More Florida Fun in Naples, Jupiter, & Melbourne

At the beginning of March, we left the Keys and headed to southwest Florida to visit our friends Betty and Mike who volunteer at Koreshan State Park in Estero.

I was happy to find out that Koreshan is big rig-friendly. I love being cocooned in these Florida jungle-like campsites but the Brinkley has limited our options a little.

We spent most of our time exploring Naples, ~25 miles south of Koreshan SP.

Besides shopping and restaurants, Naples is home to swamp buggy races! At some point in Naples’s history, which is located on the edge of the Everglades, someone invented a swamp buggy as a mode of transportation. The locals have been racing swamp buggies for over 75 years. Of course, we had to witness such awesomeness.

Betty and Mike gave Michael a break from me one day and we went to the fabulous Naples Botanical Garden. Here are 5 of my 500 photos.

We also patronized several local breweries for happy hour, Bone Hook, Ankrolab, and Fort Meyers Brewing.

After a great week catching up with our friends, we crossed to the Atlantic side of the state to stay at Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Jupiter.

Jonathan Dickinson has a great RV campground, complete with full hookups, and our site #80 was one of the largest we’ve ever had. While the park doesn’t have direct access to the beach, several beautiful beaches are just a short ~10-minute drive away. The sand in the area is grey and the water is very turquoise and clear considering it’s the Atlantic.

We spent a few days hanging out at Jupiter Beach Park and having lunch at the Burger Shack.

One evening we checked out Coral Cove and the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse.

We also visited the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach. This turtle hospital has around 40 turtles in its care, most of whom are recovering from cold stun. They also have a few permanent residents who can no longer dive because they have air pockets inside their shells from getting hit by boats.

The Marine Life Center monitors 10 miles of Juno Beach for turtle nests. 2023 had a record-breaking 25,000!

The following week, Michael had a work retreat in NOLA and I hung out in Melbourne at Wickham Park. I kept seeing wildlife photographers across the road from my campsite and went to see what the fuss was about.