Category: Family

We had our 4-day weekend in Naples, Florida and it was everything I hoped it would be! It was full of beautiful weather, lots of delicious food, all the splishing-splashing you could want, and thrifting. What more could I ask for in an impromptu Mother’s Day weekend trip?

We love staying in houses rather than hotels (I typically book through either VRBO or AirBNB) and the house we rented for this trip was in the North Naples area. It had three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, laundry and the most gorgeous private lanai with a pool and hot tub.

We rented the house FOR that pool situation and planned on spending the majority of our time there. And we did!

In fact, we didn’t even go to the beach. I KNOW. CRAZY. But having your own private oasis in your backyard was too much of a treat… why would we want to be around other people?

So, what did we do?

ALL the pool time

We were basically in and out of the pool all day long. They had four pool lounge chairs in the shallow water, a couple float chairs, boogie boards and assorted pool toys to play with. Outside the pool was a picnic table, a seating area with an outdoor sofa and also two lounge chairs.

At one point, a game was devised where you have to sit in a float chair and catch a pool toy in a bucket from one side of the pool to the other. I mean, COME ON, this is what core memories are made from! The pool and hot tub had some fantastic LED lights, so every night we had a before-bed pool dance party in the dark. It was absolute heaven.

Lots of yummy food

We stopped at the nearby grocery store to stock up the house with bottled waters and snacks. We also impulse bought a lemon icing pound cake from Trader Joes that was pretty fantastic with some fresh strawberries for breakfast one day.

As for local restaurants, our favorites were: Joe’s Diner for breakfast, Turco Tacos, Michaelbob’s for BBQ, and Kilwins for ice cream.

And some thrifting

We hit up a bunch of the local Goodwill stores and one of the St. Matthew’s House thrift stores. We were actually shocked at how many Goodwills were in the area and I think we must have gone to at least 5 of them! According to Jack, the kid’s toys/games offerings were lackluster, but he did end up with a Nerf gun, a cool deck of cards and a keyboard fidget. I also found a few winners, which I will be sharing with you all in my May Thrift Haul post.

As for Travis… he scored! Because Naples is such a golf course area, he found so many pairs of nice shorts in perfect condition, as well as multiple polo shirts, a couple nice t-shirts and two hats. Believe me when I say the man has fully caught the thrifting bug now. We had to zip open our suitcases to make them a couple inches larger in order to fit all of his treasures inside for the plane ride home!

Our 4-day weekend was so relaxing and I loved every minute of it. It was exactly what we needed and we came home relaxed, refreshed, and just a little sun kissed.

And yes, we will absolutely be returning again – to the same house – and next time we plan to check out some of the local beaches. Maybe.

Oops, I did it again… I planned another trip. In my defense, the kiddo has a random day off school and my husband has been running himself ragged at work – so why NOT take a 4-day weekend away? I also found a pretty awesome travel deal, so basically, I put together the pricing info, called my husband and asked his thoughts on planning a long weekend and he basically interrupted to me to yell BOOK IT! Because that’s how we roll.

Anyways, due to a plane fare sale, some money sitting in my Southwest rewards account and a reasonable VRBO rental… we’re going to Naples, Florida! {And yes, I can’t say the word Florida without singing it like Taylor Swift and Florence Welch}

The house we rented looks absolutely amazing with its own private pool, hot tub and lanai. So, we are planning to spend a lot of time relaxing there.

Here is what is on our possible *adventure* list:

• I heard that the thrifting in the Naples area is very, very good… so I plan to venture out at some point. Specific store recommendations are welcome!
• Stop by Sun Harvest in Ft. Myers, because apparently their orange juices are super delicious
• Bonita Springs Beach & Coconut Jacks for lunch or dinner
• Lovers Key Beach & rent kayaks
• Vanderbilt Beach
• Delnor-Wiggins State Park
• Bonita Springs Public Beach

I am certainly looking for places to eat in the area, so if you have a favorite be sure to let me know!