After a nice breakfast at Naples’ Edgewater Beach Hotel, my husband Robert and I made the 10 minute or so drive back to Third Street for the city’s popular Farmers’ Market.  As mentioned before, Naples is a very, very affluent city so on the way we traveled by one beautifully decorated luxury home after another.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From mid-November through April, the Third Street Framer’s Market is located directly on Third Street between Broad Avenue South  and 13th Avenue South.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This Saturday local event is open from 7:30 am to 11:30 am. We made sure to arrive there pretty early because we were told that by 9:00 am the streets would be filled. Both locals and visitors alike were perusing the wide variety of offerings including gluten-free pasta (which my daughter loved), flowers, jams, relishes, crafts, and tasty dishes including  a huge vat of “Super Paella.”

Marco Island: Then we took the 40 minute drive to Marco Island to meet up with The Dolphin Explorer for a three hour expedition boat ride. Dolphin sightings are prevalent in both Naples and Marco Island, and, in fact, the day before Robert and I were delighted to see three of these amazing creatures swim up and down past the Edgewater.

While waiting at the Marco River Marina for this attraction to begin, I came across something that I hadn’t see before: a “boat garage”.

Yes, this area’s amazing weather obviously permits boats to stay out much longer than here in the Northeast. However, because the salt water there can wreak havoc on these boats, they need to be raised when not in use. In this case, a huge fork lift picks up the boat and places it into its own spot.

Dolphin Explorer: Robert and I enjoyed this experience which involved studying and sighting dolphins. We were joined by other guests from Quebec, Michigan, New York, Florida, and Switzerland, some of whom had visited this attraction multiple times.  Bob McConville, also the owner of Stepping Stone Ecotours LLC, provided a lot of entertaining and informative information including the various ways to differentiate between the more than 200 dolphins that live in these waters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During our trip, we identified quite a few dolphins, and we had fun briefly stopping to explore an island.

Marco Island Marriott Beach Resort: After the dolphin expedition, we drove a very short distance to visit the Marco Island Marriott Beach Resort that has just been upgraded to the JW Marriott level.

Dan Hegarty graciously took us on a tour of the present and future amenities at this expansive luxury property including a new conference center, special spas, stores, as well as several beautiful restaurants.

Robert and I were then lucky to be invited to dine at this Marriott’s newest restaurant, Kane.  As the sun began to set over the beach, we were treated to a fascinating demonstration of some of their more than 40 rum offerings….

as well as their delicious menu items.

 

A fire performance added to this fun experience.

It was then time to head back to the Edgewater for our last night in Naples. The next day, we would be going to the Naples Botanical Garden as well as The Local for lunch.