A Hidden Gem

Naples has lots of surprises within the city limits...a first class botanical garden, a zoo, a historical "old Florida" shopping district and some quiet little parks. Naples is a ritzy town in some ways, with its expensive shopping districts and multimillion dollar homes. It would be easy to spend a LOT of money here in the restaurants and shops. Thankfully, there are lots of places offering reasonable prices, happy hour specials and dinner deals so you can still hobknob with the rich and famous! But then there are wonderful places that don't cost you anything except for the price of gas to get there, or in Sparky's case, a bike ride to Sugden Park off Tamiami Trail in Naples, very close to our RV park.

It's a beautiful park with a short bike/walking trail and beautiful scenery. It also has a beach at the park's own Lake Avon, a 60 acre lake. The park has a great playground for kids and-- a butterfly garden. The first time I rode through today, a whole bunch of ibis were lined up on an observation platform overlooking the lake, about 15 of them. Of course, I didn't bring my camera, thinking I'd just hit the bike trail today and then head home. So I did head back home and get the camera, and of course, they were gone by the time I got back. There are anhingas hanging their wings out to dry, there are a variety of ducks...Here's the beach, which has gazebos for shade and many nice areas for picnics.

It's a beautiful place to spend part of your day and it's free...We LOVE free!

A Nada, Zip, Zero Day

Only in that we went nowhere, did nothing, and sat on our butts! Not even a bike ride today! We did over 12 miles yesterday, so it's ok to sit on our butts for a day. (Or two, or three, or more, says E.) But, to sit on your butt in beautiful, sunny Naples is all right by anyone, we're sure! Especially at Neapolitan Cove, where you feel like you truly are in a resort.

Neapolitan Cove RV Resort

The weather was perfect, very breezy, high of 82 degrees today, but it felt more like 70. We read, we relaxed, Sparky worked on finishing a knitted Christmas gift that better get done in the next couple of days, and before we knew it, the day was gone! So an ultra short blog today.....

This photo is along one of the side street canals in Naples. The water really is this blue sometimes!

I think we're definitely going to go somewhere tomorrow...Wherever that might be, we'll see you there!

Last Minute Ideas for Christmas Gifts!

This is a little out of the ordinary blog topic, but I just ran across a terrific article in Shop Smart magazine, a Consumer Reports division magazine, a great magazine for anyone who likes the straight scoop on products. If you've got all your Christmas shopping done, YOU CAN SKIP THE BLOG TODAY! If you are like me, and still looking, this blog might help you today! The magazine doesn't take ads or free samples. They ran a section in the December 2011 issue for "Feel Good Gifts"--where to buy unforgettable presents for under 50.00. Many of the companies listed have interesting and beautiful gifts--if you buy one, you are helping to promote job and life skills to women, help the environment, and to benefit other wonderful causes. And no, I'm not getting any benefit from telling you this! I just thought this was a really cool way to do some gift giving this year. You can feel good about your gift even if it's never used or gets regifted! You still have time to order something if you want....If not for this year, maybe next! Most of the deadline dates are Dec. 15th and later...Here are just a few examples...I didn't put the links but sure you can find them from the titles...

GreenGlass.com--groovy glassware made from recycled glass..like old soda bottles..order by Dec. 19th, shipping starts at 7.00, and returns can be made 30 days from shipping.

WearYourMusic.org--unisex bracelets made from old guitar and bass strings. Choose a bracelet made from strings from musicians like the Bacon Brothers or Carlos Santana. Ooooooh, that takes me back to my college days! Sales help the musicians' favorite music charities. Order by Dec. 15th, shipping starts at 4.00, returns 30 days from receipt.

Ecoist.com--bags and other items crafted from candy wrappers, old albums and more. The company plants a tree for every bag sold. Order by Dec. 19th, shipping free for orders of 50.00 and more, returns 45 days from purchase.

BeadForLife.org--gorgeous beaded jewelry made from recycled paper. Ugandan women make these, having been trained to start their own businesses. Start up funds are provided by this not-for-profit organization. Order by Dec. 16th, shipping starts at 5.95, returns 30 days from shipping.

OutOfPrintClothing.com--tee shirts that have the covers of classic and sometimes out of print books. For each shirt purchased, the company donates a book to communities in need via another charity organization, Books for Africa. Order by Dec. 15th, shipping starts at 6.00, returns 14 days from receipt.

There are many more to choose from...MirasaDesign.com--purchases of a handmade toy, pillow or clothing help educate girls in India.  Giggle.com is a place to shop for baby, kid toys and essentials. Round up your purchase to the nearest dollar and the change will benefit one of three children's charities.
Vickery.com--a zero-waste recycling policy, so minimal packaging and all recycled...It has everything yoga, beauty products and stationery sets.  OK, how about one more....OrganicBouquet.com--organic flowers grown using sustainable and fair trade practices and packaged with recycled paper and nontoxic ink. The site also sells fruit, chocolate and food baskets. Yum!

