during the trip, mom kept saying, “well, we aren’t going to see any alligators!” \u00a0because on our first outing to the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, there were listings of the huge variety of wildlife we might see, including alligators. \u00a0we only saw a couple of birds and a turtle. \u00a0there were also signs for alligators other places, and mom was sure that we wouldn’t see any of them, and i guessed she was right, but i didn’t care because my objective in going to naples wasn’t to spot alligators. \u00a0besides giving mom something nice for her big birthday, all i wanted to see was the beach!<\/p>\n
when we got to the entrace at Clam Pass, a guy was manning the ticket booth – this is the first time that happened, it was do it yourself at the other beaches we’d visited. \u00a0he said “and as a bonus, there’s a baby alligator over there on your right as you’re driving in.”<\/p>\n
!<\/p>\n
sure enough, as we drove past the little inlet of water next to the parking lot, there was a little alligator looking at us! \u00a0i don’t know why i didn’t stop to take a picture. \u00a0maybe i was afraid i wouldn’t be able to get mom and wanda all the way out to the beach?<\/p>\n
well, i didn’t. \u00a0but that was ok by me. \u00a0we had to get on a little tram and take a one-mile ride over to the beach. \u00a0when we arrived, there was a big boardwalk area with tables and chairs with cushions, and you could get a really expensive cocktail plus snacks. \u00a0mom and wanda sat down on the boardwalk and i changed into my suit.<\/p>\n
the beach was fabulous. \u00a0because it was later in the day, there weren’t so many people around, and they just kept leaving. it was warm and sunny, and i kept getting in the water and swimming around a little bit and it was mighty cold but refreshing.<\/p>\n
paradise.<\/p>\n
![\"m205\"](\"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/m205.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
after getting in the water quite a few times…<\/p>\n
![\"m206\"](\"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/m206.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
it was a perfect thing to do, on our last day. \u00a0it would have been nice if i’d had some company, but i’ve spent plenty of quality time by myself at the beach – it was my favorite thing to do when i lived in LA, where i’d drive down to the beach and spend hours there just looking out at the water.<\/p>\n
when i first moved to LA, if i’d found an apartment close to the beach – and i do remember finding one, but the guy who had walked into the place right before me took it – i might still be there. \u00a0so it’s all good that that didn’t happen after all!<\/p>\n
we went out for dinner one last time, to the place we’d gone out for lunch on our first day, alice sweetwater’s.<\/p>\n
a good time was had by all.<\/p>\n
here’s our plane, as people disembarked\u00a0in naples. \u00a0i thought it was funny, that big ramp that we had to climb up – actually, because our seats were way in the back, we walked up some stairs in the back, instead. \u00a0the plan was right on time, the ride home was quick, and that’s about all the traveling i’ll be doing for a while.<\/p>\n
![\"m207\"](\"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/m207.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
when we got back to spfld, it was gray and kinda cold, but kevin said “it’s a lot brighter today!” \u00a0and then i didn’t see the sun for five days and kept saying WHY DO WE LIVE HERE?<\/p>\n
but today it’s been sunny and lovely, if a little chilly, but the grass is green, the buds are burstin’ out all over, things are very spring-like.<\/p>\n
ok then,<\/p>\n
mrs. end of march hughes.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
i was doing so well, posting all those photos of our trip…but then life got in the way in a big, big way. \u00a0so many different things going on, all at once, and it’s a little hard to believe it’s friday \u00a0already. our last full day in naples…i told mom and wanda i wanted to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[104],"tags":[205,204,166],"class_list":["post-13058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-florida","tag-alice-sweetwaters-restaurant","tag-clam-pass-beach-naples-fl","tag-naples-fl"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6JLYy-3oC","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13058"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13058\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13063,"href":"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13058\/revisions\/13063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}