The Weekend Before Thanksgiving Belongs To Eagle Lakes Park, Just Down The Trail From Lely Resort

On Fifth Avenue South, the tree lighting is set for about 6 p.m. on Friday, December 4. Closer to Lely Resort, it starts almost two weeks earlier. It starts on Tamiami Trail East, at a county park with 2.25 miles of trails, a ham for the winner of Saturday's race and a 62-mile ride on Sunday.

The park is Donna Fiala Eagle Lakes Community Park at 11565 Tamiami Trail East. On November 21 and 22 it holds two Thanksgiving traditions on back-to-back days. In December it hosts Santa for a Saturday morning. Between those dates, the new restaurants on Collier Boulevard fill in the mornings after.

Saturday, November 21: A Fun Run With A Ham At The Finish

Collier County Parks lists the 6th Annual Turkey Run for Saturday, November 21, on the Eagle Lakes trails. One loop is 2.25 miles. The prizes follow their own logic. The winner of the race gets a ham, and the first runner to finish two laps, 4.5 miles, gets a turkey. The first 25 people to register get a free T-shirt when they finish.

The county describes it as a run you can do solo or with the whole family. To register or ask questions, call the park at 239-252-3527. That same number is the place to confirm the start time before you set an alarm.

Sunday, November 22: The Ride Named For Iron Joe

The next morning, the same park hosts a much bigger event. The 22nd Annual Iron Joe Turkey Ride & Walk runs Sunday, November 22, from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The organizer is the Naples Pathways Coalition, which advocates for safe biking and walking in Southwest Florida. Its 2026 notice asks riders to come out in support of that work.

The name comes from Joe Bonness, a cycling advocate, Ironman triathlete and founding member of the coalition. Florida Weekly reported that he earned the nickname "Iron Joe" by breaking his own Ironman age-group records again and again.

Picking A Distance

According to the event's registration page, the course options and adult prices are:

1. 62, 40 or 20 miles by bike: $65. This price goes up after 11:59 p.m. on Friday, November 20.
2. 10 miles by bike: $45.
3. 5 miles by bike: $35. This route stays inside the park.
4. 2.5- or 5-mile walk: $35. Both walks also stay inside the park.

The two deadlines work differently. For the three long rides, Friday night is the cutoff for the lower price. For the 10-mile ride, the 5-mile ride and the walks, registration stays open until 11:59 a.m. on ride day. So you can decide on a short ride or a walk the morning of, but the 62-mile ride rewards anyone who commits by Friday.

The in-park options keep the shortest routes off Tamiami Trail East completely. That makes the 5-mile ride and both walks the easiest way to bring along someone who doesn't usually ride in traffic. That could be a grandchild in town early for Thanksgiving, or a neighbor who walks every day but has never pinned on a number.

After The Finish: Collier Boulevard Added New Places This Fall

The Sunday event wraps at 1:30 p.m. Two places on Collier Boulevard that opened in September are new options for the meal afterward.

Another Broken Egg Cafe opened Saturday, September 19, at 6917 Collier Blvd., Suite 701. It is in Triangle Shoppes, a new group of businesses just north of Restaurant Row and the Collier Boulevard entrance to Freedom Square. The cafe shares a freestanding building with TD Bank. Gulfshore Business reported its hours as 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday and 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. On ride day, that leaves about an hour and a half after the Iron Joe course closes to sit down for brunch. The menu is Southern-inspired, with chicken and waffles, lemon-blueberry goat cheese pancakes and a Champagne lobster omelet.

The location is run by Dillon Gruener's FS Hospitality Group. Gulfshore Business reported it as the first of four Another Broken Egg locations he plans for Collier and Lee counties, with more businesses planned for Triangle Shoppes.

Shake Shack opened at Restaurant Row in September, according to the Naples Press roundup of third-quarter 2026 openings. Earlier Naples Press coverage put the site at 6833 Collier Blvd. If you're done after the cafe's 3 p.m. Sunday close, this is the later option.

In Freedom Square itself, Naples Press reported that Bora Mediterranean Cuisine, a locally owned restaurant and bar, is planned for the former Z's Music Kitchen space.

December Brings Santa To The Same Park

Eagle Lakes has one more holiday event before the year ends. Cookies & Milk with Santa is on Saturday, December 12, from 9 to 11 a.m. It costs $3 per person, and you have to preregister by Friday, December 11. It falls a week after the Fifth Avenue South celebration, which runs Friday, December 4, from 5 to 10 p.m. and Saturday, December 5, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Families who want both can do downtown one weekend and the park the next.

The bigger evening event this season is up the road at Naples Botanical Garden. Johnsonville Night Lights runs November 27 through January 3, with live music and food and drink. It is closed December 24, 25 and 31. It opens the day after Thanksgiving, five days after the Iron Joe ride.

The Stretch From Thanksgiving To The Boat Show, By Date

The Naples Boat Show is the first big event of the new year close to Lely Resort. It runs January 21 to 24, 2027, at two sites: Sugden Regional Park, 4284 Avalon Drive, and Naples City Dock, 880 12th Ave. S.

Something else may be on the calendar by then. In June, Marco Island's news site reported that The Gate Golf Club, near the southwest corner of Golden Gate Parkway and Collier Boulevard, was aiming for a December opening. The plan is a public venue with a nine-hole course, an 18-hole putting course, a 38-bay driving range, Oakwood Grill, The Gimme concessions and a bar called The Pavilion. If it opens on that schedule, Lely Resort's golfers will have a casual practice option on the same road as the new restaurants.

Before December 4, though, the season near Lely Resort comes down to two mornings at Eagle Lakes, a Friday-night price deadline for the long rides and a brunch table on Collier Boulevard that stays open until 3 p.m. on Sunday.

If you're setting up winter plans, from out-of-town guests to which weekends to keep open, Burnham Group is glad to share what we know about this part of East Naples. Let's Connect.