Today started off with us packing before going down for breakfast on the sunny terrace again.

Once we’d checked out we had a 10 minute or so walk to our car rental office on 5th Avenue. Service was slow which was a bit frustrating because you don’t book a time to pick up the car and then have to wait.

We put the luggage in the car, and we were off to Naples. There were roadworks which delayed some of the journey and it took us about 3 hours to get there. Not quite the 2 hours 15 minutes that Google Maps told me.

JC played “spot the alligator” as I drove down Alligator Alley. He managed to see three lurking in the waters as we passed through the Everglades.

We were able to get our room even though the official check in time was 4pm, so that was a bonus. We dumped the luggage and went to see if we could try and get something to eat.

https://www.innatpelicanbay.com

We walked only 100 yards or so before we found a place called Namba, a Japanese seafood restaurant. Prices were decent and choice aplenty. I ordered teriyaki salmon and vegetables. It came fairly quickly and had a few bites before I realised that the salmon was raw in the middle. After a quick look on the internet, I found that eating raw salmon is a definite no-no, so I told the waiter. He sent someone more senior who offered me something else but I declined. We weren’t charged for the fish and soon left to go back to the hotel.

Inn at the Pelican has a dedicated shuttle service so it took us a mile or so down to the beach. What struck me whilst walking along the shoreline was the amount of retirees that live or stay in the Naples area near our hotel. I felt young compared to most of the population! It seems that there are high end hotels – golf resorts and spas, and lots of community residences. Apparently people stay 2, 3 or even 6 months at the Inn at the Pelican so there must be a lot of cash around here….

Vanderbilt Beach, where we walked, is a beautiful white sandy beach with lots of shells. We spotted a dead jellyfish that the tide had brought in, a bit of a reminder of what lurks in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. We came off the beach at Gulf Shore Drive and walked back up towards Vanderbilt Beach Road.

This is where we found a gem of a place called Buzz’s Lighthouse Restaurant. It was busy, always a good sign, but we got a table. It’s a wooden building overlooking a marina with tables inside and outside. We were shown to an outside table by the front of house lady.

The menu had good choices: shrimp, chicken, fish and burgers. We had good service from our waiter who was very helpful and recommended a signature dish, Buzz’s famous grouper Reuben sandwich. This was blackened grouper, thousand island dressing and home-made coleslaw in rye bread, it was delicious.

https://buzzslighthouse.com

After we’d eaten we walked back to the hotel instead of requesting the shuttle and we sat outside in the gardens briefly before getting a cocktail from the bar. Sadly, it wasn’t very well equipped. They couldn’t make a pornstar martini (no passionfruit) nor a mojito (no mint). I ended up with something that the barman could make with rum, something like a pina colada but not. JC had an old fashioned, Geoff the barman had made it in a barrel two weeks ago.

It was a lovely balmy evening which was topped off with a stunning sunset from our balcony.

I looked into what to do tomorrow, Tuesday. We will be heading downtown.