Clothes shopping and a trip to Naples

Tuesday began with the beach being cleaned up after the wind and rain of the day before. We were able to watch this from our balcony and we could see how much brighter it was today.

Clothes Shopping

Those who have read previous year's blogs will know that as well as a tour of a Walmart or other Supermarket we also build some clothes shopping into our visits to the US. Back in 2009 when we got to Astoria, Washington State we visited JC Penny and found some clothes that suited me really well. Indeed as I write this my trousers, shirt and underwear all come from shopping for clothes in the states over the years since. I also have some shirts with me that I bought in 2002! 

So with the weather being dry but with storms possibe we decided to do our clothes shopping today.

JC Penny's was in a Mall called the Coastland Centre on 9th Street, Naples, about 22 miles north of us.

The first ten miles of the drive was wonderful, with bright views over the bay as we left Marco Island. But after the first ten miles a storm began and continued for the rest of the journey. This storm was clearly more than the roads and sidewalks around here are designed for. It is hard to take a good picture when the car windows and so wet, but Drew seems to have managed to get this drain to show how the water was flowing. To put it simply, heavily.

We made it through the rain to the Mall and enjoyed our shop. Even with a much worse exchange rate than in the past. $1.31 to the $ compared with $1.57 in 2015; $1.62 in 2012 and $1.66 in 2009, clothes remain cheaper here than in the UK. Indeed it was even cheaper today as there was a 20% discount on all items for the 'back to school' period - many US schools start next week - and the cashier applied that discount to our clothes. So a pair of trousers were $70 less the regular JC Penny discount of $35.01 and then the 20% meaning I only paid $27.99 which is the equivalent of £21.22. Similar trousers in the UK would be in the £50 range. 

Both Drew and I completed our clothes buying and we took them back to the car, but as it was still raining heavily we went back into the Mall and spent time in some of the stores looking around plus stopping for a coffee. When I checked my iPod we had walked 3 miles in the Mall!! How strange.

Naples

By the time we had come back out of the Mall for the second time it had dried up. As we were in Naples we decided to go down to Naples Downtown. This was not the busiest place in Naples, but had some oldey worldy features.


Having left downtown we headed down to Naples Pier which was much fuller than downtown. The Pier reaches off Naples beach, which after one hour of sun had become full of people. The amount of rain had been enormous, but in an hour everything had dried due to the amazing heat of the Gulf climate.

We headed back to Marco Island and followed the signs to Olde Marco Island Village. It turned out to have a very nice sign marking the original foundation of Marco's development. However the sign is the only activity as everything else in Marco Island has been updated over the 100+ years since foundation. So there is nothing to see but the sign!

Dinner at Marco Prime

As the sun was still shining when it was time to head out for dinner we decided to walk. Marco Prime Steak & Seafood Restaurant is at 599 South Collier Boulevard. So only 0.7 of a mile from our condo. So with Marco Island being designed for pedestrians and cyclists, with easy road crossing, a .7 walk and one road crossing should be simple, and it was but for one thing. We forgot to check the weather.

See that cloud in the distance
- it was about to arrive!

So about .2 of a mile from our condo it began to rain, this was gentle warm rain, nothing like the Welsh variety. However, unbeknown to us it was the first hints of a thunder storm, so within five minutes the rain had moved from gentle to torrential. It was still warm rain, but it was very wet indeed. Given we were already wet we struggled on to the restaurant and had to stand in the awning and dry out a bit before going in. The restaurant hostesses provided us with towels to take the worst of the drip off, and then invited us in.

Marco Prime is a classy place and the bread that came while we were selecting was wonderful. There were two black bread rolls and three white rolls and they were served with Sharp Citrus Mayo and Sweet Tomato Chutney which were excellent.

For starters I choose a risky, exciting dish: A Trio ceviche sampler served with parsnip crisps. The menu included four ceviche options, but clearly they had previously had people like me who couldn't choose between them, so my dish was a selection of three of the four. I opted for white-fish, scallops and salmon ceviche (omitting the tuna, I'm not really a fan of tuna). the ceviche were served in a wonderful three bowl format. The white-fish was in the top bowl and was the : white fish was cured in cilantro (coriander to us) and lime, a sharp amazing flavour, who needs to cook fish when it can taste this good raw. The middle bowl was the scallop cured in jalapeno and yuzu, oh wow, was my mouth filled with tangy lovliness, of yes it was. The scallop, they light in flavour was able to carry the cure even though it was so lively. The bottom bowl was the salmon in avocado & pineapple soy, the saltiness of the soy and the sweetness of the pineapple merged to make the salmon the star of the show. While I've had smoked salmon I don't think I have had raw salmon, but if all raw fish tasted like this I would have more. My favorite of the three was the scallops, but it was a close run thing.

I should mention that the parsnip crisps were a nice contrast of crunchiness with all the soft fish, and I guess they were included more for their crunch than for any other reason.

Drew opted for one of the starter specials, this was Ahi Tuna with ginger, cucumber, tomato, avocado, citrus-truffle infusion and seaweed salad. The Tuna was clearly the star, with the vegetables and seaweed acting as a base for the tuna to sit upon. However, that being said, Drew did eat all of the tuna, the salad and the smears, so it seems to have been a success.

We waited until our appetisers arrived to order our main, as is now out pattern, and I choose fish, cooked this time, for my main too. This was Grouper which is another fish plentiful in the waters of this region. It was tonight's special entree and was broiled in a light crumb and served with a generous portion of garlic mashed potatoes and sauteed brussels sprouts. I am a fan of sprouts and don't eat enough of them, so it was good to have them presented in this crisp way, so unlike the mushy ones people complain of at Christmas. The potatoes were good too with a strong garlicky flavour. The fish was crisp and had large flacks which gave it a flavour that was strong enough to bear the garlic of the potatoes. It is certainly a fish I will have again. 

Drew opted for a 8oz Filet Mignon steak which he ordered with a side of garlic potatoes. The steak was served simply, cooked medium-rare and with a broiled half tomato alongside. This tender bit of beef met Drew's needs tonight and it didn't take long for it, and the potatoes to be all gone, which is always a good sign. 

Drew had managed to keep space for a dessert, on the basis that if the restaurant was so good at other food it should excel in desserts too - a good call. The dessert was Key Lime and Meringue Tort with fresh berries and wild berry coulis. Drew absolutely loved it, eating the meringue off the top first and then getting into the sharpness of the lime. It was delicious. Drew was also impressed by the little bit of chocolate which was laying alongside the tort, with the Marco Prime logo on it. As he said, referring to my former subject, maybe those marketers are good for something. 



Having mainly dried out by the end of dinner we then began the walk back, the rain had returned and we saw more evidence of the Ponding which we heard about yesterday. There were bits of the sidewalk which were more river like than pavement like. On a positive note at least wearing sandals means it is your feet that mainly get wet and you don't do any harm to your shoes.

Drew was somewhat drenched, as you can see from this picture in the lift. But I bet I was this wet too. Still warm rain is much more comfortable than the colder version with which I am familiar.