Every Thursday morning, Darlene and Mike share what's happening in Naples and Southwest Florida: a community spotlight, a local dining pick, weekend events, an insider tip, a real estate reality check, featured listings, and monthly NABOR market numbers. Read the latest issue below, or browse every past issue further down the page.
This week: The Quarry in North Naples, dinner at The Bay House on the Cocohatchee River, the Stone Crab Festival and more around Naples, lake view vs. boat ready, and the latest NABOR market numbers.
Here's something you don't hear every day: one of the most unusual beaches in Naples sits in the middle of an old limestone quarry. Head east on Immokalee Road past I-75 and you'll find The Quarry, a gated community built around a lake big enough to water-ski on, with a private sand beach and a beach club at its heart. It's a community we've been wanting to dig into ourselves (pun fully intended), so this week it gets our Community Spotlight.
Stone crab season opened on October 15, and around here that means one thing: seafood. So for dinner, follow Immokalee Road west toward US 41 to The Bay House on the Cocohatchee River, a spot we've enjoyed more times than we can count. And if you'd rather get your claws at the source, the Stone Crab Festival is back at Tin City this weekend. Details below.
- Darlene & Mike
The Quarry sits behind a guarded gate off Immokalee Road, on land that was once a working limestone quarry. Centex Homes opened the community in 2006, and the old dig became Stone Lake, the centerpiece of more than 500 acres of connected, navigable lakes where residents boat, water-ski, paddleboard and fish right from home. Daily life revolves around the renovated Beach Club on a private sand beach, with a resort pool and lap pool, a tiki bar and restaurant, a wellness center, tennis, pickleball, bocce and a full-time activities director, and Beach Club access comes with the home. Golfers have The Quarry Golf Club, a privately owned, par-72 championship course designed by Michael Hurdzan and Dana Fry that opened in 2007. Golf membership is optional.
"A real sand beach and a lake you can water-ski on, a few minutes from I-75. You won't find that combination in many other Naples communities."
Events listed as of the October 22 send date.
The 17th annual festival kicks off Friday at 5pm with the ceremonial cracking of the season's first claw, followed by live music. Expect fresh local stone crab, arts and crafts vendors and bands all weekend along the Naples waterfront.
The 18th annual festival fills the weekend with screenings and panels, plus Cinema Under the Stars in Norris Garden at Artis-Naples on Friday and Saturday at 7:30pm. It closes Sunday at 7:30pm with Superman in Concert, as the Naples Philharmonic plays John Williams' score live.
Gulfshore Playhouse opens its new season by turning the Struthers Studio into a swanky jazz club for this Kander and Ebb revue, packed with hits from Cabaret and Chicago. Can't make opening night? It runs through November 22.
The Quarry is one of the few Naples communities where boating can start in your own backyard, but how you get on the water varies from home to home. Some lakefront homes come with a private dock and lift, some have the view without a dock, and many residents lease a community boat slip instead. Before you fall for a listing, ask three questions. Does this home have its own dock or lift? If not, is a community slip available, and is there a wait? And what are the rules on boat size and type? Two homes on the same lake can offer very different days on the water, and we'll help you sort that out before you tour.
Not automatically. That 99-day figure from NABOR's latest report (August) is an average across the whole Naples area, every price point and every type of home. Some communities move much faster than that, some much slower, and a well-priced home in a popular neighborhood can still draw more than one offer in its first week. The median closed price was $575,000, down just 2% from a year ago, which tells us sellers are giving a little ground, not a lot.
A better guide is how long homes like the one you love have been sitting in that specific community, and what they actually sold for compared with their last asking price. A home that's been on the market for four months is a very different conversation than one that was listed last Tuesday. Email us and we'll pull the recent sales for any community you're watching.
Price and status as of October 22, 2026. Click through for current details.
Interested in either of these? Email us or call Darlene at 239-777-2461 and we will set up a private showing.
Source: Naples Area Board of Realtors® (NABOR), August 2026 vs. August 2025.
Email us and we'll send you a personalized neighborhood snapshot: price ranges, lifestyle fit, HOA structure, and what we'd tell a close friend before they bought there.
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