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Naples: Luxury on the edge of the
Everglades
Pearly beaches, a wealth of top-notch golf courses, elegant
resorts, cutting-edge restaurants and gorgeous shopping
centers define the appealing escape from work-a-day doldrums
that Naples
volunteers. Like its namesake, Florida’s Naples dresses in
Italian style that reflects in shimmering images from the
plethora of waterways that brings an element of adventure to
its air of privilege and affluence. In fact, one doesn’t
have to wander far from Naples’ storied streets to plunge
into the wildest and rawest of Florida nature in the
Everglades.
 Small
enough to feel neighborly, Naples boasts cultural and social
resources that belie its size. Visitors get their fill of
the arts at the Philharmonic Center for the Arts, home to
Naples Philharmonic and Miami City Ballet; at the impressive
Naples Museum of Art next door; at downtown’s Sugden
Theatre; and in the countless galleries scattered throughout
town. In Naples’ major shopping areas, the art spills out
into the streets, particularly downtown in Old Naples. Fifth
Avenue South is the main drag and it has made a name for
itself with one-of-a-kind shops, hip sidewalk cafés and
clubs, artsy festivals, and a verve that doesn’t stop.
Third Street and the Avenues continues with more of the same
wonderful street life and café society atmosphere. Gallery
Row sells everything from glassworks by emerging artists to
Old Masters. Pockets of shopping and dining glory collect
throughout the town on different waterfronts, such as around
the City Dock, the Waterside Shops at Pelican Bay and at
Venetian Village.
 Just
steps away from the shopping beckon beaches made for basking
leisurely or trolling for seashells. At the municipal beach,
the Naples Pier juts into placid gulf waters, a perfect
place for sunset strolling or daytime casting. Lowdermilk
Beach is family friendly with volleyball and facilities.
Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park remains in its most natural
state, where loggerhead sea turtles nest in the summer and
an observation tower surveys indigenous vegetation. Across
the pass, Lely Barefoot Beach also combines the purposes of
preserving nature and providing beach leisure.
Naples takes its role as nature warden seriously, and you
can learn more about the environment at several attractions,
including the Naples Nature Center, Corkscrew Swamp
Sanctuary, and Rookery Bay Environmental Learning Center.
All three introduce you to the area’s rare and fragile
Everglades-fringe ecology with aquariums, trails, habitat
models and hands-on displays.
At its west coast access, the Everglades encompasses a world
of wetlands, salt and freshwater marshes, and tangled
mangrove islands. Several government refuges and parks
protect the unique ecosystem, the largest being Everglades
National Park, Big Cypress National Preserve, and Ten
Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge.
Marco Island heads the labyrinthine land known as
Ten Thousand Islands and is the largest island of all. It is
made of three communities; the main one,
Marco, is most
well-known for its wide-coved beach and the fine resorts
that line it. It’s also famous for its fishing charters,
which earned it its reputation back in the rough-and-tumble
days of pioneer settlement. At its eastern end,
Goodland seems
frozen in the commercial fishing era, and visitors love to
come here for its funky, casual and sometimes crazy fish
house restaurants. Its fishing charters take you into the
fertile Everglades back waters.
Another place to hire a fishing guide is
Everglades City,
access point for Everglades National Park. Stop in one of
the riverfront fish markets for stone crab at its freshest.
Hop aboard an airboat or swamp buggy to see the Everglades
as the locals do. The national park also offers narrated
tours. Visit the historical museum, which chronicles the
problem-fraught building of the Tamiami Trail across the
‘Glades. Chokoloskee Island,
a causeway drive away, spills more local history at its
Smallwood Store, an old Indian trading post. These old-time
fishing villages are the last vestiges of civilization as
you head across Tamiami Trail, a.k.a. Highway 41.
Park lands surround the towns: Collier-Seminole State Park,
which provides an easy introduction to this sometimes
inhospitable environment; Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve,
where the award-winning book The Orchid Thief and
its spin-off movie Adaptation were set; Florida
Panther National Wildlife Refuge, which protects one of the
state’s most endangered creatures; and Big Cypress, a
massive preserve with back-roading, hunting, canoeing and
hiking opportunities. |
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