Florida 2.1.2

The Sea Shell Motel:  I'm pretty sure that the only way I'd ever stay here is on my own.  On one hand, it feels totally safe, being off the main drag going into "downtown" Naples.  But, I can't help craning my neck every time an odd sound comes by.  Let's just say that however cheap this place is, it's not cheap enough to feel entirely comfortable bringing my family here.  It's everything a motel should be: off a main drag, mostly single level with each room opening to a corresponding parking spot, thin walls and only the basic amenities.  But, at least at the Sea Shell, it's also a motel that's clearly cared for.  It's clean, it smells good, the grounds are kept and it's even got a pool that you might actually want to use!  But again, it's a place of convenience, not of comfort. 

Yet!  Yet, I can't help but wonder if someone in my family stayed here once, sometime long ago, on an initiation trip to Naples perhaps.  Back when it wasn't much more than a strip of beach and a bunch of wide-eyed ideas.  Maybe I should ask Doug about that tomorrow.  Why Naples?  I'm pretty sure there wasn't much here prior to 1970, so why did he have a condo on the beach circa 1976, in which I made my first trip on a plane.  Was it apparent then that this was to become Minnesota South?  Or was there a gamble involved… I'm momentarily feeling better about my course of conversation tomorrow. 

Regardless, I find myself in this motel, not more than a few blocks off the main strip in Naples, frequented by the rich and white; something I was reminded of while walking up and down 5th street tonight.  All glitzy and expensive.  But, I had just come from Tin City, the capital of cheap, Naples tourism: t-shirts, shells and seafood, right on the water.   And as such, I find myself conversely feeling the safety of Naples and the caution that comes with a motel. 

Get over it, I suppose.  I'm in the middle of what's likely one of the richest zip codes in all of Florida.  Perhaps I don't get out much.  Perhaps, I'm too comfortable in my little liberal enclave of rich St. Paul.   Perhaps I'm too ingrained with the "$20/lb cheese" crowd. 

Whatever.  I'm not going to lose sleep over my cheese eating habits.  But, I may just lose sleep over how they've skewed my reality.  

Although, I am likely to lose sleep over my late night eating an drinking habits.
This post, was of course, in no way influenced by any of these substances.