Naples Botanical Garden Light Show

Well, this will be the final Florida post before we venture back to New England daytrips and jaunts.  Our last night in Naples we visited the Botanical Garden for the annual light show.  It was better than we hoped for, a beautiful exhibit that needs to be experienced to be fully appreciate.  There were a lot of mosquitos, although as usual they really only bothered the girls and not me.

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Vanderbilt Beach, Naples FL

Ok, not in the New England area, but it is January, and we just returned from vacationing in Florida, so the next several weeks will feature some sites we visited while on vacation.  So, take a break from the dreary and gray New England skies for some warm locations.  Here are some sunset pictures taken at Vanderbilt Beach in Naples, FL.

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The Infamous Walden Pond

Now, I have been to Walden Pond in the past.  In fact I swam across it on a few occasions to prepare for triathlons.  However, I was not prepared for the modernization of Walden Pond!!  It is like a city, with massive parking lots and crowds you’d expect to see on a street in NYC!  You can even shop at Walden Pond now!!  I feel like Thoreau would run fast and furious from this, dare I say it, “tourist trap”.  We literally had to endure pedestrian traffic jams, with people dragging strollers through the wooded paths and take photos on 12 inch iPads.  Seriously, who hikes with large iPads?  However, the pond was pretty, but with the recent changes I’m not likely to return, it has lost it’s appeal!  The huge neon sign directing traffic should have tipped me off!

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