Naples and Orlando, Florida

We left Key West and headed toward Orlando, driving up the west coast of Florida through the Everglades. Let me make this very clear....I will NEVER get into one of those air boats and go thru the swamps. To me, the only good alligator is a purse or a pair of shoes. Maybe a wallet. To me, that is the only reason I can find for these creatures to exist. I would never intentionally go somewhere to see one of them. The thought that all of Florida is a swamp, and that they can be anywhere, is really distressing to me. So we drove thru the Everglades very quickly.

We stopped in Naples to break up the trip and spent two nights at the Ritz Carlton. The first night we had dinner in the Grill Room at the hotel. It is their major restaurant, and it was great....but a LOT of food! So after touring Naples and discovering that it is a lovely golf resort town and nothing more, we decided to "stay in" the next night.

As I have said, the Ritz Carlton hotels are amazing, and the club floors as so worth the extra money. They have food presentations all day and each setting is better than the next. We found ourselves and well as six other couples having cocktails and eating there in the evening.

BTW, the Ritz in Naples has an amazing Nature Club for the children on property, and actually, as an adult, I enjoyed visiting it. It is not as big as the spa, which is amazing, but it is filled with animals and information about wildlife. It is great if you have the grandkids and you want something special for them to experience at the hotel. The Ritz staff have done a lot of wonderful things at this property, and this is certainly one of them.

On Friday, we headed into Orlando. Our timing was perfect since our adult children were off work for the week-end and the grandkids were out of school. We went directly to their new house and got a chance to see where they were now living. After 16 years in Raleigh-Durham, this was a big change for them. But it is an exciting time for all of them....and change can be a good thing.

We never knew there was a city in Orlando apart from Mickey's House, Universal Studios, and Cape Kennedy. It's nice to know that one does exist. As in our family there, some of the people in this city are doctors and some are lawyers. Some run cross country and some play the tuba. And some are program computers . So my friends, it is not all Universal and Disney World.

We stayed at the Grand Bohemian Hotel, which is a kick. It is a full-service hotel with a wonderful restaurant, and one of four oversized Bosendorfer Concert Grand pianos in the world.
The hotel is in downtown Orlando, and has quite an art collection. You need to see it to believe it!! We had an exciting time exploring Winter Park and Leu Gardens, the Science Center Museum and some new restaurants. This will be a fun city to get to know...and now when I skype my grandchildren, and I see them sitting in a room, I know where that room is!

Sadly, it quickly became Monday, and everyone had to return to their normal lives. I always hate saying "good-bye"...but I know all good things eventually have to come to an end...and I also know there will be more good times ahead.