Today we had less than 20 nautical miles to run so we got a late start at 10:55am. We are heading to Naples where we hear the homes are gorgeous and the shopping extraordinary.

The sail to Naples was just the right mix of sun and wind for a leisurely jaunt up the Gulf coast. At about 2:45P we pulled into our next marina which was newly built. The slips are located alongside of the Florida West coast ICW. It was like being on I95 and pulling over into a rest stop. Anyway, we got settled into our slip pretty quickly and decided to take a walk into town to check out the area.

This town is beyond beautiful. The homes start at $400K if that gives you any idea. The primo spot to visit is 5th Avenue. It is several blocks of high end shopping mixed with tons of restaurants of every cuisine imaginable. Lots of sidewalk cafes and eateries to choose from. Bob and I realized we should have changed out of our tee shirts and shorts because we weren't in Key West anymore! Polos and slacks, yes full on pants, were the norm. Needless to say we longed for KW. We ended up at an Irish pub where the only thing that was Irish was the beer and the waitress. All the food was made out of the kitchen next door that belonged to the Italian restaurant. The food was so-so but the waitress was a lot of fun. She was from the county Cork area and spends her winters in Naples. Not a bad gig.

We walked to the beach via some great neighborhoods with lots of mansions and property a landscaper would covet. The architecture varies within the neighborhoods which makes walking the streets more interesting along with the flora which was gorgeous and colorful.

We met a friendly guy named Al who captains a 76 foot boat named "Glory". Al gave us all kinds of great suggestions for the area as he was born and raised in Fort Myers. After talking a bit Al invited Bob to take a tour of Glory while getting her ready for the owner who was due to arrive the next day. Let's just say that the boat had five televisions all of which were in the process of being upgraded! Bob described the galley which sounded like it was larger than my kitchen at home! The owners went to the Miami Boat Show this week and are in the midst of purchasing a 110 foot vessel to replace the 1994 yacht sitting behind us. Life is grand, isn't it?

We enjoyed our stay at the marina even though we felt completely out of our league. All of the yachts were a minimum of 60 feet and then there we were dwarfed by the sheer height of some of these boats. I don't know how someone could climb the steps to reach the top level of the boats set up for deep sea fishing. Talk about high seas!

Naples is a beautiful place to visit, that's for sure. We are missing the casualness of the keys and hope to find it as we travel further north. Sail on!