Rallying in Naples

Webster's Dictionary lists several definitions for the word rally.  Two that applied to Tim and I this past week are to recover/rebound and to join in a common cause.

Worn from our participation in the Habitat for Humanity build in Delray Beach, we needed time to recoup our energy before traveling to the next HFH construction site.  So we arrived in Naples, FL last Sunday for four days of rest prior to this weekend's Crab Fest, a gathering of Prevost RV owners at the Naples Motorcoach Resort.  This consortium of owners gave us the chance to reconnect with friends we'd made at previous Prevost rallies in Lakeland, FL and Foley, AL last spring.  Not only that, these rallies are a great venue for sharing knowledge about life on the road and even more importantly what makes our bus run.

But first, there was R & R.  Just as Frommer's travel guide to Naples promised, this sleepy, swanky city defines the meaning of R & R, since there's not much to do here besides linger on the beach, play golf, and dream.  I would add shopping (or at least, window-shopping) to that list.

Monday we made our way to Waterside Shops, an outdoor mall with posh stores such as Saks 5th Avenue, Tiffany's, Nordstrom, and luckily for us, an Apple store.  Our laptop needed a new battery.  We've drained the one it has to the point that the only way to boot the darn thing up anymore is to plug in its power cord which sports its own wrapping of tape.  However, the young--aren't they all barely out of their teens in that store?--man with whom we met informed us that a new battery had to be ordered for our old machine.  It would not arrive until after we left Naples.  That put a crimp in our plans, but later this spring we'll be near another Apple store in Tampa.  Hopefully, we can order the battery well ahead of time so it can be replaced then.

Meanwhile, we took advantage of the store's free wifi.  Tim updated our laptop's operating system while I sat on a bench outside and downloaded a dozen library books onto my Kindle.  Then, we window shopped the mall.  Living in an RV has dimmed my desire to shop.  We live by the axiom that for every item that goes into the bus, another must be discarded.  Furthermore, we seem to live in T-shirts and jeans so those strictures take the fun out of shopping.  Window shopping, however, is still allowed.

And the beach is always free!   

The pier is one of the most photographed locations in Naples. 

Another location that drew us daily was Eagle Lakes, a nearby city park.

The park's lakes surrounded by trails were the perfect place to birdwatch while walking to stay fit.

Artist Dale Chihuly's 35-foot Icicle Chandelier hangs in the lobby of the Baker Museum. 

The Baker Museum of Art has a small but impressive collection of the works, mostly by American artists.

There I found (above clockwise from upper left) Woman in a Hat, 1934 by Pablo Picasso,
Old House, East Hampton, 1917 by Childe Hassam,
Shakespearean Equation: Twelfth Night, 1948 by Man Ray,
Harlem Street Scene, 1975 by Jacob Lawrence
and Flowers, 1941 by Georgia O'Keefe.

Plus, an introduction to some American artists that I'd not known before.  Again, clockwise from upper left:
West Front of the Capitol Steps, Washington, D.C., c. 1902-04 by Colin Campbell Cooper,
Armistice Day, The New York Public Library, 1918 by Theresa Bernstein,
Wall Street, the Noon Hour, 1925 by Felicie Waldo Howell,
Building of Manhattan Bridge, 1909 by Gerrit A. Beneker, and
The Nest Egg, 1910 by Abbott Fuller Graves.

Farm on the Smokey by Birger Sandzen

To my delight, there was a painting, Farm on the Smokey, by Birger Sandzen, an artist who lived in Lindsborgh, KS not far from my hometown.

On Thursday, Prevost RVs began to fill up the resort.  Tim was in seventh heaven as he talked shop with the other owners.  Malfunctions and maintenance issues were discussed and analyzed beyond my compression.  I enjoyed hearing about everyone's journeys, places they'd been, campgrounds where they'd stayed and funny stories of mishaps along the way.

Corey

Saturday night Corey who is a professional chef as well as a Prevost owner boiled up a vat of crab legs.  

Two of the men cracked the crab shells so the diners could more easily extract the meat.

By the end of the week, our spirits and our friendships had definitely rallied in the somnolent, sumptuous city of Naples.