Tigertail Beach & Tin City, Naples, May 21, 2018

A vacation is never complete without a trip to Urgent Care. I am happy to report that this time it was to a dental office. Linda Hasson’s tooth was bothering her ever since our flight. Looking up dental offices on our phones, she found one that could see her at 9am. After an X-ray, it turned out that the pressure from the plane caused her aching tooth. Given a prescription for an antibiotic, we then found a Publix with a pharmacy. Our ailing comrade took one and in a short while was feeling much better.

So back to Tigertail Beach. While we knew we could walk there from our condo we thought driving there would shorten our trek. After paying eight dollars to park we soon realized that it really didn’t save us any steps. There were two ways to the beach. One way was to walk all the way back to our condo and walk along the beach, or we could wade through the lagoon. Linda Hasson declared, “I am not going through that smelly lagoon!”, and headed back to our beach. That left the three of us with the dilemma of what to do. Of course Linda P and I opted to forge the lagoon. Deciding not to miss the adventure Janet decided to join us, so off we waded. The water got up to our waists. The lagoon bottom was squishy and uneven. We held our bags high and managed to reach the trail to the beach without falling, a real feat. We were proud ourselves!

A pavilion in Tigertail Lagoon Park with an osprey nest in the background.

Tigertail Lagoon Beach with kayaks, paddle boards, and aqua trikes for rent. We did not try any of these.

Upon reaching Tigertail Beach, Janet did what she loves best – enjoyed the calm Gulf waters.

Linda P. with shell bag ready to begin her quest.

Here is a Shell Tree. Folks hang a shell on to remember special occasions. One couple told me they hung a conch shell to celebrate 40 years of friendship.

I was all set to pick up this beautiful Florida fighting conch shell. Boy was I surprised when this black thing came out and the shell moved. Then it flipped upside down. This was my first experience seeing a “live” shell. I did not take this guy back to our condo.

After a few hours on the beach, Janet, Linda and I headed back the path to the lagoon.

Ready to cross the lagoon again. Not so deep now since it was low tide.

Janet and Linda P crossing the lagoon. They make it look easy!

Here I am following my friends , holding onto my hat, and trying to keep my bag and cell phone from getting wet. Success! I did not fall in!

After cleaning up from our Tigertail lagoon and beach adventure, we went to Tin City in Naples. This is a speciality shopping area along the water front in Naples. It is open air and reminded me of a farmers market. The shops abound in four buildings with restaurants sprinkled in between. We wound up eating at another Pincher’s restaurant right on the waterfront. We topped off our seafood entries with key lime pie, creamy and delicious. Tearing out coupons from a tourist flyer, we got them for free!

This picture of Tin City was on the wall of our condo. The buildings were old, colorful and along the waterfront. The speciality shops were fun to browse, unique and one of a kind. .

Some of the restaurants faced this marina. Linda P captured the beauty of the lighting and reflections in this picture.

Again a fun day, full of firsts. A visit to dentist, paying for an eight dollar parking spot we didn’t really need, crossing a muddy lagoon, finding shell trees and a live Florida conch along the beach, window shopping at Tin City and finishing off the evening with yummy key lime pie! Life is good in Marco Island!