this saturday i made my first trip out to the west side of florida to a small town called naples. naples lies on the other side of what is called “alligator alley”. you may scoff at the name but from what i understand; yes virginia, there are alligators along the side of the road. my voyage across this long stretch of paved land, much like the beautiful savannas of africa…only with more water and fewer rhinoceros, was actually very eventful
florida is the only state that is more flat than kansas (or as they say in arkansas: “kan-SAW”). from the time i merged onto the 75 west (alligator alley) till about the half way mark i could see the everglades for miles and miles which consisted of nothing but sawgrass and plenty of water. in the distance ahead of me i could see a nasty thunderstorm. unfortunately for me, i was rapidly approaching it.
the rain came down in sheets. i went from a cruising speed of 85mph (no officer i was really doing 70) to 30 and maintained that speed for about 20 miles or so of the 87 mile long toll way.
picture taken at great risk with my camera phone.
see if you can find the truck in front of me.
think of it as a live action where’s waldo.
much of the journey to naples was very pretty and i saw parts of this state that i have never seen before with the possible exception of old flipper episodes when i was a kid. yes they actually do use air boats out here and i did see plenty of those out on the glades. ok, well three to be exact, but that is three more than i have seen in actual use in my life time. i found it difficult to see anything as i was trying to keep my eyes on this dangerous road known for it’s fatalities and numerous accidents; evidence of which i spotted along the way with road side “death markers” that frequently dot the florida road ways. i think i lost count around 25 or so as i was getting near the storm and wished to keep my mind and eyes on the road and not wishing to add my name to the list of gravestones on the roadside.
i got into naples in good condition and none the worse for wear. at first i didnt know which exit to take. the directions i wrote down from our good friends at google stated to exit pine ridge. unfortunately, nothing in florida is ever really labeled as well as that. i went into zen mode and i felt the first exit i came to where my ’spidey sense’ went off was the right one.
spidey sense: 1
florida roads: 0
i was worried for a little bit as none of the intersections had any street signs for the road i was on. it was awfully nice for them to put up ones for the other roads, so i really shouldnt have expected much more than that. after all who am i? i didnt live here so therefore i wasnt worthy enough for moderately helpful signage.
i managed to reach my friend gwen’s house fairly easy. the directions i wrote down from google were straight forward and the street names were actually posted. after a few minutes of reassuring her dog that i was kosher, we took off to eat as i was famished. she knew of this place near by that she hadnt been to yet but had heard raves about it. she managed to take me to the only pizza place that had chicago style pizza. something i hadnt had since bj’s in laguna. let me tell you the pizza out here is good. i will say that, but 95% of the time it is a new york style. new york is good, but i dont want it all the time. my best friend, carole ann, has been awesome at finding me a few other places that serve other styles. i know its been tough because there are not many out here that are different.
after gwen and i finished the very good chicago pizza, we stepped out into the storm that raged its way over. yes the same storm that hindered my way here. i do love the rain, in fact one might say i am only happy when it rains. my electronic, digital camera, however, is none too thrilled by it. we quickly jumped into her car and made our way to the beach to take pictures for the eat.sleep.work art show. yes i know it was raining, but its florida give it a half hour. it will change by then.
naples was very pretty. it vaguely reminded me of naples and belmont shores in long beach. only a bit more upscale and newer. there was a hint of newport beach mixed in all of it when you get towards the shops. the beach was fairly secluded. only a few dozen or so people were about. much of the rain had passed by the time my foot touched the sand. i took some pictures of the wild life and scenery. the day was rather gray and not inducive to good outdoor photography. i did manage to get some interesting pictures before we left for starbucks.
after much coffee consumption and conversation with the copious collection of customers and baristas, i decided to make my way back to the east side of florida. it was full dark by the time i found the on ramp to alligator alley. nature provided some ‘in-flight’ entertainment in the form of a distant lighting storm. it was very beautiful, full of illuminated purples and blues.
i enjoyed my time in naples. the people were very friendly and the sites were something to behold, though there was little in the entertainment value. i would love to go back when it wasnt raining and perhaps when i dont have an art project to finish and worry about.
~adieu
