Naples Pier

Ayk and I headed to the Naples Pier after the zoo. We would have checked out the animals longer, but there was a wedding there that evening. Look, I love animals too, but zoos smell foul. Who gets a whiff of sulfurous swamps and wildebeest dung, and thinks “Now THAT’S what I want wafting through the air while reciting vows.” What a romantic.

The beach was too chilly for swimming, but that didn’t stop us from dipping our toes in the gulf. We stayed on the pier till twilight. People watching should always come with a sunset backdrop.

So long, sun.

Beaches to the left

Beaches to the right

Dutch fisherman (Ayk swears he was Serbian) was kind enough to let me document his fish-gutting process.

It has teeth!

Expert gutter

Open wide

Looking back to the beach

Awkward nighttime flash

“Don’t touch it! It’s an electric eel!” the kid said as the fisherman reeled in his catch. Shocker: this guy wasn't giving off any hertz (baazing!).

Now it’s bait.

Sunset on the pier
 

Playing with perspective

For dinner, Ayk and I went to Café Barcelona. The only reason I’m mentioning this restaurant – not for the forgettable tapas – is because a Big Boyz Bail Bonds pen, ubiquitous in Baltimore restaurants, found its way to Naples. We asked the server, and she wasn’t sure where the pen came from. Guess someone wanted to share a bit of Baltimore with the Sunshine State.

Naples Zoo

Believe it or not, we actually did see animals other than the honey badgers at the Naples Zoo. It’s not as expansive as the San Diego Zoo, but there were more animals than you’d expect to see in November. Thank goodness for that year-round Florida sunshine.

While we were there, we met an employee who was from the same podunk town in Maryland where Ayk and I grew up. The employee said he wished he still lived there. Huh? I’d take beaches over chicken fields any day. He resented Naples since riding motorcycles, his pastime, was a hazard in geriatric central. That and he moved when he was 14, so he only has fond memories. Nostalgia is a bitch.

African Grey Parrot. This bird has the intelligence of a 3-year-old human. And this blog is above political jokes.

Rawr! Fear the Turtle.

Three words come to mind when I think of zebras: Fruit.Stripe. Gum. Have fun getting that earworm out of your head.

Hey there, pretty bird

Flock of feathered friends

Worst. Job. Ever.

On second thought, feeding this guy has got to be worse.

Ungulates chilling

More ungulates

Lazy leopard 

Someone could use a snuggle buddy.

So close!

Oh that’s lovely.

Horny tree

Try hugging this tree, hippies.

Monkey Island

Fun fact: Monkeys don’t swim. They see water as a natural barrier, so this zoo nixed the tradition fenced-in approach. Almost makes you less guilty about viewing caged-in animals for amusement. Almost.

Yeah, I do 20 reps of muscle ups three times a day. Big whoop, wanna fight about it?

Whatcha doing?

Just hanging out.

Ready…

Set…

Leaping lemur!

Can’t forget this little guy.

But I did forget to upload this honey badger picture last time.

And this one. Cuteness overload.