, low to mid seventies....the beaches (although we didn't spend much time at them), Sugden Park just down a couple of blocks with its nice bike path all around its own Lake Avalon....and it has its own beaches! We're going to miss the great food--Ron's Pizza downtown old Naples (REALLY good pizza), El Rincon, some of the best Mexican food I've ever eaten--tacos served with salsa and chips, pica de gallo, rice, and refried beans all for $9.00 for a great lunch--located in a tiny little restaurant on 41 close to Airport Pulling Road. We're going to miss the alligators (yes, really!), the Everglades, and Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. I'm going to miss my little knit shop I discovered that's a block from the Neopolitan Cove. I ended up going there three days in a row to get help with some knitting projects and to learn some new techniques. The ladies in there wear their hand knitted creations every single day. I started going just to see what they had knitted and were wearing.....there's so much more to see in this beautiful city...we'll be back definitely!

Corn tortilla tacos at El Rincon, the best!

Knitting with Nancy shop on highway 41 next to Neopolitan Cove

what you see at along the Lake Avalon bike trail at Sugden Park, in the city!

Kelly's Shell Shop, by Tin City

It's five o'clock in Naples, says Eldo

Cambier Park, Naples

"I hear some music, where is it?"

Great acoustics!

I saw an advertisement for a big band concert at the downtown Cambier Park in Naples today, so after doing my laundry this afternoon, I headed off on my bike to see what that was like...it was a beautiful but cool day for most Floridians....most people had on windbreakers, long pants, and sweaters. But since I'm not acclimated to Florida heat, it was a balmy day for me---shorts, short sleeve T shirt and sandals were what I had on. If I lived here all the time, eventually my body would think that 60 degrees with a fairly stiff wind blowing like today was CHILLY, but I thought it was very comfortable! The concert had a great turnout, I would say at least a couple hundred people came out today in the middle of this beautiful afternoon to hear the concert band play....it was great! I love big band music..one of my favorites played today was "String of Pearls". Here are some photos of the concert goers today: I'll bet the people in the bottom photo are not from Naples! They are dressed like me!

beautiful setting

"I'd rather be chasing squirrels"

z-z-z-z-z-z-z

Gotta LUV Florida

Neopolitan Cove, Naples, FL

I messed up on my posts somehow and got the same one two days in a row..sorry about that! We are at the Neopolitan Cove RV resort and campground in Naples, on Tamiama Trail, highway 41...now we are back to staying at a little more expensive place, but hey, this is Florida, and it's early snowbird season. The rate is 325.00  for a week. They do have a cheaper rate, $230.00 a week, but for that rate, you are parked sideways against a stone wall right up against highway 41, with no grass or trees except across the parking lot. Nah, don't think we'll do that...although I seriously considered it. After doing a LOT of saving money by staying at corps of engineer parks and using Passport America, we are treating ourselves to a special place for two weeks. It's beautiful here, the sites are close but palm trees and hibiscus and azaeleas separate you from your neighbor. They have a nice clubhouse with free continental breakfast every morning, you can wash your car and RV on site, the managers running the place are SUPER friendly, and you can walk across or down the street to many mini shopping malls. Not only that, but there are bike paths to get around, even all the way into downtown Naples, which has a GORGEOUS "5th Avenue" historic shopping district. You can bike safely for miles....I'm a happy camper!  We are 15 miles from Marco Island, 40 miles from For Myers, and 275 miles from Key West. I've never been to Key West, so we might go exploring there one of these days....

Look what we saw this morning right out our window! A flock of 10 ibis (ibises?)...they were so funny! It rained last night, so the bugs were out, and here come these birds digging for insects. Ever see one of them feed? It's like a bunch of mini jackhammers! Their heads are bobbing so fast and drilling into the ground with their long curved beaks so fast, it looks like they are jackhammering for their food. RAT-A-TAT-TAT! They covered the ground around our RV in about two minutes, then wandered off. One of them came back, and it's almost like he said to the others, "Hey, guys! Wait a minute--you missed some!" And back they all came right back in front of our living room window again, jackhammering away. Finally, they got their fill, and off they went again...hilarious to watch!

We took it easy today on Eldy...after all that driving yesterday, he needed the rest! I did laundry and vacuumed with the central vac..one of the things we got fixed while at General a couple of weeks ago. They ordered the RIGHT vac hose and connectors, and......EUREKA!! (nope, Red Devil)...it works and works great...the hose stretches all the way from the back of the coach, 40 feet to the front, and IT DOESN'T FALL OUT OF THE CONNECTION HOLE!! Woo-hoo!...doesn't take much to make me happy! Then Eldy got me a real broom today for sweeping up the sand we have been tracking in. I've been using a little whisk broom to sweep the kitchen/living room tile...that's too hard on the ole back...so now I'm a REALLY happy camper...don't know what tomorrow holds in store, we are having fun looking over all the "welcome to Naples" stuff, coupons, and the brochures. I've got my heart set on kayaking either around Marco Island to see some manatees, or somewhere in the Everglades, but THAT trip to the Everglades for kayaking is expensive...over a hundred dollars...at any rate, got to do the dreaded swim suit shopping expedition in the next two weeks, too...might leave Eldy home for that one and don't ask for photos!...(I don't want to him to hear me whine about trying to find a suit that fits!)  See you later......