Views over the water.

We spent today at the villa and had a very relaxed day in or by the pool. It was heaven. The weather has been gorgeous with not a cloud in the sky in the morning and it was lovely to just lie and read or stare up at the white fluffy clouds in the afternoon.

By about 4pm we'd all had enough sun so we packed for our three night stay in the Florida Keys. Mike and Sophie shared a suitcase as they're sharing a room at the Holiday Inn in Marathon. I just hoped we'd be near each other and not floors apart!

We had booked a table at a restaurant for this evening called The Boat House which is on Naples Dock, so right on the water. We left a bit early so we could find it and, of course, arrived very early for our booking. They had a bar so we decided to have a drink first but the place was packed with people and there was nowhere to sit at all. We did a circuit of the bar area (no doubt watched by everyone sitting on the bar stools!) and then decided to leave and find somewhere else for a drink. We walked along the dock but the bar we saw was for residents of The Cove Inn only, so we got back into the car and drove on a bit further, finding a restaurant called The Dock at Crayton Cove. This, too, was busy but the very friendly front of house girl said we were more than welcome to just have a drink.

Sophie had a Margarita, I had a glass of wine, Keith had beer while Mike had a lemonade. We sat and people watched and a family to the right of us fascinated me as the Mum rushed around entertaining her young children, but Dad just sat and stared at his phone the whole time!

After our drink we made our way back to The Boathouse and to our utter delight were seated at a corner table right by the window. The views were stunning and we felt like we'd been given the best table in the restaurant.

However, all was not perfect as the service was painfully slow, but luckily we weren't in any hurry and we were happy to just sit and gaze out over the water and watch the boats come and go.

For dinner we chose chicken wings as a shared starter and I had a bowl of mussels. Our mains included chicken salad (me), rack of lamb (Keith), steak sandwich (Sophie) and a beautiful dish of prawns, pasta and scallops for Mike. My salad was huge and I just couldn't finish it and we all agreed that the food was very good, it was just the service that let the restaurant down. Our server blamed the fact that the place was busy, but it wasn't that packed. The good thing is, we were inside, with air-conditioning and it was lovely and cool!

Back at the villa, we had a nightcap and then it was off to bed, excited for our trip tomorrow!