Posted by admin on May 11, 2009
Loved the beaches in Bonita Springs and Naples, FL.
The sand is white, clean and the water is clear!
Things we don’t have on the SouthEast Coast of Florida! 
There were numerous public beach areas complete with restrooms, showers, the Naples Pier and recycling bins on the beach too!
You could get up close to birds–we watched this one catch crabs and eat them (course that grossed out my daughter though).
Sea Turtles nest on the beach as well, though we didn’t get to experience that.
Other than it being mega hot this past weekend, the beaches were awesome.
Posted by admin on
There was nothing at all green or eco friendly or even friendly about this place (other than our older woman server).
Now I can see why when I asked at the motel where this place was they looked at me with this look of shock or disbelief, not sure now what to make of their look but I should have taken that as a warning sign.
BonitaChamber (Bonita Springs Chamber of Commerce Twitter account) recommended Buffalo Chips Restaurant as a kid friendly restaurant. I guess I should’ve specified that we are green loving non beer drinking types…(though I thought BonitaChamber would’ve seen that on my twitter account), but regardless…..
We get to Buffalo Chips on Old Rt 41 and well this is not a place I’d eat at anyhow since just by the name of it I’m pretty sure nothing vegan but I’m fasting anyhow and my daughter needs to eat! I figure we’d try out a few local dives and see how it went. So, we approach the screened in patio entrance where there’s a sign that says “hippies use side door”…hmmm no side door..geee imagine! Think they have something against “hippies”? Now, imagine me…wearing a dress like thing that has “peace, love” and peace signs on it, carrying my messenger bag from http://www.soul-flower.com/ that has nothing but peace signs on it, along with my yoga sandals, and my big sunglasses that everyone says puts me over the top as being in the wrong era…and daughter is wearing normal clothes but add a peace sign jacket!
As soon as we walk in, we can tell we’re not going to fit in.
And, no offense to red necks and beer guzzlers but that’s all there were here at like 4 pm on Friday.
I ask daughter if she wants to stay, and she’s like “sure, we’re here”…we are seated and an older woman comes to serve us. She, at least, was friendly and quick. The rest of the crowd there was loud and staring at us.
Daughter is checking out all the trophies and awards for “The Best Chicken Wings”, so naturally she orders chicken wings for her dinner. The service is fast but I went into shock when the nice older woman brought out the food on Styrofoam plates! Wow I didn’t even know places still used those! I was in shock, but then again after the “hippies use side door” sign not sure why I was in shock!?
Then, daughter takes a few bites of her “best chicken wings” and can’t stand them. She said the ones she can get frozen in a box from “TGI Fridays” were better than those! So, we’re done there after a few bites. Nice older lady comes and is shocked daughter didn’t like them, but proceeds to clean off table and tosses everything in the trash! Landfill here’s some styrofoam for you
We left and went to go find some edible food for my daughter.
So, all in all…this place is FAR from green and far from “best chicken wings” and gets two thumbs down as a green restaurant or even a good one for that matter.
Now, perhaps if you’re a beer drinker and are into hanging out, drinking, eating wings that you might think are the “best” after a few drinks, then this place is for you. If you’re green, eco friendly and like good food and mellow atmosphere, then this place is not for you and you may just want to visit Fresh Market or Whole Foods and get some real food.
Posted by admin on
We recently stayed at the Flamingo Motel in Bonita Springs, FL. I had heard good reviews on it and figured we’d give it a try based on the reviews as well as their website.
I was pleasantly surprised that the reviews were accurate!
Even though the name is Flamingo Motel, it was nothing like mainstream motels. It’s family owned and they were most polite and helpful.
The rooms were up to date (looked like bathrooms were recently done). Best of all the rooms didn’t have any weird funky smell. Since I’m overly sensitive to smells and chemicals that was a huge plus in my book. Usually we do not stay in motels because of that reason, but there were no smells, no funky aromas in the room!
Their rates are mega affordable (especially right now since it’s “off season”). They’re located about 1 1/3 mile from local beach and preserves and about a 20 min. drive north of the Naples Zoo.
They have a heated pool (don’t find that often in FL), a tiki hut and nice outside area too.
There was nothing really green about the place though other than the fact they did have recycling available.
But, overall as a motel it was:
affordable
nice owners
updated rooms (complete w/compact frig, microwave)
no funky smells, aromas
