This trip to Naples, Florida would not have happened if it weren't for a little pooch...Solay and the wonderful dog sitter..Harmony. We were fortunate enough to tag along and stay at a great condo/villa with Harmony and the Pooch on a golf course 5 minutes from the beach. "Shut the Front Door!" this is just awesome!
Good nights sleep in this bedroom!
The view outside the Patio
We arrived on Thursday June 2. After getting acquainted with Solay and the Villa, we decided to take a little walking trip with Solay to walgreens then get some grub at a little Italian place in the shopping center. I lied, it wasn't a little walking trip actually...luckily Solay had a stroller haha.
Just in case you didn't get the idea this dog was spoiled already....
My sister is behind the wheel...ruh roh!! ha ha she had a few off roading moments!
A view from our long walk to walgreens...lovin the palm trees!!!
Another view of the golf course next behind the villa's
The next day we had an air boat trip planned. We had about a 45 minute drive, not forgetting the Starbucks run before the journey :o) It was amazing...I hadn't had starbucks in awhile since they do not have one in Jasper. On our Journey, we noticed very interesting signs that made all of us a tad bit uneasy and curious...
Like its not big deal....really? these signs were by neighborhood developments. We originally thought it was a joke, but nope. Apparently you really do have to watch out for these. This was the only panther we ever had contact with....
"Meow"!...haha so threatening!
So, back on track with our air boat trip in the Everglades...when we arrived and sprayed ourselves down with bug spray we spoke to some locals there, mostly small talk about where we are from and then a good location to see alligators right down the road. How can we not pass up an opportunity to see gators later!?
We had decided to wear the shirts that Sam had made us with our nicknames on it, quite talented I loved them! The locals asked us about them as well...Sam "Juggles", Harmony "Hammer Time", Michelle "Skittles", and then I "Frit". At least they got acknowledged and we were able to show them off!
We had decided to wear the shirts that Sam had made us with our nicknames on it, quite talented I loved them! The locals asked us about them as well...Sam "Juggles", Harmony "Hammer Time", Michelle "Skittles", and then I "Frit". At least they got acknowledged and we were able to show them off!
Getting ready for our air boat ride
Harmony, Me, Michelle (my sister), and Sam
The tour guide was fun and the scenery was great. here are a few pictures of our air boat ride....
An old shack on a small island in the middle of the everglades.
We found a boat named Jenny...reminded us of Forest Gump
Some wreckage from the 2005 Hurricane
Now, during this little tour of ours...towards the end, I noticed that my forehead was itching a bit, but didn't think much of it at the time. When we were getting off the boat, my sister looked at me was like "Holy Sh*t!, what happened to your forehead!" uh oh...I had no idea. I had this huge swelled up area smack in the middle of it. Great, apparently the ladies running the counter inside had said it looked like I had been bit by a deer fly. They said the swelling would go down in a few hours. What!? damn fly now I get to look retarded for the next few hours into the evening...In reality, the redness went down however the swelling took a couple days haha.
After that whole thing and being laughed at by the girls for a few minutes, we were able to hold the little baby gator that they had outside their building. I am not sure they named it, but once it gets to a certain size they have to take it back to the alligator farm. Since I had already been bit by a deer fly, why not hold a gator while I was at it.
Us with the Tour Guide
So we all got to hold the little guy, and not to forget the gator scene down the road we were told about. It was only supposed to be 10 minutes down the road. They gave us a little map and everything however, we still managed to travel too far and ended up having to call them. Sure enough we passed it up and we had to turn around and go back. Harmony was determined not to give up, she wanted to see these gators! and here is what we found..
Sam, joining the doggie tradition of sticking her head out the window
Harmony searching for those gators
Gator turd? I dunno, but I stepped in it haha
Yep, its still Friday...not over yet!! On our way back to the villa after leaving the road with all the gators, Sam wanted to stop by this store on the side of the road that allowed you to hug an alligator and take pictures. This gators name was Bobbie, Sam and Harmony couldn't resist experiencing this!
And we were off again..finally back to the villa to get ready to go out for dinner to this restaurant called "Bravo". Another Italian restaurant. Can never get enough Italian!! the buggies were a bit annoying as we sat outside to eat on their patio. We all ordered some Peach Sangrias which were AMAZING!! I probably could have had a few of those, but we all stuck to one and then had to finish off the rest of Michelle's.
Across the way of the restaurant our plan was to go to the Blue Martini. After walking inside and seeing a bar full of 50+ craziness going on....we watched for a little bit laughing at the fact we were actually in there and we were the youngest ones. Just not feeling it, I suggested just going to the beach and watching the sunset and we all agreed to do that instead. Finally being able to stick my toes in the sand, hear the ocean, and smell the tropical air was much more satisfying then a room full of oldies getting their groove on. Not to mention we were all still dressed up from dinner.
We all couldn't stop laughing in the process of getting the best picture of us in the sand
What a great way to the end the Friday Evening
We had gone to the grocery store "Publix" down the street from the villa to grab some bug anti-itch topical stuff and some food to grub on at the beach for the next two days. I must say the people in Florida are so friendly and everyone has a great sense of humor, they have to especially with us 4 hanging around causing havoc and joining in on it with us. We had a Cuban produce guy that couldn't help but hit on my sister...."Are you Italian?" lol, then he goes off on how he can speak 5 languages including Italian and starts speaking to us in Italian. At any rate, we got him to cut our watermelon for us so we didn't have to :o) In some conversation with him and Harm since his accent was so thick she was making fun of him..."are you cereal? haha... then as we were checking out, the register lady and bag guy where joking around with us as well. Good times!
Cold Stone was also right next door....couldn't resist some ice-cream!
