I booked my flight less than 24 hours beforehand and off to Southwest Florida I went!

I’m counting this as an official bucket list check – #7 Take a spontaneous trip. I could not have gotten any more spontaneous than this one! And I wouldn’t have taken off so last minute had my mom not already been down in Southwest Florida for the month of January.

I was only there from Monday to Friday and we did a lot in a very short amount of time – Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park in Naples, the Calusa Trail on Pine Island, Lighthouse Point Beach on Sanibel, Bowman’s Beach on Sanibel, and the Indigo Trail in JN Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. Lots of laughs were had, I got to feel the sand in my toes and the sun on my face, I spent some quality time with Mom, and recharged my batteries. My motto – ALWAYS take the trip!!

Delnor-Wiggins State Park

I love State Parks! State Parks, National Parks, being out in Nature… I love it all! And I must say, Southwest Florida has some pretty great State Parks. I think I particularly like them because I’m such a beach lover. If you remember, I visited Cayo Costa State Park during my trip last April. Delnor-Wiggins State Park in Naples also did not disappoint!

The sun was shining, there were not many people and the weathered drift wood/tree/branches were really cool.

The Calusa Trail on Pine Island

The weather was a bit cooler (low 60s) so we decided to go for a walk on the Calusa trail on Pine Island. Not only did we get to see some Osprey, but I also found some Spanish Moss – my favorite!

How cool is this massive Gumbo Limbo tree??!!

I’ve been dying to see & photograph some Spanish moss and it was beautiful!

Lighthouse Point Beach, Sanibel

My family & I visited Lighthouse Point beach last April, so I wanted to take my mom here at low tide so she could see all the cool shells. What we found were not only shells, but lots and lots of sea urchins and starfish!

J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge

We did not have a lot of time the afternoon we visited the Wildlife Refuge and we had also done a ton of walking earlier in the day, so we only did a short stroll along the Indigo trail. I’d love to come back and explore more at some point!

Sanibel Sunset

We missed the sunset by about 5 minutes. Womp Womp. But you know what? I wasn’t all that sad about it. First, I had just had the best Key Lime Colada & my favorite fish, Grouper for dinner and it was delish! More importantly, sometimes the colors of the sky AFTER the sun actually sets is what it’s all about anyway!

All in all, with no planning involved, I had a pretty great time in Southwest Florida for a few days! On to my next adventure!

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