Beautiful Bonita Beach and Barefoot Beach

We decided to get out of Miami for a mini vacation. I had heard the gulf coast of Florida has some beautiful beaches, and we hadn't explored that direction yet. Sunday after church (so around 8pm) we drove through the Everglades to the other coast of Florida. On our way we passed the Fort Lauderdale temple, which will be dedicated around April/May. It was all lit up, and exciting to see along the freeway. Though the picture isn't that great.

It was only a two hour ride, and was worth it. We found a good deal on Priceline again for Sunday night.

The hotel had a swivel TV. So you could choose to watch on the bed, or on the couch. It was a pretty nice hotel, the Hyatt in Bonita Springs.

First stop: Bonita Beach

Notice our Christmas spirit- Green and Red Mats :)

This was a beautiful beach. We threw a Frisbee around along the waters edge for awhile. It was pretty fun, though a few times a little intense when we missed the catch and the waves washed the disc away. We always found it eventually though!

Marc found this starfish. It was already pretty hard.

We were in my county- I'm sure Lee county was named after my family right? :)

Next Stop: Lunch at Coconut Jacks

This place had such a fun atmosphere. The dinner menu was a little pricey, but luckily it was lunch time! We got to eat on this little dock on the water. Our table was the only table on this dock, which was pretty fun. It was a little chilly at seventy degrees, but it still felt pretty good in the sun. ;) 

At one point the waitress was cleaning a table behind Marc, and she just dumped the cup of water into the water. Then she tossed in left over bread. I think it was for the huge fish that jumped at it, but they were too slow, and the bird stole it.

Marc had the lunch special, which was pretty tasty.

I had a bbq sandwich with pineapple juice in the mix. I enjoyed it. We also had some refreshing lemonades. Mine was mango, and I think Marc's was raspberry. 

More pictures from our little dock.

 Last Stop: Barefoot Beach

Though it was just down the street, we crossed into a new county.

Doesn't this road just look like it should lead to paradise? The preserve is through a super ritzy neighborhood. 

 
A few houses along the way.

And here it is, paradise!

 Though before we could go down the left ramp, we had to turn and go down the right ramp, 

 because it led to the restrooms ;)

Bonita beach was pretty, and fun, but it was a little crowded. We decided to check out this beach and we are glad we did! It was much less crowded, and the sand was the softest powder sand I've ever felt.

It was the closest white powder we got to snow this Christmas season.

 We just laid here for a couple hours. It wasn't hot enough to get sunburns, but not cool enough to feel cold. 

Life is pretty good! What a great six months of marriage bliss!

(The little picture shows our view.)

The only disappointing part of this trip, was all of these signs, but no tortoises out and about. We will have to go back. Especially since there is a manatee area that you can only get to by boat, and canoes you can rent and follow a trail around. Who wants to come visit for the canoe trip?