Key West, Little Palm Island & Naples

1.)Key West is packed with interesting sites. Explored every street and alley in the old town.

2.)Little Palm Island Resort needs to be experienced once in a lifetime, either for lunch, dinner or overnight. The height of Romance...

3.)Sannibel & Captiva Islands are well worth the journey there.

We also happened to go to Naples, which wasn't for us. But fortunately, we were close to Sanibel and Captiva Islands, which we totally loved.

Quick Tips:

Key West: Avoid the "Duval Street Crawl"...forget cars, get bikes...ride everywhere in old town...great neighborhoods to explore...

Little Palm Island: wow, better than expected...a visit of any kind is in order...If you don't want to spend the night, try it for lunch or dinner...

Best Way To Get Around:

Key West: cab from airport, bikes in town

Little Palm Island: you take the private launch from their guest reception/dock

Naples: Rent a car

This is possibly the best location in Key West, right on the harbour overlooking the convergence of the Gulf Of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. All the Cruise ships pull in and out of their docks right in front of your bedroom.

The desk clerk must have liked us, because she gave us a room w/a fantastic location within the hotel. We had ocean views out our bedroom window and balcony. Luckily,the hotel''s new restaurant "Hot Tin Roof" had just opened 2 weeks earlier. The food and service were fantastic, as is their fun sunset pier/bar.

Although the service, location and atmosphere at the Ocean Key were all exceptional, the room accomodations were a bit below expectation.The rooms were fairly small and laid out in odd angles. Not particularly romantic, but your surroundings are so exciting, that it''s easy to forgive.

Activities is what we''re talking about here. Hotel Concierge arranged for bicycles to be dropped off, in the hotel''s bike-friendly courtyard. (Staff is great) We loved tripping around town, especially down Caroline Ave for several hip shops and cafes.

The hotel pool is a pretty good size. It also overlooks Mallory Square, worldfamous for it''s nightly sunset party. Each night magicians, talking dogs,all sorts of stuntmen show up to perform for the crowd.

Overall,I wouldn''t consider Ocean Key a particularly romantic resort. What it is though, is exciting.It''s a perfect place to have a lot of fun.

Imagine Gilligan''s Island on Steroids or Robinson Crusoe building the Bel-Air Hotel.

We arrived at the LPI guest reception on Little Torch Key. There we were greeted with a ice cold beverage and escorted onto the resort''s beautiful private launch that carried us off to the island. On our way, we happened to pass by a manatee, a lucky treat that our captain pointed out.

LPI is a real labor of love, with a wonderful history as well. She''s the jewel in the Noble House chain of hotels. The resort is comprised of 14 Palmleaf-thatched bungalows (28 villas). They share this five-acre island with a fine staff that only want to make their lucky guests happy . . . egrets, herons, frigates, pelicans, Key deer, iguanas, everywhere, holding fort . . .

The bungalows are close to the most romantic places on Earth . . . Every villa with private front deck, living room, changing room, bedroom, and bath. The bedroom was totally tropical and sexy. Outdoor showers overlooking the Atlantic. Man . . .

Fortunately, our five-night package included the meal plan. Chef Adam Votaw was truly inspired. While there, he was shooting a TV spot for the "Today Show". During the day, we''d see him and film crew parading around the island. It was funny and we were very happy for him. Though we were over-indulged, we never grew tired of his culinary skills, including his famous "Lobster Martini".

Wonderful,live jazz each night was an added treat. We dined on the beach by torchlight as a trio played wondeful torch songs. Key deer (they swim from island to island during low tide) would come around the table for some of the bread rolls. The waiters didn''t care for this at all, even though we loved it.

LPI has it all: luxury, tranquility, gorgeous landscape, interesting guests, romance . . . the best massage of my life . . . even a picturesque zen garden.

Especially memorable are the many long piers that jet off the island at different locations. Lounge chairs strategically placed at various points for different perspectives. Different crafts and vessels would pull in and dock for a day or two. I loved walking past them during the day.

