Naples

 

I guess I’m a once a month blogger. I know I should be writing more often but I never feel like it. It’s the 2nd week of February and we are in Key West. That’s a long journey from our last post in Cayo Costa,  We eased down the west coast of Florida into the 10,000 islands and the Everglades. Hardest part about not writing more frequently is remembering all the details.

When we left Cayo Costa we went to Ding Darling were we waited out the weather. It was blowing and we never dropped the dinghy or got off the boat. Hunkered down wondering when Florida got so cold in the winter. LOL My Dad reminded me that we had some winter vacations in Longboat that were also cold, many years ago. 

After leaving Ding Darling we cruised to Naples. Naples was interesting from start to finish! We had heard there was Red Tide in Naples and as soon as we entered the channel we both started coughing. Then we were going to anchor next to the Municipal Marina. Only thing is we got there and it was crowded with sailboats and a couple of small cruisers. We don’t swing on anchor the same as sailboats. I was skeptical that it would be a good spot for us but the Captain wanted to try. Nope! Not enough room for us in the first spot we tried. Then in the second spot we tried too shallow. I quickly found us another anchorage however, we didn’t know the way in over the shallow water and had to wiggle back out of there. OK, onto the third anchorage. It was further from the municipal marina but we needed to find some place to anchor. So we went back up the harbor and anchored in “Naples - 3.” It was a small cove, protected from all directions and in the backyard of million dollar homes. Literally, I could see what they were watching on TV. 

Our neighbors!

The next morning we took Zoom back to the 2nd anchorage and sounded out the depths, made ourselves a track and moved Seaquel to a better anchorage. This one had homes on one side and mangroves on the other side. It was peaceful, starry and a couple of locals visited to talk to us about our boat. Oh and the great loop harbor hosts found us also. Lovely couple who looped twice and then sold their big boat and bought a house in Naples and a pretty center console boat. They suggested we dinghy up the creek to Celebration Park for food trucks, a bar and music which we did later in the week. 

Sunset in our Naples Anchorage

Celebration Park, Brr it was cold, 

My overall impression of Naples was that it was a very fancy area with a very fancy attitude! We did rent a car for 3 days which enabled us to run the usual errands of Home Depot, Publix, Trader Joe’s  and West Marine! We also checked out Marco Island which was lovely and had lunch with Mick, a guy Eddie knows from the Trawler Forums and turned out to be the guy we helped to catch his mooring ball in Sarasota. Mick is also who we had supplies delivered to for repair projects. He turned us onto a lovely French restaurant. Interesting guy headed to the Dominican Republic on his boat next time he cruises. 

We also went to the Naples Farmer’s Market, walked 5th avenue and looked in art galleries, walked to the beach and fell in love with the local coffee.

Augusta Esquivel, Girl with the Button Earring, 2019, Shank and Sewing Buttons, monofilament & acrylic

On our walk to the beach. Cool fig tree. 

Meanwhile, Eddie’s back is still acting up. He is using salon pas and CBD lotion and forced rest. I am the dinghy captain so he can stand up and hold a line, using his legs as shock absorbers if we hit a wake so it’s not jarring his poor SI joint. Fun times this aging stuff is. NOT!

Visited the Snook Inn on Marco Island where we ate a picnic overlooking the water. 

Eddie’s next ride.........

Enough of Naples, All packages delivered, we are well provisioned. Off we go to the 10,000 Island area. It is our first trip into the Gulf of Mexico and we were grateful that it was like a lake. 

The water was calm and the air was cold! All layered up!