Today we stopped at historic Tin City in Naples.  Naples was founded in 1886 and in
1887 a 600 ft pier was built and was a hub for economical development and eventually
became the heart of Naples’ fishing industry.  In the 1970's Tin City was transformed
into the colorful shops and restaurants known today and are a great tourist destination.

 

After wandering around the shops we stopped in the Riverwalk Restaurant for dinner,
which has a great view of the water.  There was a storm coming and it was the perfect
place to watch the clouds, the waterway and rain from our table.

This place really gives you of feel of old time Florida!

  

Lately it seems that every time we get an afternoon/evening thunderstorm
we get inundated with tiny tree frogs.

  

It is great to watch them on our windows, you can almost see right through them!

  

We had a fantastic day today with our granddaughter at Billie Corey Air Boats Rides.
It is in the middle of nowhere on Tamiami Trail, (Rt. 41) about a half hour outside
of Naples.

    
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The staff at this facility were very friendly and knowledgeable and let us hold some of
the young alligators they had raised from a babies, they were so cute!

  

The air boat ride was a lot of fun, sometimes going pretty fast through the swamp.  tt was
about 45 minutes long with stops along the way to view the wildlife.
  

   

It is a little freaky having an alligator swim up to your boat and look at you, especially one this big!

  

Looks like this part of the beach is finished!  It looks great and the sand is soft and white!

  

They have now moved on to the next section!

  

This Egret was just hanging out and didn't seem to mind all of the disturbance.

  

It looks completely different out here now and I am sure it will great when its finished.

  

  

   

One of the most incredible experiences of my life!! 

We were walking down the beach and saw some large dark areas in the water that were
moving. We got in the water to see what it was and realized there were about 5 large
Manatee just cruising down the beach!

  

At one point we were surrounded by them, the size of them was overwhelming, but they
were graceful and gentle and just ignored us and kept going.

  

  

  

What a great way to end the day!

I couldn't believe how much progress they have made already and how different it looks!

  


  

  

  

  

This has to be up there on my list of favorite islands and only accessible by a very expensive
ferry ride from Placida or by boat which really keeps the crowds away!

  

The beach is beautiful and the water is almost crystal clear and that amazing shade of blue!

  

This is not an island you come to for the activities and night life.  There is one restaurant on the
island at Palm Island Resort which also has a tiny shop with some supplies.  Aside from that,
you are on your own!

    

We enjoyed getting up in the morning and walking down the beach and seeing how many
new turtle tracks we could spot.  There were so many of them!

  

Of course, the sunsets were spectacular.  I didn't want to leave!

So, here we go again!  More Dredging!  Though it is much different this time.
Hopefully when this project is finished we will have a beautiful,  white sandy beach,
which should be approximately 160 feet wide with new trees and vegetation and a
240 ft rock jetty at the north end of the beach.

There is lots of information about the progress at the Fort Myers Beach website and here are
their frequently asked questions and Information about the project

  

The construction on the Jetty started April 25th and there is a lot of heavy equipment here.

  

This project is desperately needed as there just isn't that much beach left at high tide.

  

We will keep watching to see how it is progressing!

There are signs all over about the Gopher Tortoise in the park but you don't see them too often.
There is a protected fenced area where they borrow and we caught this guy on his way home.

  

I was surprised at how quickly they can move.....