I do not know why I had no idea these little tools existed, but for first time I saw what a melon scooper looked like and let me say this....best freaking thing invented ever!!! My sister was putting together watermelon balls for us to take with us on the beach. I think this is the best way to eat a watermelon and I am going to get me one of these tools!
I'm glad I didn't have to get used to a time change since Jasper is on Eastern time along with Florida. I was ready for bed at my normal time! A fun day, yet it was only the end of Friday and I couldn't wait to spend the next two days at the beach. The mornings were gorgeous, we sat on the patio and had a little breakfast before getting ready for the days events. The weather was on our side every step of the way. 90's for the entire week we were going to be there and nothing but sunshine to go along with it.
It was now Saturday,our first full day at the beach. We were starting off at the pier and then heading to the local spot where we went and saw the sunset. The water was a turquoise blue and the sand pure white. The ocean here was calm. At the pier, tons of people stood off to the side with their fishing poles and gear hoping for that one good catch of the day. We were just hoping to see the dolphins which Harmony had spoke of.
If you made it this far reading...kudos to you. I know this is a long one, but hopefully its worth the read!
On our drive to the beach we went through some neighborhoods. The houses were immaculate. I could not imagining owning something so large, but they sure were fun to look at and wonder what the inside would be like and what types of people live there, obviously rich ones, but what they would be like more or less.
Must be the life eh?
We found the perfect set up for our beach spot and great parking too! We had an umbrella, a couple chairs, and beach pong! The water felt like bath water probably around 80 degrees. We walked up and down the beach for a bit as I was on the hunt for sea shells and we also found this amazing hermit crab, the color of the shell was out of this world. I was glad I had my good camera at my side. It was just a peaceful day being in the sun with the girls and playing beach pong.
Places like this are gentle reminders of how much beauty is really in the world to enjoy
We left the beach that late afternoon. It was time to get ready and head out for dinner again. We decided to go by the pier where all the main shopping and a few restaurants were at. We parked along the main street and as we got out we had to go into this pet store called "Pucci and Catana" which if anyone ever wants to spoil there dogs with tons of bling, this is the place to be lol. We decided to eat at Cafe Luna, another Italian place haha. I shared some spaghetti with my sister :o)
We were hoping to catch the sunset at the pier, but by the time we finished and paid for dinner we ended up missing the sunset. It didn't stop us from enjoying the beach once again...especially Sam with her yoga/ninja skills.
On our way back to the car in front of a large home after Sam skipped her way down the sidewalk to Miley Cyrus
Couldn't resist a pic with the lizard
Heading back to the car we stopped in the yogurt shop, much like a PinkBerry that is back at home however with this place, you get to dispense your own yogurt and they only charge you per pound. They had many flavors too and I was able to mix a couple :o) Mmmmm. The car ride home back to the villa was a whole other experience...
Speaking of the rental car..or was it the driver..? blowing stop lights was almost a daily highlight haha!
Sunday Fun-Day!!! Another full day at the beach was in order! This time, we had to switch up our beach spot as the local spot since the parking was full. We were closer to the hotels and it was a little more busy on the beach but we found a clearing in the sand, turned up some music, and got our tan on again. We spent a lot of time in the water lounging around on the floats and playing beach pong again. As my sister and I were floating about, someone had my camera....a certain individual was the highlight, little did he know LOL!
Sunday Fun-Day!!! Another full day at the beach was in order! This time, we had to switch up our beach spot as the local spot since the parking was full. We were closer to the hotels and it was a little more busy on the beach but we found a clearing in the sand, turned up some music, and got our tan on again. We spent a lot of time in the water lounging around on the floats and playing beach pong again. As my sister and I were floating about, someone had my camera....a certain individual was the highlight, little did he know LOL!
Before I knew it, we were sunned out and it became my last night in Naples, Florida. We went to eat dinner at Tommy Bahamas and they had live music. This guy was singing some great tunes! we were really enjoying it.
Across the street we saw a Rolls Royce and we wanted to keep our eye on it because we wanted to see who got in the car when they left lol. While were taking a picture we lost track of the car, and never really did find that out :o(
Time to try and catch the sunset again! I wanted to get the sunset at the pier and we were not far from there so after dinner we decided to walk there. We were all wearing our shirts that Sam had made for us so we could get a picture with them in the sunset with all of us. Unfortunately it was partly cloudy so the sunset was not as great as I had hoped, but we got some great pictures anyway of all of us.
This place is just breathtaking. I would have no problem having a view of the ocean like this everyday. So, the sun finally went down and we wanted to go back to Tommy Bahamas, listen to music, and have a couple drinks to end the night. We gave the bartender Jeff a hard time, he warmed up to us quickly :o) The front patio turned into a little dance floor and we couldn't help ourselves but join the party with a group of 50-60 year olds who actually knew how to have a good time! Conga line and everything went through the restaurant and this kid was getting down with us as well. It was just a fun moment!
I couldn't have thought of a better way to end the vacation. I honestly did not want to come home. Partly because I knew when I got back I would have to get back to work as well as come home to an empty place again without my Cliffy Cakes, this vacation allowed me to ignore that for a few days and it was so nice to spend some time with my sister as well.
And then it was Monday....we wound up scrambling to get everything ready because I had forgotten to get sand when were at the beach so we needed to make a pit stop before the airport. We had our last group picture with Solay and headed to the beach. My sister and I ran our from the car with two plastic baggies and scooped up the sand (we kinda got scolded by some beach patrol, but ask us if we cared?), ran back to the car, and we were on our way in no time!
Goodbye Florida! and Thanks girls for such a FANTASTIC adventure! Lets do it again!!
