Friday, October 30, 2026

Ritz Carlton Beach Resort

 Ritz Carlton has two major properties in Naples.  Ritz Carlton Tiburon is a glamorous golf community that hosts both PGA Champions tournaments (for professional men 50 years and older) and the LPGA. 

 

This is the other one, the original Ritz Carlton, a beach resort that is a short distance from Gulf of Mexico beaches.  The beach resort just recently re-opened after a multi-year renovation that began in 2021.  

The renovation was originally planned to be completed in 2022, but the hotel took a direct hit from Hurricane Ian and remained closed much longer.

Thursday, October 29, 2026

The Inn on Pelican Bay

 The Inn on Pelican Bay is at the southern edge of Pelican Bay, a 2,330 acre Naples community with about 6,500 residences.  Pelican Bay was developed in the early 1970s in a joint venture between Westinghouse and the Barron Collier companies.


 The Inn opened in 1993.  It is a 100 room, six story boutique hotel that is ranked by several ranking firms as the #1 hotel in Naples and the #1 hotel in Florida.  It is a short walk to the beaches.  Waterside Shops -- a high end shopping center -- is across the street.  Pickleball courts are next door.

Wednesday, October 28, 2026

Rembrandt at Naples Art Institute

Naples Art Institute is hosting Masterpieces in Black and White, an exhibition of etchings from the Rembrandt House Museum in Amsterdam. 
 

Rembrandt began as a painter and added etching to his skills when he was 20.  He was largely self-taught as an etcher.  Many of his works are extremely small.


Naples Art provides magnifying glasses so visitors can see the details on these small etchings.  This is a 1636 etching called Self Portrait with Saskia.  Saskia was his wife and one of his favorite subjects.


It is amazing to me that Rembrandt had the ability to control his stylus so well when working on etchings this small.


Rembrandt etched, sketched and painted himself repeatedly.  This one is from 1642, the same year he delivered his masterpiece, The Night Watch, to the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.  It is also the year that Saskia died.


This is one of Rembrandt's larger etchings, A Scholar in His Study, from 1652.

Tuesday, October 27, 2026

Pizza


Is this how you envision a pizza joint in Southwest Florida?

Monday, October 26, 2026

Fort Myers Beach

 

The 7-Eleven store in Fort Myers Beach has bold murals on two sides.  The murals were painted this in April 2026 by local artist Martha Cantu.

Linked to Monday Murals.

Sunday, October 25, 2026

Town Hall

 

The Town Hall of Fort Myers Beach is colorful, with low value first floor intended to let flood waters from tropical storms flow through without damaging the high value operations up above.

Saturday, October 24, 2026

Colorful

 


Up in Fort Myers Beach, builders are rushing to complete new buildings to replace structures destroyed four years ago by Hurricane Ian.  This builder seems to believe that pastel colors will help him sell them.