Two nights in Naples

Yep, Friday and Saturday night were spent in Naples at a very nice Best Western hotel with a very nice pool. And nice breakfast :)
The Naples area is really nice. There is a huge touristy-shopping area, shops like on Mackinac Island or in Bayfield only much larger. The streets were beautifully decked out in all manner of green plants and colourful blooming flowers. We walked around a few of the streets and down to the pier, which jutted out probably about a quarter mile into the Gulf of Mexico. The water was really churned up and quite brown looking, and there was a chilly wind but it was just too pretty!
Today we drove north up through Punta Gorda and got a room in Port Charlotte (another La Quinta, I think our next stay is a free night!). It's very busy here, lots of traffic. Of course, it is a weekend and I think it's March break for some schools. After we checked into our room, we drove north again to Venice and Casey Key. We were checking out some places for tomorrow night. Casey Key was a great find, and you could park for free for the beaches. I don't think we'll be staying on the key, but it was a beautiful drive on a beautiful day. We also went to Englewood and over to Manasota Key. Again, pay to park to go to the beach. The Englewood business district was pathetic, many places empty and not much traffic at all. The Venice area is beautiful and we'll probably stay there tomorrow. If you want to find these places on the map, you have to scroll in VERY CLOSELY to find them! I kept wondering how people knew about these places. The keys are similar to St. Pete's Beach area and a lot of the off the mainland beach areas. Some of them are so narrow that one side of the street has beachfront property and the other side of the street has the intercoastal waterway in their yards. Water, water everywhere! This part of the state is very busy again, a big change from the Fort Pierce area but all seems to be more expensive, more of the bigger homes and newer buildings.
OK, time to settle in for the Academy Awards.