January 2026 — It was time to escape the cold of Minnesota—and the timing couldn’t have been better. We happened to leave during the coldest spell of this winter season.
As always, we had to do a celebratory shot (tequila, of course) at the airport to kick off the beginning of another great, laughter-filled adventure.
We landed in Fort Myers, Florida, with Patty and Steve and headed off to Naples to see Kathy. As a somewhat last-minute addition, Theresa, Amy’s cousin joined us too! One of the not-so-fun parts was waiting in what appeared to be a never-ending line for our rental car. Sadly, the attendants didn’t look too happy. I figured I’d have to give my flirting skills a little extra workout to get us an upgrade… Well, I didn’t get the upgrade, but we did have a really fun experience with the rental attendant. Life is good.
We met up with Kathy in the 5th Avenue area of Naples and headed to our reservation at Aqua Restaurant www.aquafifth.com, a Mediterranean-style seafood and steak place. The food was absolutely amazing, and our waitress, Nina, was fantastic. She is from Montenegro and came here for school, then met her husband (who’s from Wisconsin). Given our personalities, it was no surprise that we had a great time with her. We truly are blessed to connect with people wherever we go. Oddly enough, her husband’s family owns a restaurant in Door County, Wisconsin, called Stock & Lure. She invited us to visit them—perhaps we just created our next adventure. We’ll see! Needless to say, the night was filled with lots of laughs.
The next day, we were off to the Third Avenue farmers market, and it did not disappoint. We walked around for about 2.5 hours, admiring all the fun and unique food options. It felt more like a food fair than a farmers market. We sampled lots of goodies—the girls each had a fresh coconut, and I had a small individual blueberry pie. Yum! It was so good. We picked up paella and a chicken gyro wrap for lunch from the street vendors, then headed to see Kathy’s condo in upper Naples.
Another beautiful day in Naples, with temperatures in the 80s. Since we had dinner reservations at Veranda E, we didn’t want a big excursion, so we headed to the beach to stick our toes in the water and walk along the shore for a while. It was lovely.
Dinner at Veranda E was another amazing experience. It’s a very upscale restaurant located in a boutique hotel called The Escalante www.hotelescalante.com, right in the heart of Naples, and it feels quite exclusive. After dinner, we headed back to the Airbnb for cards and more laughter—and let me tell you, did we laugh!
Next up: Marco Island. It was a remarkably short drive to a beautifully sunny day at the beach. We spent a few hours soaking up the sun, walking along Winterberry Beach, searching for unique shells, and enjoying the perfect weather and each other’s company. Friends from Minnesota had recommended Mango’s Dockside Bistro, and it did not disappoint, offering a wonderful selection of American fare and delicious sushi. It’s amazing how the sun and salty air can completely drain your energy. We were all exhausted after our beach day, so it was a night in with pizza from Twisted Sheep Pizza & Brew www.twistedsheeppizza.com. This local spot focuses on artisanal craft pizzas—simply amazing! We highly recommend it for unique and delicious pies.
It is our last full day, so we made it a good one with an airboat ride through the mangroves of the Everglades at Captain Jack’s Airboat Rides. www.captainjacksairboattours.com Heath was our captain and narrator as we cruised through winding waterways and under mangrove canopies. We were thrilled to see a few alligators swimming around. Heath also recommended trying some local stone crab next door, so after the ride we stopped at Grimm’s Stone Crab Market and enjoyed fresh stone crab straight out of the shell. It was fantastic. Included in our ticket was admission to Wooten’s Everglades Alligator Park, www.wootenseverglades.com where we caught the alligator show and even got to hold a baby alligator. 🐊
Whew—we needed a rest. For our final night, we headed to Tin City for a little shopping for trinkets and T-shirts, then off to The Dock at Crayton Cove for dinner, which was, once again, amazing. www.dockcraytoncove.com
We truly didn’t have a bad meal the entire trip—everything was wonderful.
Time to clean up and head home. Until next time, Naples—we’ll see you again.
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