Said goodbye to Petes Beach and headed further South this morning, turning off the highway and tried to go along a coast road but it was very difficult to find our way as its all these little Islands connected by bridges and when you hit the water you think you are oceanside but turns out your not , you are in the inlet side. I think in times like this we could use one of those Submarine Periscopes just to keep us in the right direction..Anyway we were told to go to Siesta Beach which we actually came across by accident, we then got some directions from a lovely lady and we got to see it.. The sand there was just like Talcom powder and as the sun was out today there was a lot more people out on the water. Today is Friday and its the Labour day weekend so a bit busier than it has been. We stopped for lunch in Venice which was a lovely town then we travelled over a few more bridges and highways through Port Charlotte and then Fort Myers which was huge and finally got to Naples. We are staying out on the edge of town so we drove into down town and came upon this road which was (as I later read) Not millionaires row but Billionaire row, the homes were just amazing as were the shops and restaurants along 5th ave. Apparently the owners are all new money and live on their investments and do coffee with their stockbrokers...It really but every house I have seen in America sofar look cheap. This street of homes all back onto water, oneside ocean the otherside inlet, just WOW !
We had some Appies and beer for dinner and now we are tucked up in our room watching the Tennis,and we just watched Tomic get beaten by Roddick .
Today is Saturday and after we left Naples we drove through the Everglades National Park.. Indian Territory. There were lots of Air Boat tour Companies all along the way and not a lot else other than Marshy swamps... Just about 50 miles from Miami we made a right turn onto Hwy 997 to take us to the Florida Keys... It is around 140 miles from the start until you get to Ket West, in the beginning there was a lot of traffic but the further South we got the less cars there were.. We passed our accommodations at Sugarloaf Key, easy to find as there was only one motel there. We drove on for another 15 minutes to Key West.. the end of the chain and also one of the bigger Isles..6 miles long and 4 miles wide. At the start there were all the newer shops like Walgreens and Publix (the Grocery store) but as you get to the bottom of the Island you see the old part of town.. We parked the car ($15) at the wharf and just made it to the seafood restaurant brfore the rain came down.. just a passing shower thankfully.. Had a nice lunch the split up and went our own ways to meet up in 2 hours . Which we did. I just walked around the waterfront and down the main Street Duvall St. Many pubs and bands and people. Went to the White House where Harry Truman used to come and stay and other Presidents after him, it now called the Mini White House. Jo visited the famous authors house , who wrote "for whom the bell tolls" Earnest Hemmingway he apparently spent time down here writing his books. The house was full of cats Jo said but buy the book he reportedly had around 19 cats living in the house with him..Yuk!!
After hooking up again we drove back to our accommodations for the nite at Sugarloaf...unpacked the car and headed down to the Cabana for a few bayside drinks and Appies with the locals...Nice night. They had a musician singing who was nice and friendly even though he didnt know any Tim Mcgraw or Keef ...Tomorrow, our last day in the car.. Off we go to Miami...