NAPLES - FROM MANSIONS TO MOBILE HOMES
(AN ESSAY)
The Cocohatchee River meanders towards the Gulf (top of image)
Naples, Florida - also known as "Naples On The Gulf" - is one of the richest towns in America. The mansions of Port Royale are home or second home to many of the leading industrialists and celebrities in America. Private jets landing in Naples are as common as the pelicans that glide over the beautiful white sand beaches.
There are two Ritz Carlton hotels in town, one for golfers and the other for beach people. At last count, there were 82 gated golf course communities in Collier County.
Quaint little old wooden houses in Olde Naples, near the downtown area, sell for one million dollars and up. That same little house in Melbourne or Gainesville might cost less than one hundred thousand dollars, but it wouldn't be in Naples. The mansions of Port Royale, only several blocks south of Olde Naples, sell for many millions of dollars.
Those of us who live in Riverbend feel very lucky. Riverbend is a mobile home cooperative park on the Cocohatchee River in North Naples. Riverbend has two boat basins on the south shore of the river. Some of the homes are new, others are more than 30 years old. Like most Florida mobile homes, most of these homes will never be moved from the day when the trucks brought them from the factory.
Living in Riverbend gives one a feeling like living on a big comfortable boat because you are never far from the water, either the Cocohatchee River or the east and west boat basins. This is an adult park, and most of the 38 owners live full time up north and come down for the "season". The season down here is roughly January through April.
From May through December, Riverbend is very quiet. The "snowbirds" are home in the northland, and the only noise one can hear is the splash of a fish jumping, the flap-flap-flap of a bird's wings, or an occasional putt-putt of an outboard motor on the river.
Only Riverbend homeowners can keep boats in the boat basins. Boat slips are becoming scarce and expensive in Florida. The water is very shallow in the basins and river. Only a small boat will keep you off the muddy bottom. This is no problem, because Riverbend has a maximim allowable length of 21 feet in their basins. Still, one has to watch the tides charts and be careful of the mud banks and sand bars between the park and the Gulf of Mexico.
Riverbend is about seven minutes at idle speed from the Gulf of Mexico. The winding shallows of the Cocohatchee River meander westward to Wiggins Pass, with several good fishing spots along the way. Inlets on Florida's west coast are usually called passes; on the east coast, they are called inlets.
A few hundred yards upstream on the river from Riverbend is the Cocohatchee Nature Center. Tour boats and kayak rentals introduce this beautiful mangrove lined river to tourists during daylight hours. The tour boat also makes a daily trip to Wiggins Pass to catch the spectacular gulf coast sunsets.
The picture above is from Google, and it is a view looking west down the Cocohatchee River. The Gulf of Mexico is at the top of the picture. Riverbend (just below mid-center on map) and an adjacent adult mobile home park, Palm River, are just to the right of the Old Collier golf course.
Probably not many of the residents of these two parks are millionaires, but most of them feel they are living like one.
There are two Ritz Carlton hotels in town, one for golfers and the other for beach people. At last count, there were 82 gated golf course communities in Collier County.
Quaint little old wooden houses in Olde Naples, near the downtown area, sell for one million dollars and up. That same little house in Melbourne or Gainesville might cost less than one hundred thousand dollars, but it wouldn't be in Naples. The mansions of Port Royale, only several blocks south of Olde Naples, sell for many millions of dollars.
Those of us who live in Riverbend feel very lucky. Riverbend is a mobile home cooperative park on the Cocohatchee River in North Naples. Riverbend has two boat basins on the south shore of the river. Some of the homes are new, others are more than 30 years old. Like most Florida mobile homes, most of these homes will never be moved from the day when the trucks brought them from the factory.
Living in Riverbend gives one a feeling like living on a big comfortable boat because you are never far from the water, either the Cocohatchee River or the east and west boat basins. This is an adult park, and most of the 38 owners live full time up north and come down for the "season". The season down here is roughly January through April.
From May through December, Riverbend is very quiet. The "snowbirds" are home in the northland, and the only noise one can hear is the splash of a fish jumping, the flap-flap-flap of a bird's wings, or an occasional putt-putt of an outboard motor on the river.
Only Riverbend homeowners can keep boats in the boat basins. Boat slips are becoming scarce and expensive in Florida. The water is very shallow in the basins and river. Only a small boat will keep you off the muddy bottom. This is no problem, because Riverbend has a maximim allowable length of 21 feet in their basins. Still, one has to watch the tides charts and be careful of the mud banks and sand bars between the park and the Gulf of Mexico.
Riverbend is about seven minutes at idle speed from the Gulf of Mexico. The winding shallows of the Cocohatchee River meander westward to Wiggins Pass, with several good fishing spots along the way. Inlets on Florida's west coast are usually called passes; on the east coast, they are called inlets.
A few hundred yards upstream on the river from Riverbend is the Cocohatchee Nature Center. Tour boats and kayak rentals introduce this beautiful mangrove lined river to tourists during daylight hours. The tour boat also makes a daily trip to Wiggins Pass to catch the spectacular gulf coast sunsets.
The picture above is from Google, and it is a view looking west down the Cocohatchee River. The Gulf of Mexico is at the top of the picture. Riverbend (just below mid-center on map) and an adjacent adult mobile home park, Palm River, are just to the right of the Old Collier golf course.
Probably not many of the residents of these two parks are millionaires, but most of them feel they are living like one.