Back to Naples...

Last night we made the unanimous decision to return to our villa in Naples a day early as we all missed the peace and quiet, space and privacy. Today (if we'd stayed in Marathon) was supposed to be a relaxing day spent by the hotel pool but after yesterday and the crowds of people, we changed our minds. It's also our 25th Wedding Anniversary today, and we decided to have a Chinese take-away and have a much-needed night in!

I know we've probably missed a lot that the Keys have to offer and I'll no doubt look back and wish we'd explored a bit more, but we all love the villa and just being able to relax and have our own pool is wonderful, and we're very lucky to have that, so why not make the most of it?

Mike refused to eat breakfast this morning (he did have a banana) and I was half way through a turkey patty when I found some gristle, so the rest of the stuff on my plate went into the bin. We loaded all our bags into the car, checked out and we were on our way!

We had a great journey through the Keys and we kept looking out for a McDonald's for Mike, and amazingly didn't see one! In the end we stopped at the Subway on the 997 again and I satisfied my craving for a bar of chocolate, Mike had a meatball sub while Sophie had a Snickers ice-cream.

Driving on the 41 was lovely and I was doing a steady 70mph until we came across a large truck that slowed all the traffic down. I'm always a bit wary of overtaking in a car that I don't know that well, so I stayed behind him and as soon as the road widened out into two lanes I sped past! It made me realise how lucky I'd been that the two journeys had (mostly) been nice and fast!

Before we went back to the villa we called into Publix and did some shopping, which included a bottle of Chandon, a Californian sparkling wine, to drink tonight. I also treated myself to another bottle of Vodka as the plan was to stay in for the next couple of nights and just relax at the villa.

As soon as we got back we unloaded the car and unpacked all our bags before opening our anniversary cards, some of which we'd bought from home.

It was then time to relax by the pool and do very little! The sky was blue, the sun was shining and it was peaceful and quiet. Bliss!

In the evening we popped out to the Dragon Palace and ordered our meals. We all decided on sweet and sour chicken with pork fried rice and egg rolls. The wine was delicious and I could easily have enjoyed more. Luckily I can buy this in the wine shop I worked at!

After our meal Sophie and I watched a documentary on Scientology presented by Leah Remini and it was perfect ending to a great day!