An Unusual Trip to Naples, FL

Months ago we planned a trip to Naples, FL for June.  We picked the perfect week to make the 16 hour drive and then as it got closer we had to rearrange it and go a week earlier because of life.  Kevin worked some magic and got things refunded, rebooked and rearranged.  We love heading this far south in the Summer because it's so quiet.  It's not their peak season - that's Fall Break through Spring Break.  And Summer is slower.  Which means less traffic.  Less waiting for dinner.  Less crowds and we love that.

Our week in Naples really was lovely and unusual.  We've been there many times and the weather has always been perfect.  An afternoon storm or two, but that's what you expect in Florida.  This time terms like tropical storm and record rainfall were being thrown around.  It was wild.  It made us nervous to pack up from sunshine and head towards the rain.  We'd wake up to sunshine and blue skies.  Rush to the pool.  It would monsoon for a good portion of the day.  Then everything would clear for a lovely evening swim.

We got to try some new things.  Looked for indoor fun.  And still had a great trip despite only visiting the ocean once, we got to swim every day in very nice pools.  The weather was a bit of a bummer, but I'm still glad we were able to get away.

It was strange to pack umbrellas for our trip!

A perk of all the rain... we saw some stunning rainbows!!

We really did wake up and head straight to the pool until the rain arrived.

We love to shop at Publix when we're at the beach because we don't have them.

We played a lot of games, watched some movies and relaxed.

We picked out some new books at Barnes and Noble.  Which happened to have buckets all over the place catching the record rainfall inside.  We stopped in Target and the parking lot was flooded.

Kevin found a fun arcade called HeadPinz for the kids to keep busy during the days.

We had a delicious dinner at Mr Tequila.

Our condo was up in the trees and had a comfy screened in porch.

I won't complain about this view.  Well maybe when a 6ft black snake slithered across the sidewalk, but we loved the bunnies, lizards and close proximity to the pool.

The rain forced us to try new things.  Like buying a fresh coconut.  Watching youtube videos to learn how to crack it open.  Taste testing.  Then regretting taste testing.  I guess we like coconut in baked goods, but not fresh coconut.

Olive and I snuck away to stroll through HomeGoods that was close by.  We found treasures and a break from the rain.

Naples really does have some amazing flowers and plants.

Paradise!  We never swam with anyone else the entire week we were there.  It was our own private pool.  Amazing!  We have stayed at Lely before and we really love this community.