Port of Islands

Saturday, 9 January 2010

We left Homestead this morning and headed west to the Port of Islands and the west side of the Everglades. We have treated ourselves to a bit of luxury for a few days and booked a hotel. The motels have been good but they are generally situated by a busy and noisy road and the one we have stayed the last three nights, I think the walls were made of paper.

Taking the highway 41 we intended to stop and do several things but alas the wind is cold and the rain is wet and none of it seemed very appealing in those conditions so we decided to take a scenic 40 mile detour. The ‘detour’ took us about 3 hours; not because it was beautiful; not because it was interesting; but because it was an unmade road or should I say a 40 mile stretch of potholes, some small, some large; but bone shakingly tiring; fun to start with, tiresome by the end – and I didn’t even take any photos of it!

The Port of the Island Hotel was allegedly built by Cuban Lawyers in order to smuggle drugs and it has an Hispanic feel with a double height entrance hall lined with doors and a first floor balcony with yet more doors. It is, disappointingly, not at all luxurious anymore although it very obviously once was. It is, however, quiet so hopefully Paul will sleep a bit better tonight. After booking in and settling down with a refreshing cup of coffee, we nipped down to Naples, a somewhat understatedly wealthy town with boutique hotels and ‘fancy’ shops. It was dark by the time we got there but we managed a walk on the beach and along the pier, in a very cold wind, before returning to the car and the search for something to eat.