Travel Blog: Naples, FL

As the morning struck on Saturday it was another travel weekend, making back to back travel posts on this blog. The girlfriend and I jumped in the car around 6:30am and started the navigation to Naples.

An easy drive with one stress inducing event - an unsecured load being released on the highway. It all happened so fast at 80mph, but a car lost some wood/umbrellas from their car and a car behind rammed into it. This exploded the debris into thousands of pieces and that car swerved into the shoulder with junk stuck to the front of car. Brakes slammed everywhere and people swerved in/out of the settling debris. Thankfully we went through with no flat tires and no crash.

About an hour later we arrived in Pelican Bay, which was an elegant expensive looking collection of homes and condos. It was the off-season, so construction was in progress and plenty of parking spaces around.

We met up with some friends and decided to head to the beach, but we were 2.7 miles away by foot. This is where Pelican Bay shines in both security and elegance. You end up at a checkpoint where licenses and guest passes need to be checked. Once done you await a tram (golf cart) that takes you to one of the many beach spots.

Due to hurricane damage only the north beach had a working bar/grill so that was our first stop. However, the bar didn't open till 11am and we were there at 10 so our trip ended relatively quickly as we had a fancy brunch to attend.

The brunch was at Sails, which surprised me the instant we got in range of the building. This was a brunch that had a single sitting time, but allowed folks to start their tab outside with mimosas. When we saw people dressed in suits holding champagne I felt a bit under dressed and a bit out classed.

As we were seated alongside a few other tables - live music began immediately and staff came by with trays of donuts and more. Our table opted for "Chef's Touch" which meant we just got dish after dish delivered to share among the table. What was interesting again is we did not distribute the food delivered to our table. Once placed another staff member would divide up the servings and pass around our table.

We opted into 2 orders of 1 oz of caviar, which was a new experience for me. Learning from strict teachings from our wait staff - don't ever use a metal spoon when scooping out caviar. I guess our table was too eager as the caviar was delivered and then the porcelain spoons later.

After rounds of dishes we finally hit dessert which was a ton of sugar. The video below shows just one of the various dishes we tried. It was the most elegant brunch I've ever attended and probably will remain that way for a long time.

When the clock struck almost 2pm - our brunch was over and I felt like a whale. I had consumed so many donuts, dishes and desserts that I felt so full. This turned out to be a problem as we had a steakhouse dinner planned that night.

When dinner approached at Chops City Grill I knew my stomach didn't have the power to consume a large steak, so I opted for a tiny 5 oz wagyu. This restaurant had the tables packed so close together and it seemed like the go-to place for Naples steak.

We quickly learned the packed seats were related to a 30% off any wine bottles so we of course had to get two bottles of wine for the table. While I was full from the instant we got there it was a fun time and a good chance to experience a tiny amount of wagyu. The cheesecake was dense and ended up being a perfect breakfast item for the next day.

As the next day arrived it was beach day. A long tram ride ended us at the southern part of the beach on a windy overcast day. As a Florida local the heat wasn't that strong to necessitate a constant dive into the water. So as we tanned it was becoming clear our beach day would be ended by storms and lightning.

Sure enough as we were packing up it began to drizzle/rain and for myself and the girlfriend trapped on the back of a golf cart - we got partially soaked. We ended up at the north beach to grab a bite to eat under the cover of a building at Marker 36.

This was a good cheaper meal on the beach and just what I needed as my first meal of the day. A solid amount of tarter sauce, malt vinegar and ketchup was in my future as I ate every fry and fish chunk in front of me.

With rain in the air we cleaned up post beach and went off to mini golf, which isn't really worth blogging about as once again - we got rained out. However, it's interesting to note that a real live iguana was sitting on one of the holes - I honestly thought it was part of the hole until it moved as a ball approached it.

A couple holes later - a staff member came out onto the course and asked for us to leave as lightning was 4 miles away and he was required by law to close within 10 miles. The last two times I've been mini golfing have both been rained out unfortunately.

This meant we were approaching our final dinner in Naples and this time we ended up at Mediterrano in South Naples. Sure enough with a day break to recover on my stomach I went straight back to steak and got a Filet Mignon. It was a great place with excellent tzatziki and hummus with creative decor around.

You sat outside with plants suspended in the air with fans rotating & blowing the plants and sometimes leaves into your food/face. I enjoy the night humidity and feel of Florida air so felt right at home.

As dinner ended we were approaching late Sunday which is when this blog needs to go live. With my first visit to Naples I was surprised on how elegant some of the meals were - I just didn't expect it. We have 1 more day in Naples, but the post must go out on Sunday.