Hilary
There's always something new to learn!
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2000
- Messages
- 6,483
Cast
Me Hilary, 48. Beginning to suffer from trip-planning overload, but looking forward to seeing some new-to-us parts of Florida.
DH Jeremy, 49. Looking forward to fishing opportunities in the Keys and on the coast, but could do without quite as long in Orlando.
DD1 Rhian , 19. Looking forward to forgetting university studies for two weeks anything else will be a bonus.
DD2 Amy, 15. Looking forward to first trip to IOA , Mission Space and the Hard Rock Hotel, but not looking forward to the prospect of being ill on the flights again.
Sunday 4th April
We left Banana Bay this morning and began the long drive back up the Keys and across the Everglades to Naples. Id enjoyed our time in the Keys, but I was happy to be moving on today. At the time I can remember thinking I wouldnt be in a hurry to return, but now weve been home a while, I would quite like to go back one day
.
On our way back up Highway 1 we planned to stop off at the WalMart Supercentre near Florida City, but we had a bit of trouble finding a junction to reach it. Eventually we found our way in and spent a while depleting the fishing tackle and craft supplies sections. A little further on our journey we stopped at a Wendys for lunch, confirming our ability to spot American high culture WalMart and Wendys in the space of five miles.
Wed been looking forward to crossing the Everglades and Jeremy began worrying that we wouldnt be adequately dressed in shorts, what with all that wildlife out there. Surely I should have fitted us all out with our Im a Celebrity jungle kit? The first ten miles or so were very interesting we spotted lots of alligators busking at the side of the road. Oh no, sorry, I mean basking; they werent asking for money. That was interesting, but apart from that, the novelty wore off very quickly.
I tell you, the Romans could learn a thing or two about building straight roads from these guys. There was one long bend about a third of the way along and you could hear the whoops of excitement from everyone as the cars went round, before settling back to their cruise control for another 30 miles.
After several hours of straight, flat road, we came to Naples. This isnt the Naples of See Naples and die fame, is it? No, I didnt think so. Mind you, as most people we saw here seemed to be well into their retirement, it wouldnt be too inappropriate
.
And so to check-in number 4 at the Park Shore Resort. Here we had the nicest receptionist of our trip, very helpful and polite. The fact that she uttered those three little words, weve upgraded you
as she checked us in might have helped cement the image. Wed booked a one bedroom suite (there are no rooms here, theyre all suites), but theyd allocated us a two bedroom one. Yes! The accommodation buildings didnt look too promising from the outside (Jeremy said they looked a bit like Swansea prison), but inside they were really nice. We had two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a large kitchen / living / dining area with a balcony along the whole of one side.
After unpacking and having a meander around the resort we went to a nearby restaurant, The Tropical Palms, which must have had a tie-in with the Over 60s club it was full of seniors tucking in. However, by 7pm theyd all left and we had the place pretty much to ourselves.
Back to our two bedroom luxury and a quiet beer on the balcony.
Monday, 5th April
We spent the day doing a bit of exploring our new destination. We had breakfast in a Perkins nearby (very slow service, but good food when it eventually arrived) and then went to find Naples pier for a stroll to the end. The first unexpected touch was that we had to pay to park here weve never stayed anywhere cosmopolitan enough in Florida for this before! The pier was pretty crowded Spring Break started here this weekend and the nearby beach was packed. Not my cup of tea at all. After our allotted 40 minutes on the parking meter we left the pier, but decided to throw another few quarters at the meter to explore the nearby shops. Oh dear, not our kind of shops either
much too upmarket for us, Im afraid.
We didnt see anywhere on our drive back to Park Shore that looked particularly interesting to us. There were restaurants everywhere, so we knew we wouldnt starve, but the shops we saw all appeared to be designer boutiques, antique shops, furniture shops and shops with designer furniture, antique furniture and designer antiques. Did I mention the antique designer furniture boutiques?
We spent the afternoon by the hotel pool and in the hotel laundry (guess which one I did?) and then drove out to Tin City, a shopping village wed seen advertised. This was more our style it was like a Covent Garden kind of area with lots of small shops in two large converted warehouses. Next to Tin City was a boardwalk area of shops called, er, Docklands Boardwalk, and we enjoyed strolling along here too. Not exactly Kiss me Quick kind of shops, but much less in the way of antique designer furniture!
Wed hoped to find somewhere to eat in Tin City, but there werent very many places (unlike everywhere else in Naples!) and none of them seemed to have much (if anything) for vegetarians. So we stopped on our way back to the hotel to pick up a Chinese take-away to eat back in our room, and really liked the fortune cookies which came on the house. You dont get those in the Swansea Chinese!
