To call the 20th Naples Winter Wine Festival at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort in Naples a celebration would not quite capture the fundraiser’s atmosphere.
And with an unofficial fundraising total exceeding $20 million, the outpouring of cheer makes sense. As one of the festival’s founders and trustees Valerie Gargiulo said, the tone of the event is one of “irrational generosity.”
From the auction: How much did each 2020 Naples Winter Wine Festival auction lot go for?
“It’s not about what (bidders) are getting,” she said. “It’s about what they’re going to do for the children.”
Jeff Gargiulo, Valerie’s husband, are both founders and trustees of the Naples Winter Wine Festival and Naples Children and Education Foundation. In the festival’s 20 years, the couple said, it’s grown tremendously. And, prior to the auction, they hoped to break a fundraising milestone of $200 million since the festival’s conception.
With the help of auction lots and the generosity of those attending the auction, they succeeded.
The 20th Naples Winter Wine Festival followed the theme of “Celebrate: 20 Years of Cheers.” It was a multi-day affair, beginning Thursday with a pre-festival wine tasting and luncheon, moving to Friday with a meet-the-kids day and peaking with a live-auction Saturday before ending with a celebration brunch Sunday.
Previous coverage: Meet the Kids Day stars little superheroes, soccer players and gymnasts
The tone of celebration was evident: chandeliers dangled from an air-conditioned enclosed tent full of tables for more than 700 guests. Tablecloths ranged from teals to greens to layered with purple sequins, while live music and cuisine like a tuna and watermelon Dashi with an avocado jalapeno salsa delighted guests.
The results are in.
Naples is the No. 1 beach town to live in.
That’s according to a study by WalletHub, a personal-finance website.
To determine the most livable beachside communities for 2019, WalletHub compared 192 cities across 62 key metrics for “livability.”
The study was divided into two categories, lake beach towns and ocean beach towns (Naples fell into the second category, though it’s bordered by the Gulf of Mexico, not an ocean).
The data used for the study included everything from housing costs to water quality.
Here’s how Naples ranked on some of the metrics, with a 1 equating to best and a 73 representing average:
- 46th – for the median household income (adjusted for cost of living)
- 19th – for the median annual property taxes
- 34th – for the percentage of for-sale waterfront homes
- 7th – for the water temperature
- 17th – for the violent crime rate
- 65th – for the foreclosure rate
- 1st – for the nightlife establishments per capita
- 44th – for the quality of beach water
Nearby Marco Island ranked 47th on the list of best beach towns to live in. Meanwhile, Bonita Springs landed at 66th.
The top 10 included several other waterfront communities in Florida: Boca Raton (5th), Sarasota (6th) and Venice (10th).
Originally published in the Naples News.com
How much did each 2019 Naples Winter Wine Festival auction lot go for?
The auction raised $15.8 million. What did each lot go for?
- Lot 1 – Magnums of Joy: 37 magnums went for $170,000
- Lot 2 – Viva la Vacation: Miami and Havana for 3 couples – $110,000
- Lot 3 – Where all roads lead: Beaune, France via Paris, wine, and more for 2 coupes – $180,000
Get the complete rundown on https://www.naplesnews.com/story/entertainment/festivals/wine/2019/01/26/2019-naples-winter-wine-festival-how-much-did-each-auction-lot-go-for/2676676002/
Naples has been named the best place to retire in the nation.
The city is one of 10 that Livability.com has named as “Best Places to Retire in 2018.”
Data scientists with Livability.com examined nearly 2,300 cities across the country and factored in more than 20 data points, including safety, affordability, property tax, natural disaster risk, and nursing home accessibility and quality.
“Naples has the beautiful beaches that many retirees dream about, but it’s so much more than a beach town,” said Winona Dimeo-Ediger, managing editor at Livability.com.
Naples scored high in community engagement, outdoor recreation and percentage of residents over 65, according to the report.
“It’s a place that makes it easy to get involved and feel a strong sense of community, whether you’re a newcomer or you’ve lived there for years,” she said.
