We figured we better check out as many beaches as we could so they could get the full Florida experience.  We took the kids first to see the Santa Belle Island.  This is a pretty swanky place, they charge you a $6.00 toll just to get on the island.  I guess that’s to keep the riffraff out.  Too bad it didn’t stop us ;).

Gary and I had visited the island before and did quite a bit of exploration already.  We knew it was a SUPER busy place this time of year and that the one lane in and one lane out could be bumper to bumper, 10 MPH.  There are a lot of very nice bike trails on this island with two different places you can rent bikes from.  The parking can be pretty expensive and fills up fast but we were able to stop at a few beach spots as soon as we came on the island as these weren’t quite as crowded

 Not too cold for dippin the toes 🙂

Another beach we found that we really liked was in Naples, Lowdermilk Park.  You have to get there early but they have grass huts

Grass Hut

This is where I sat all day while everyone else was in the sun

More Toe dippin

People were even doing yoga on the beach

Yoga

Downward Dog anyone?

This guy was covering his wife with sand

Almost done Honey

Just gotta get a little more sand……from China!

Lots of boats going by and people to watch so I was well entertained.  Plus, the coolest part was they had a place where you could go and get lunch and drinks, and the meters….if you entered your phone number you would get a text 10 minutes before your time was due to run out asking you if you wanted to add more time.  If you did, you entered how many minutes and hit send.  It would add those minutes to the meter and charge your credit card.  Way cool!