Me Hilary, 48. Beginning to suffer from trip-planning overload, but looking forward to seeing some new-to-us parts of Florida.
DH Jeremy, 49. Looking forward to fishing opportunities in the Keys and on the coast, but could do without quite as long in Orlando.
DD1 Rhian , 19. Looking forward to forgetting university studies for two weeks anything else will be a bonus.
DD2 Amy, 15. Looking forward to first trip to IOA , Mission Space and the Hard Rock Hotel, but not looking forward to the prospect of being ill on the flights again.
Sunday 4th April
We left Banana Bay this morning and began the long drive back up the Keys and across the Everglades to Naples. Id enjoyed our time in the Keys, but I was happy to be moving on today. At the time I can remember thinking I wouldnt be in a hurry to return, but now weve been home a while, I would quite like to go back one day
. On our way back up Highway 1 we planned to stop off at the WalMart Supercentre near Florida City, but we had a bit of trouble finding a junction to reach it. Eventually we found our way in and spent a while depleting the fishing tackle and craft supplies sections. A little further on our journey we stopped at a Wendys for lunch, confirming our ability to spot American high culture WalMart and Wendys in the space of five miles.
Wed been looking forward to crossing the Everglades and Jeremy began worrying that we wouldnt be adequately dressed in shorts, what with all that wildlife out there. Surely I should have fitted us all out with our Im a Celebrity jungle kit? The first ten miles or so were very interesting we spotted lots of alligators busking at the side of the road. Oh no, sorry, I mean basking; they werent asking for money. That was interesting, but apart from that, the novelty wore off very quickly.
I tell you, the Romans could learn a thing or two about building straight roads from these guys. There was one long bend about a third of the way along and you could hear the whoops of excitement from everyone as the cars went round, before settling back to their cruise control for another 30 miles. After several hours of straight, flat road, we came to Naples. This isnt the Naples of See Naples and die fame, is it? No, I didnt think so. Mind you, as most people we saw here seemed to be well into their retirement, it wouldnt be too inappropriate
.And so to check-in number 4 at the Park Shore Resort. Here we had the nicest receptionist of our trip, very helpful and polite. The fact that she uttered those three little words, weve upgraded you
as she checked us in might have helped cement the image. Wed booked a one bedroom suite (there are no rooms here, theyre all suites), but theyd allocated us a two bedroom one. Yes! The accommodation buildings didnt look too promising from the outside (Jeremy said they looked a bit like Swansea prison), but inside they were really nice. We had two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a large kitchen / living / dining area with a balcony along the whole of one side.After unpacking and having a meander around the resort we went to a nearby restaurant, The Tropical Palms, which must have had a tie-in with the Over 60s club it was full of seniors tucking in. However, by 7pm theyd all left and we had the place pretty much to ourselves.
Back to our two bedroom luxury and a quiet beer on the balcony.
Monday, 5th April
We spent the day doing a bit of exploring our new destination. We had breakfast in a Perkins nearby (very slow service, but good food when it eventually arrived) and then went to find Naples pier for a stroll to the end. The first unexpected touch was that we had to pay to park here weve never stayed anywhere cosmopolitan enough in Florida for this before! The pier was pretty crowded Spring Break started here this weekend and the nearby beach was packed. Not my cup of tea at all. After our allotted 40 minutes on the parking meter we left the pier, but decided to throw another few quarters at the meter to explore the nearby shops. Oh dear, not our kind of shops either
much too upmarket for us, Im afraid. We didnt see anywhere on our drive back to Park Shore that looked particularly interesting to us. There were restaurants everywhere, so we knew we wouldnt starve, but the shops we saw all appeared to be designer boutiques, antique shops, furniture shops and shops with designer furniture, antique furniture and designer antiques. Did I mention the antique designer furniture boutiques?
We spent the afternoon by the hotel pool and in the hotel laundry (guess which one I did?) and then drove out to Tin City, a shopping village wed seen advertised. This was more our style it was like a Covent Garden kind of area with lots of small shops in two large converted warehouses. Next to Tin City was a boardwalk area of shops called, er, Docklands Boardwalk, and we enjoyed strolling along here too. Not exactly Kiss me Quick kind of shops, but much less in the way of antique designer furniture!
Wed hoped to find somewhere to eat in Tin City, but there werent very many places (unlike everywhere else in Naples!) and none of them seemed to have much (if anything) for vegetarians. So we stopped on our way back to the hotel to pick up a Chinese take-away to eat back in our room, and really liked the fortune cookies which came on the house. You dont get those in the Swansea Chinese!
