Thursday we headed back down to Naples, Florida to visit the Naples Zoo. On the way down, we stopped off at the Miramar Outlet Mall between Fort Myers and Naples. They had a Coach outlet store we wanted to check out. And, as you might suspect, we ended up finding "deals we couldn't live without!"

When we walked into the zoo area at around 12:30, we had no idea what a good time we had picked. It turned off to be one of lowest crowd weeks they have all year. Even at the biggest draw shows, we were among 30 or 40 people at most. It was like having the 52-acre facility to yourself.

The Naples Zoo can't boast the biggest animal variety or even the most exotic collection. They can burst with pride at the way they have present the animals and maintain the facility. Since the Caribbean Gardens started as botanical gardens, they capture much more nature than your average zoo. The plant life and animals on display blend together to enhance the experience. We all commented on how great a zoo we thought it was - particularly one of its size.

It took me awhile to get through all of the photos. Because of the number of animal photos, I placed all of the pictures that included people at the beginning. Once you get to photo 83, you will have seen all of the pictures that include any of us. The pictures from 84 to 130 are pictures of the various animals at the zoo. Click here for the pictures from Thursday, day six.

After spending most of the afternoon at the zoo, we headed east to Fort Lauderdale. After arriving, we had some brilliant Cuban food at Vila III in Oakland Park. Not to mention the genuine friendliness of the staff despite the language barrier. Other than the owner, very little of the staff spoke much english. We managed to muddle our way through communication difficulties and enjoy the evening that much more. (Amanda also impressed the wait staff with her special dancing!)

After making a quick stop at Action Sport Cycles in Fort Lauderdale, we headed down to the beach for the afternoon. (Check of the T-Rex they told us about! You could rent it for $400 a day.) We spent long enough at the beach for Bob to get a nice red color, and then headed back to our hotel to clean up before dinner with Aunt Francis, Steve, and Meryl.

We met Steve and Aunt Francis at her condo. We moved on to meet Meryl at The Cheesecake Factory located in the Sawgrass Mills Mall in Sunrise. After dinner we had a lovely evening talking at their house. Click here for a photo from the dinner.

Saturday was the day we headed back to Dallas. Since our flight didn't leave until 3:00, we made a midmorning stop at Sawgrass Mills to check out Ron Jon. We grabbed a quick bite at the Hard Rock Cafe and headed back to the airport.

Obviously, we arrived safe and sound. We had a great time in Florida. Other than doing what laundry we must, we plan on spending the afternoon relaxing and getting ready to head back to work on Monday. Hope you enjoyed all the updates.