Southwest Florida's Best: Naples Florida

My husband and I live in South Florida and love to enjoy the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean.

We normally vacation in the Florida Keys and love to soak up the sun. When we are in the Keys, we visit the small shops, bars, and state parks.

We wanted to try something different, so we decided to try the west coast of Florida.

We decided to go to Naples in June. We stayed in the amazing Inn on Fifth in Downtown Naples. It was like a piece of heaven! The detail to the decor was top notch. The pool was amazing and I am sure the spa was too but, we didn't have time to visit. The young lady at the front desk upgraded our room to a suite. The room was huge and had a separate room, large plush bed, and included a gorgeous private balcony with comfy large patio chairs.

We did some shopping on 5th Ave, visited Tin City and had Ben and Jerry's at the Village on Venetian Bay.

The Village on Venetian Bay has gorgeous backdrops of the Bay, large homes, and beautiful flowers so don't forget your camera!

The next day we decided to visit the beach. One of the locals told us that there was a beach amongst residential houses that was less than two miles away from our home. The resident said once you see a large black marble slab with water running down it make an immediate right and you will at an amazing beach. This turned out to be about a block or so away from the Village on Venetian Bay!

When my husband and I arrived at this 'no name beach' that had about 20 parking spaces, we were shocked. It was a bright sunny day and only 5 or 6 cars were in the lot! When our toes hit the sand, it was as if it was our very own private beach.

We set up our umbrella and beach chairs and hit the water. No less than 20 minutes had passed, while swimming in the water, something brushes against my arm. I look down and it is a school of small sting rays! I was very excited and scared at the same time! I went further into the water to get away from them but, they were swimming in the area eating the little fish.

I decided that after 4 hours in the hot sun, it was time to sit under the umbrella. My husband decided to do some on shore fishing with his pole and cast net. Little did he know he had some competition. There was a large white heron trying to steal his bait that he caught in the water. My husband caught a mackerel, a lady fish and a huge catfish! The mackerel was very small so since the heron was by his side, he gave him a treat! The beautiful heron ate the mackerel and then flew away.

I was about to close my eyes for an ocean side siesta when my husband is yelling for me to come to the water. I go running down to the shore line to see 3 manatees so close I could touch them swimming by! That was amazing! They looked so peaceful. I could not believe how huge they were. There was so much wildlife in this area!

I have never seen such a unique place and wonderful wildlife like I did in my short 3-day weekend getaway. I have been back to Naples several times since then and still see animals that I have never seen before.

Naples Florida is definitely worth a visit!