And that's just a few from a long list from the magazine...the photos of the products looked great, and I just thought, how cool to buy something that does some good in the world! Wish I had seen it sooner, but I'll watch for it next year. I don't know about you, but as I get older, I think more and more about my footprint I'm leaving in a world that's going downhill in a lot of ways as far as pollution, the environment and toxic chemicals, the way things are manufactured, government waste, the list is endless. I think more and more about all the plastic we use to cook our foods in, the disposable waste I generate because I'm too lazy to wash dishes. (Sparky, that's where I come in!) Yep, Eldo washes dishes, bless his heart, if only Sparky would cook!

I think, with the time I've got left, I think I should try harder to be a little more environmentally responsible! So I thought this was a great article, and I wanted to share it.....Today's photo is from the Everglades, a diminishing water wonderland that's being polluted and damaged from agricultural run off,  competition from human population needs, and because of tampering with Mother Nature. These are the roseate spoonbills that we saw at one of the preserves in the Everglades when we were here last year.....

Aren't they beautiful? One of the most beautiful birds we've seen in our visits to the Florida Everglades....We'll see where we are tomorrow....we don't even know! It's like a throw of the dice...we get up every morning and we say to each other, "Well, what do you want to do today?" Stay tuned......

Beachy Keen!

The beach at Naples is beautiful...white sands....lots of shells to hunt for...We headed down there today a little ways away from the pier where lots of people go to fish. By the way, fishing is free on the pier, you don't need a license to throw a hook out, courtesy of the city of Naples. The entire city is a bird sanctuary, so they have signs not to feed the pelicans, to dispose of your fishing lines responsibly. As we walked along the beach a bit, scouting out a spot to come and spend a good part of the day in the next day or two, I said to Eldy, "Gee, I'd really like to see some dolphins. I wonder where a good viewing point would be for that? Marco Island?" He says, "Oh, I don't know, maybe." And then he shouts out, "Look, over there! I see some!"

And wouldn't you know, we didn't have our camera this morning. We had biked down to the pier and the public beach sites further down the street, and Sparky wasn't planning on seeing anything, just getting a bike ride in. Besides, storm clouds were rolling in and out, threatening rain all day. So she didn't have her camera. Phooey! Eldy's camera phone was too hard to work to try and catch them.

We saw LOTS of dolphins! They were "ripping" through the waves, chasing fish and feeding close to shore. I mean, REALLY close to shore...We saw half a dozen, at least! And then, we both saw a dolphin jump clean out of the water, totally in the air. SPLASH! Back down he came. It was spectacular! We watched as they surfed the waves, chased fish, and went down the gulf towards the pier.    Guess that's the place for dolphin watching, right there at the Naples public beaches  and we're going back more prepared---WITH a camera, WITH a little cabana shelter so Sparky doesn't get burnt, and WITH our beach chairs, and a picnic basket. On the way back from the beach, heading out on our bikes, we saw this guy with a bigger than life Rudolph sitting in the front seat with him. Rudolph rotated around looking back and forth at anybody and everybody who was gawking at him. It was too funny!

As he drove off, we noticed he had Indiana plates on his car. Darn! We would have struck up a conversation with a fellow Hoosier, had we known!

We went back to the beach this afternoon to test out our little cabana shelter today, but didn't stay long at because of the rain coming and going. Eldy went into the water, as he had his bathing suit. The water temperature was 70 degrees! Warm! Of course, when a wave catches you by surprise, it's a little shocking!

No dolphins this afternoon but we're heading back tomorrow...it's supposed to be a nicer day. Maybe we'll see some more! If not, there are always the interesting shore birds to watch....

Show Me the Boats!

Naples has LOTS of Christmas spirit! From the spiral strings of lights encircling all the palms up and down Tamiami Trail, to the light sprays at the top of the palms in downtown Naples on 5th Ave., it's the Christmas season down here, that's for sure!

Tonight was the boat parade...it started at 6:00 PM, but in order to get a good viewing spot, we headed to the Bay Front Bridge area to park ourselves along the rail in front of the harbor and the canal where the boats were going to parade by us. No seats available, unless you manage to come and start drinking and eating early at one of several fine dining establishments in Tin City. We chose to just stand by the dock railing and wait....and wait.....and wait....We started waiting at 4:30 PM, thinking the boat parade started at 5:30 PM. It was 6:00 when the festivities began....By the time the boats began floating by, the crowd was four and five deep at the railing, and our tootsies and backs were tired of standing! But it was well worth the wait!

Last year we saw a yacht dressed in blue lights, with an Elvis impersonator singing with great gusto. This year was a little more tame...very little music championing the holiday season, mainly cool light decorations.  It was amazing to see the yachts turn on a dime at the end where the Bay Front Bridge was, and head back out from where they came....skillful captains maneuvering the ships/yachts/boats was a sight to see! The boat parade lasted about a half an hour. It was great to see the spirit on board everyone's pride and joy......

