By: Sue Nielsen, MD
Downtown Naples and Keewaydin Island
As our Naples adventure continued, we went to the newly renovated OFF LEASH dog park called “Central Bark”. It’s a little tricky to find as signs are not easily noticed. While driving east on Central from the coast, go across Goodlette Frank Road and then take a left were the road ends in a “T”. Free parking is on your left as well. The park has separate, fenced in areas for small and large dogs. 
A central parkway marked by brightly painted fire hydrants led to a covered pavilion that separated the large and small dogs. We found a large bag full of tennis balls free for the taking. He made friends quickly with both canine and human. 
An older gentleman was sitting on a bench watching his dogs when Rico decided to suddenly sit on his lap for a play break…without an invite! The park is in need of grass, but the wood chips provided a soft layer to run and there is an active effort to get more trees in the park for shade. It’s a work in progress but we really enjoyed it. Rico liked the ramps to get to the water bowls – great for small dogs. Rico would give another 2 PAWS up for this park.
The gentleman who befriended Rico advised us to go to the Neighborhood Café for lunch. This quaint restaurant is located by the downtown docks. It was dog friendly on the patio and offered amazing warm fruit crepes. We walked off our meal at the city dock just around the corner. 
We saw many boats available for guided tours, but most did not allow dogs. We reserved a deck boat from Naples Bay Resort to spend the next day on the water with Rico as our captain. We did some more window shopping and noticed local businesses often had bowls of water at their storefront, and Rico was always a welcomed guest inside.
This night we celebrated my birthday with a delicious meal at M Waterfront Grill. The back and front patios of this elegant restaurant are dog friendly. The back tables have views of the water. The menu also had vegan options. Unfortunately Rico wasn’t tired enough to let us enjoy our food without constant attention to him, and the stress of keeping him from barking prematurely ended an otherwise wonderful evening a tad early. We finished the night shopping next door at the Village on Venetian Bay where again Rico was the star attraction. We get the pointing, and the “Oh, you have such a cute puppy!” and I could not disagree.
The next morning we were off to explore the waterway between Naples and Marco Island. The journey took us south through Rookery Bay Preserve and ended on Keewaydin Island. The Intracoastal Waterway was home to nesting osprey.
On many channel markers, huge nests had been built and we were able to get very close to parents and their young. It was spectacular to watch them fly, carrying back fish for their young, and nesting materials to reinforce their fortress. 
We reached the southern tip of Keewaydin Island in the late morning before the throngs of partiers arrived. This is a very popular spot to stop, listen to music, play beach games, socialize, and eat from floating fast food boats that cater to this crowd. It was peaceful in the morning as we took the roped off trail across the island to the gulf side. This area is still rather undeveloped as the only way to get here is by boat. Dogs are allowed on leash. 
This spot doesn’t have bathrooms or garbage cans – you need to be prepared for that. By the time we headed back for Naples, the tip of Keewaydin had a line of boats waiting for anyone to leave their spot.
On our way back, there was no place to stop and Rico got a little agitated and maybe a little seasick. He indicated the fun was over and he wanted to get back on dry land again. We were all happy to go back to the hotel and put our feet up and relax, or in Rico’s case, bury himself under the covers to take a doggie nap.
Other than some stress while eating out with Rico, the Naples trip was a huge success for our family. Rico got to run and discover amazing parks. He found many friends along the way. He thoroughly enjoyed exploring fresh new sights and sounds. We ALL had fun. The only stop we wanted to make but didn’t was the Naples Botanical Gardens. They have a couple of hours on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday to bring your dog and enjoy the flowers and scenery…a destination for when we return.