No, I'm not in Italy.
It's funny how we Americans name so many cities after other cities. Anyway, I'm down here (about three hours south of Tampa) on a mental health vacation. I'm staying at The Inn on Fifth which is pretty fancy, but I got a good Florida resident rate. I'm even in a suite! Oh, and a magical fairy keeps leaving me bottled water and turned down my sheets for me. Because I don't know how to get into bed?
I had a great dinner of Yellowtail Snapper and added a Tom Collins. I rarely drink, but when I do, I'm on vacation.
So on the way down I stopped in Sarasota because I was running early and I saw a sign for the Sarasota National Cemetery. I stopped and got gas and checked the FindAGrave app. There was an open photo request, so I went by and took a picture of a WWII Veteran's grave marker. Awarded the Bronze Medal.
While driving out, I noticed some birds in what I'm guessing was a retention pond, and not a natural lake. I took a few photos from my car. Like this Great Egret.
Also, this female Anhinga was preening.
I'm going to post some plant photos just because it's my thread.
And I'll invite the Florida folks over to look, too. So Naples is kind of like Pinellas County (St. Pete) in that they can grow a lot of tropicals because they're so close to the water. Also, they're further south. The plants I see remind me of when I cross the bridge to St. Pete, except everything here is perfectly manicured. And I walked by way too many of those little pesticide application signs.
FYI, I'm only about eight blocks from the beach so imagine the runoff.
One thing that is nice to see is so many bromeliads. Like this Aechmea just in a pot on the street.
And there are Neoregelias all over the place.
And it's always nice to see Aechmea blanchetiana used in landscaping. The leaves turn more orange when they get more sun. USF Botanical Gardens has a bunch of them.
And the palm had more Neoregelias on it. They wouldn't notice if one of the purple ones went missing, would they? #FreeSouvenir
And I think that's a Banyan tree behind this gazebo. Selby Gardens has notable Banyan trees.
I walked by a lot of Hibiscus, but this was my favorite.
I also passed several sculptures, including two of birds. Naples is kind of an "arty" place, but like, expensive art. Not quirky, St. Pete art where you could actually afford to buy something. So this is a sculpture of some Herons.
And here's a sculpture of two Anhingas from each side.
They also have orchids on the sidewalk and all I can think about is if the city workers have to bring them in when the temperatures dip. And where do they put them?
I saw this cute succulent planting on the side of a business.
Now, the butterfly thread folks know I have a condition where I can't walk past a host plant without thoroughly inspecting it. So when I saw a Cassia alata planted in front of my hotel, I had to look. And I found a Cloudless Sulphur caterpillar in the process of molting! I was losing the light at this point, but I'll look for him later this morning. I thought about keeping him in the ice bucket, but I'm afraid housekeeping would throw him away.
