We Head South When it's Cold (& go GATOR HUNTIN')

This weekend Boyfriend Matt and I migrated down south to Naples, Florida to visit my Pops.  Fortunately the weather was pretty murk in New York when we left, but it was also quite rainy in Florida much of the time.  No matter, though; we still had a great time eating delicious foods, hunting for gators, watching the Pauly D Project, and spending quality time together :)  It was indeed a great escape.

Me and Fatha.

The first item on our agenda was to find a live gator. This was in fact Matt's one and only true wish of the trip.   Our original plan was to take an airboat ride in the Everglades, but since it was uber rainy on Sunday, we decided that gator-watching from the dry, air-conditioned comforts of my Dad's truck would suffice.  So we headed down Route 41 to see if we could spot any gators in the waterways alongside of the road.  My Dad pulled through on his promise to bring us gators, as he found us a spot in the Everglades that was brimming with the scaly creatures.  

Baby gator.

Creepy gator-eyes. Yowza. 

We got out of the truck and headed down to the water bank to get a closer look at some of the gators.  But unfortunately, since mosquitoes were eating us alive, we didn't stay in open-air long and we ran back to the vehicle for cover just as soon as Matt got his gator fix.

After all our gator huntin', we had worked up an appetite, so we headed to the only lunch-spot for miles: Joanie's Blue Crab Cafe.

Inside Joanie's.

Joanie's is an awesome hole-in-the-wall establishment literally in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by swamp. As soon as my Dad mentioned to Matt that they served gator and frog legs, Matt was all about it.  There were only a handful of customers at Joanie's, making it warm and relaxed, like we were having lunch at an old friend's house on the back porch.  We were even treated to live music performed by Beth Thompson of Marco Island (click on link to enjoy some footage we took of her singing "Bleeding Love"... really talented!).

Some memorabilia. 

Both Matt and I discovered some fantASStic signage and artwork in the restrooms...

Special treat in the ladies' room.

Wise advise for the gents in the men's room. 

After touring the bathrooms and checking out the cool memorabilia, we settled in for lunch.  I enjoyed delicious crab cakes, and Matt bravely ordered the Swamp Combo: gator nuggets, frog legs and crab cakes.  Mmmm Yummers!

The Swamp Combo.

Matt eatin' himself some gator and frog legs.

As tastey as the gator bites were (I was too afraid to try to the frog legs), I enjoyed the other home-cooked meals we enjoyed during the trip much better!

Delicious Monday night dinner (thanks Sherry!)

Even when we left the swamp and the Everglades, there were signs everywhere that ensured we were still in Gator Country :)

This is GATOR COUNTRY - @ Books A Million in Naples.

Overall, it was a great visit to (usually) Sunny Naples, Florida.  Now back to biz in NYC.

Me and Matteo out and about in Naples.

Do you have any vacations coming up? Summer is upon us so make sure you get some relaxing (and possibly gator huntin') in.  Xoxo!