NAPLES

January 21, 2012  Naples, FL USA

Last Monday, Rich and Carol drove from Ft Myers to Ft Lauderdale to visit a few stores that they usually visit during their annual trip to the Ft Lauderdale Boat Show.  While sitting outside of a restaurant having lunch, they saw Jim, Dale and Ashley of SWEET PEA. I had traveled with Sweet Pea in Canada and had last seen them in Ft Myers.  They had crossed Florida using the Okeechobee Waterway and were now staying in Stuart. They traveled to Ft Lauderdale so Ashley could fly home to Boston.  Loopers find each other in all kinds of places.

Rich and Carol walked off to Tin City this afternoon.  Tin City is a shopping district located on the Gordon River waterfront of Naples. The shopping center is on the site of an early twentieth century clam shelling and oyster processing plant.  The tin structures that now house the shops and restaurants are reminiscent of the past.  The district touts the connection between Naples and its rich maritime history that once thrived as the center of the city’s fishing industry.

The processing plants fell into disrepair, but were revived in the 1970s when renovations were made to the original structures, made mostly of wood and sheets of corrugated iron that sat at its location.  The shopping center houses a many unique stores and three waterfront seafood restaurants.

Across the waterway from Tin City a man was cleaning fish and throwing scraps of fish into the water. A flock of pelicans were waiting in the water for the scraps to be thrown. When the man was done he walked away and sea gulls came in to clean the scraps that had been left on the table.  Nothing was going to waste.

On the opposite side of the Rte 41 from where I am tied up the City of Naples has some pretty condo buildings and a recreational water front, the area is called Bay Front.  This is a picture of the buildings.

Rich and Carol told me about this RIVA, an Italian boat that was for sale at the marina I am staying at.  I guess they got attracted by the pretty face.  They told me I did not have to worry, but who knows. Rich may win the lottery!  Since he doesn’t buy tickets, I guess I don’t have to worry too much.