A couple of suggestions: if you''re looking for a great beach, it''s not here. Best described as small, yet well maintained. The pool area and bar were just fine for us.

I''d also recommend that guests request oceanview rooms, primarily #20-28. This side of the island is less windy. The most private rooms are #14-17, in the back of the island.

LPI is a place you should visit at least once, preferably for a special occasion.

Note: The Sports Illustrated 2003 edition just came out with many pictures shot at LPI. This happened a couple of weeks before we got there. Rats!!!!

Millions of Dollars were just recently spent in renovation on Noble House's La Playa Resort in Naples, Fl. Overall, the place is very tasteful and we enjoyed our stay. My problem is Naples. Many of the hotels (like the Ritz-Carlton:1 mile up the road)are set along the beach of Vanderbilt Bay. This is a much different vibe than what your average Californian is used to. I just didn't particularly care for the environment around Naples. Development is out of control.

I digress. La Playa's as good as they come. A big plus is the excellent beachfront location. The property actually sits very close to the shoreline, much closer than any of the neighboring properties. I did enjoy waking, then walking the beach before breakfast. Phenominal assortment of shells. Our room sat close to the water. Each night we'd leave the balcony door open, so we could hear the ocean lap onto the shore. That was nice. Baleen, the restaurant, was quite good. We found that all three restaurants within the Noble House chain that we dined at, were quite good. The odd thing was the four swimming pools that had just been built. It seemed like overkill, but we were there in low season. Fortunately for us, this leg of our vacation was made up for by our daytrip to Sannibel and Captiva Islands.

Great stop for Lunch...Small local beach and bike rack on site...restaurant is a converted home w/tons of charm and style...It's unique, special and slightly off the beaten path...start w/drinks at the Afterdeck bar in the back. Then lunch under trees on patio...food not as memorable as experience...

Love it...this place looks like it was created by chance...like it's been there a hundred years,just washed ashore...BH sits in the backyard...we heard dinner is great, but we had breakfast and just loved it...tons of great photo ops here...fun,silly,special, ...AAA+++...p.s. don't feed the chickens or you'll be sorry...

While visiting Naples, we made a daytrip to Sannibel & Captiva Islands. This was the most rewarding portion of this leg of our journey. My wife insisted on stopping at the visitors center as we entered Sanibel.The Old boy behind the desk took a liking to my wife, and gave her all the inside poop.

It's all happening at the "Ding" Darling Wildlife Refuge. Mr. Darling (bless his soul) designed the "Duck Stamp". The proceeds from this stamp were used to buy over 4.4 million acres of wetlands. If you're a nature lover, you will absolutely love Sanibel.

Rent bikes when you get into town. Actually, there isn't a town. There are, however, several shopping centers, and various stores strewn along Sanibel-Captiva Rd. Lots of places to rent bikes. The entire ride is about 3-4 hours, but ladies, it's all level.

While riding toward the entrance of the DDWR, be sure to stop at the Sanibel Shell Museum. It's dedicated to Raymond Burr (Perry Mason).Tell the museum ladies that Pianoman says "hi". They occasionally serve guests some refreshments.

When you arrive at DDWR, be sure to visit the wildlife center and buy something.

Then either walk, ride, drive (boo!!!) or take the tram through the refuge. Large wetlands, Red Mangroves, marshes, bayous, and shellmounds are everywhere. So is every type of shore bird imaginable. Blue and Gray Herons,Snowy-White Egrets, Pelicans. They're all here. Roseate Spoonbills were my favorite. They're about 3&1/2 ft tall, bright pink birds, with the "platypus-type" spoonbill. Tons of fish too. These big ol' mullets (fish) were jumping right out of the water, catching mosquitoes (go, fish!). I saw a few of the locals fishing off a couple bridges along the drive. Spotted alligators too. It was great...

After returning the bikes, we headed on toward Captiva. Unfortunately, we arrived rather late. Too late to really explore the place. We did, however, find the Mucky Duck for sunset beverages on the beach. Bubbles, right down the road, is also very popular. We ran out of time and slowly returned to Naples, dodging occasional raccoons in our headlights.