We originally planned to go to Cancun during this time, using our Vistana Vacation Club points. One of the Covid variants, however, was very contagious and a couple of months before we were to leave, we decided we really didn’t want to end up in a Mexican hospital. We canceled Cancun… again… and decided to drive down to Naples instead. We visited Naples back in 2015 when we went to Marco Island, but we didn’t get much of a chance to explore it. Madeline was recovering from knee surgery still, so this was a more relaxing vacation than normal.

Naples anniversary: 02/26/2022—03/02/2022

On Saturday, we took off and traveled towards Naples, but checked out Sanibel and Captiva first. We then made it to Naples, checked into our hotel, and made reservations downtown. After dinner, we walked the lovely streets of Naples.

On Sunday, we spent some time at a naturist resort. That afternoon, we drove to Naples Pier, where we saw a shark in the water and lots of people enjoying the sun. We ended that day eating at another fine restaurant.

The next day, we found Everglades Wonder Garden. It was less of a garden and more of a bird sanctuary. There were some lovely flamingos, though, and a beautiful white peacock. We also saw a colorful golden pheasant. It wasn’t a big place, so we finished and went to lunch.

 

 

Afterwards, we wet to Lovers Key State Park. They had a nice trail out to the water’s edge, where we watched people have fun on the beach. Along the trail, we saw a few gopher tortoises buried in the sand.

When Madeline told Arlene Walrath that we were going to Naples, she suggested we book The Turtle Club for our anniversary. She said it was pricey and sold out fast, so we went online and the only day they had available was the day before our anniversary. That was fine, because we absolutely loved the food and the view of the sunset. It was fitting to keep with the turtle theme of the day.

On our actual anniversary, we went to the Naples Botanical Garden. This was a huge place and had a number of different areas, including the beautiful Brazilian Garden, the purple-clad Caribbean Garden with Stickwork, the Asian Garden, the walk around the Nature Preserve, and the Orchid Garden.

We hiked around the Briggs Boardwalk later in the day before going to dinner with some old friends from Chicago, Vic & Mary, who now live in Naples most of the time. It was a very nice, long weekend to celebrate our 36th Anniversary.