It was a beautiful evening in Naples...We enjoyed the parade very much....

Reality Check! Florida RV Parks

We're looking, and we're looking hard! And it's depressing! The only bright spot in our day today was having lunch with Karen and Al, (of RV Travels With Karen and Al). We ate at Bert's Bar, in Matlache, near Pine Island. Lots of motorcyles were out front when we pulled up, it's a favorite drinking/eating hole with cycle riders sometimes but not always. This is a little restaurant on the water that looks a little rough and past its prime, but has good food and good memories for me. My mom, who passed away a couple of years ago, loved this place and used to come here with my sister and her husband when they spent some time down here in the winters. I have some great memories of sitting outside by the water having some great laughs with them. Sometimes they even had live entertainment there, we enjoyed that very much. Matlache is a cool little town when it's not under construction...There are little shops on the main road- Pine Island Road- painted all different pastel colors, sometimes you can see dolphins playing in the waters near the bridge.Today, we had a nice lunch out on the water at Bert's and a good conversation with Karen and Al about places in Florida to check out. They lived in Florida for thirty some years, so they know their way around the state.

After lunch, we headed out to see a couple of parks...One of them was Whisper Creek in LaBelle, FL. If you look at their website, it's very nice. You'll notice that there are VERY few shots that show the actual park sites except for one brand new one in a section they are developing. What we saw of the park was the old section and it was VERY depressing--almost all park models and many of them were very old trailer campers from the 60's and 70's added onto to make more of a mobile home for the residents. Sites were parking on grass with concrete patios and they were here and there mixed in with the permanent resident sites. We checked it out because they were offering an internet special of 830.00 a month. Wished I had taken some photos, but we were kind of shocked at the looks of the park, so we left right away...The new section that is being developed looks nice on the website, but we never saw anything that looked like that! They say they have 76 of these new sites on the premises, so that part might be worth checking out for the price. We apparently didn't move far enough into the park to find that new section.

A second park we checked out was Grandma's Grove RV Park, again, in LaBelle. It just wasn't our cup of tea! Here are a couple of photos...From reviews from different sources, people say it's a very friendly place to stay....We didn't check rates for this one...It's just not some place where we'd like to park for a month or more....

The third place we checked out was the River Bend RV resort, a motorcoach only resort, 7 miles west of LaBelle on highway 80. This place was unbelievable! Two clubhouses, zumba and other exercise classes, a restaurant on the premises, beautiful huge pool, pickleball (!) gorgeous huge lots, a "coach" house on every single lot, lots of activities, entertainment, and beautiful landscaping. Oh, yes, and a model TRAIN TRACK under the palm trees by the restaurant. As you might imagine, this is an expensive place. I suppose if you are sitting in one place for more than a month (rates get cheaper as you stay longer), you might be able to justify 1) not using your car much as there is so much to do right there in the park, 2) and not spending money on car and diesel fuel helps make the stay more affordable. Tough call.....here's a link to the site for anyone interested: RiverBend Motorcoach Resort.

Back home we came....to beautiful Naples...tomorrow, the Christmas parade boat show!

Sparky's Got Her Mojo Back!

Actually, it never left...it just gets buried now and then...We're talking Sparky's dancin' mojo! And Sharon, (Sharon and John--Hey Duke) of On the Road of Retirement blogging fame, helped her get it back.

As many in the blogging world have headed south to Florida, it's not surprising to find several of us in the Naples, Fort Myers, and Bonita Springs area...John and Sharon met us today in downtown Naples at a watering hole we like, The Jolly Cricket. We had a great time comparing notes about where we've been, and where in the heck are we going to stay in Florida after this month!? We're both kind of in the same boat, we want to stay in the area, but the prices are going to climb sky high after this month. We're both exploring parks in the area for possibilities to stay in the next couple of months.

After we talked for quite awhile at the Jolly Cricket, we headed for the 5th Avenue music on the streets in downtown Naples...The second Thursday of every month there are crooners, jazz bands, rock and rollers or bluesy club singers giving Naples residents musical treats for free.  We walked the streets and settled in front of a great gal performing with a great voice and a good band backup. The band was called The Sound Shack. The beat really picked up and before long, Sharon and Sparky were dancin' in the streets! Eldo and John had fun watching!

What really made the evening extra special besides meeting new friends was a young man with the fastest moving feet we've seen, and a charming personality to match. His name was James Biggs...and boy, could he dance! He was a treat!  Anybody out there shakin' their booty, James danced with them a bit, even older ladies! He was so good, the crowd clapped each time with appreciation after several dances showing fantastic moves. He played up to the blonde singer, tipping his hat, clutching his heart as though he was swooning, and complementing her music with his fantastic dance moves.

We were all VERY impressed!

James and his fast moving feet!

We had a wonderful time tonight with Sharon and John in beautiful downtown Naples.....

Tomorrow we're headed to Matlache...a really cool, artsy fartsy town to meet some more of our blogging friends, Karen and Al....We'll see you there!