Naples has been recognized for the past three years as having the highest overall well-being in the U.S. and has ranked in the top 20 for best-performing cities in the nation.
A real estate research firm also named a Naples neighborhood as the “best neighborhood” in the United States earlier this year.
Originally published in the Naples Daily News.
A couple of craft beer lovers are behind another new restaurant, Southern Latitudes Brewpub & Grub, coming this month to a redeveloped end unit near the center of Bayfront that previously was not an eatery. Owner Tim Rogers and General Manager Mike Mettler are longtime friends teaming up to showcase their love for their southern Ohio roots and adopted Naples in a venue with about 75 seats inside and 50 outside at umbrella tables or under a covered walkway, plans show.
Southern Latitudes, promoted as “a warm, friendly place to gather,” will have about 70 Florida craft beers on tap, and wine on tap too. A brief, companion menu of pub food will offer appetizers, salads, sandwiches and flatbreads with a few nods to Cincinnati and the Deep South.
Straight from Ohio, the venue’s Queen City chili dip will feature Cincinnati-style chili, cheddar cheese and cream cheese, with corn chips for dipping. A Cincinnati chili dog will start with a Guinness-infused hot dog covered in chili, cheese and onions with yellow mustard.
“Between the Dough” entrees will include chicken and waffles, chicken and mango sliders, brisket sliders and barbacoa beef street tacos. Artisan flatbreads will feature varieties focused around prosciutto, grilled vegetables, Korean barbecue chicken, barbacoa beef barbecue, and bacon, caramelized onions and blue cheese.
Check out this soon to open restaurant’s website: http://www.slatitudes.com/
Bayfront offers waterfront living, shopping, and dining in Naples, Florida. Contact David to buy a condominium residence in this vibrant waterfront community. Pre-construction condos are available from $995,000 to $1,300,000 with living space from 2000+ sq ft to 2500+ sq ft. Existing condominium hoes at Bayfront are offered from mid $300K to low $700K. Bayfront is perfectly located in downtown Naples at Goodlette-Frank and 41 on the Gordon River. Bayfront offers many amenities and convenient access to marinas, downtown Naples shopping and dining, beaches, golf, and more.
The Bay House,Naples Florida
Two Naples restaurants make list of 100 most scenic places to eat in America
Looking for dining with a view?
Two waterfront restaurants with picturesque views of Naples waterways have made a national list of most scenic places to eat.
OpenTable, an online restaurant reservation website, announced its 100 most scenic restaurants in 2018 based on the reviews of OpenTable’s verified diners, according to the website. The list highlights restaurants that offer “breath-taking views of nature, cityscapes and travel-worthy landmarks.”
The Bay House, overlooking the brackish waters of the Cocohatchee River, and The Turtle Club, the Vanderbilt Beach Resort’s beach-side restaurant, both made the OpenTable list.
The dining room on the water was newly redone in 2015 in muted, elegant colors of the waterscape and features a hand-crafted dory and other watercraft suspended from the ceiling. (Photo: Contributed)
The Bay House
Tucked away off U.S. 41 North in North Naples, The Bay House’s indoor and outdoor seating gleans with modern finishes, its golden lights reflecting off the bay. The menu offers an eclectic claw bar of beer-brined, peel-and-eat Gulf shrimp and plump oysters by the dozen or half-dozen. Its well-crafted entrees include pan-seared swordfish and smoked bacon and basil crab cakes.
799 Walkerbilt Road, North Naples; 239-591-3837; bayhousenaples.com
The Turtle Club
The Turtle Club’s more casual dining atmosphere is just steps away from Vanderbilt Beach. Its Gulf-inspired menu covers seafood chowder, fish sandwiches and blackened fish with lump crab.
The restaurant and its hotel has history, too. It launched in 1998 on the grounds of Vanderbilt Beach Resort, considered the first hotel established on Vanderbilt Beach in 1951.
9225 Gulfshore Drive N., North Naples; 239-592-6557; turtleclubnaples.com
The Turtle Club is located at Vanderbilt Beach Resort. Lauren Kummer via Wochit
