I recently went on a girls getaway to Naples, Florida where we stayed at the Naples Grande Beach Resort. We laid poolside, beach’d and ate. Oh boy, did we eat! And surprisingly, I didn’t go hungry (even though I was gym’ing it!). It was the perfect balance of healthful eating and indulgences.
Here’s what we ate on a budget:
DAY 1 – Travel Day
LUNCH
SFO Airport
Chicken Tortilla Soup + Tortilla Chips, $7.50
At the airport, during a layover, I like to have soup (it calms my flight anxiety). This was on the more expensive side at $7.50. It was satisfying but not the best I’ve had. I wouldn’t get it again unless there was no other soup option.
DINNER
Q Texas BBQ, Houston, Texas Airport
BBQ Brisket (1/2lb meat, two sides, cheddar-jalapeno bread), $15
So good. The smokey flavour was phenomenal. I would most definitely order again. IN fact, I’m craving it as I’m writing up this post. LOL. The cheddar-jalapeno bread was a bit dry though. The portions were quite big so I would share with a friend next time. This fed me twice, once for dinner (during layover) and again after my flight at the hotel (Fort Myers).
My friend had the same with smoked corn and fries. Both were pretty yummy!
DAY 2 – Pool day
BRUNCH
Oasis Pool Bar, Naples Grande Beach Resort
Naples Grande Burger $18
En Salada del Sol $13
Mixto Verde + Mahi $13+$8 (mahi)
Cocktails $13 ea
We arrived at our resort in Naples the next day and were famished! We got into suits and hunted for food. We decided to eat at the Oasis Pool Bar.
I got a salad with seared mahi. SO GOOD. Clean, fresh and high in protein. It could’ve used more dressing.
My friends, Zu got a classic cheeseburger and fries and Steph got a salad. And of course drinks.
DINNER
Cheesecake Factory via Door Dash
Honey and Truffle Chicken with Mash and Asparagus $17.95
Crispy Beer Battered Fish Tacos $16.95
Oreo Dream Extreme Cheesecake $8.50
Chocolate Cheesecake $7.95
Caesar $14.95
The cheesecakes served as dessert for 3 nights! That fridge in our room came in handy. The caesar was HUGE. These meals fed three of us.
DAY 3 – Beach + gym day!
POST WORKOUT SNACK
Fruit from the gym fruit bowl and bread from previous night’s dinner $0
BRUNCH
Rhodes End (part of the Naples Grande Beach Resort)
Grilled octopus panzanella $15
Spiced fish sandwich, lettuce wrapped, $15
Rotisserie lamb gyro + fries $15
My spiced fish sandwich wasn’t that great. Good amount of veggies and variety but the fish was a bit dry and flavourless. I would not order again. The octopus panzanella was good and so was the gyro.
DINNER
Pelican Larry’s Raw Bar and Seafood Grill
Konk Chowdah $5.95
Gulf Coast Oysters, dozen, $17.95
Jumbo Gulf Peel and Eat Shrimp, 1 pound, $23.95
Larry’s Skins $6.95
Cheeseburger Egg Rolls (forgot the price)
Drinks & shooters
Everything was so fresh and delicious! The seafood was quite good. Except for there were 3-4 oysters that weren’t so fresh.
CVS Haul around $60
Then as natural snackers, we walked over to CVS next door and stocked up on some goodies! We never went hungry lol. (We didn’t have too buy water because the hotel had free water bottles everywhere.)
DAY 4 – Shopping
POST WORKOUT SNACKS $0
We worked out so we grabbed some fruit from the gym on our way out to hold us over until we left for lunch. We also noshed on some chocolate bread that Zu brought from NYC.
LATE LUNCH (4PM)
California Pizza Kitchen
Spinach Artichoke Dip $12.49
Buffalo Cauliflower $8.99
Italian Chopped Salad + chicken $17.79
Hawaiian on cauliflower crust $18.50
Shrimp Scampi $15.99
DINNER $0
We ate leftovers from CPK.
DAY 5 Pool and shop!
Aura Restaurant (dined in the Sunset Veranda, Naples Grande Beach Resort)
Fish Wrap + Tomato Bisque $17
Grilled Cheese + Bacon + Avo + Tomato Bisque + Fries $16
So yummy esp after swimming (laying by) the pool all morning. The grilled cheese felt heavy. I could only eat half. (I’m not big on starch/bread so that might be why.) Steph ate all of hers though.
DINNER
We did some late night shopping (10:30am!) and ordered Cheesecake Factory back at our room again. LOL. Hey, why mess with a good thing?
We were starving so no one could wait for photos. LOL.
Cheesecake Factory via Door Dash
Shepherd’s Pie $15.95
Fettuccine Alfredo $17.95
Bang-Bang Chicken + Shrimp $19.95
And of course, we finished our wine. Well, some of us did. *ahem Zu*
Day 6 – Travel day
Pre-flight meal
Sbarro, Fort Myers Airport
Roasted veggies and two meatballs $7.50
DINNER
SFO Airport
Rice Noodle Bowl $14
A typical food budget when travelling for me is: $100/day
GRAND TOTAL SPENT ON FOOD: $228USD approx (does not include gratuities)
SAVED: $372
TIPS TO EAT ON A BUDGET without feeling deprived:
- most hotels or resorts will have water, fruit, coffee, tea, etc on site and free of charge. Take advantage so you aren’t ravenous at meal times.
- order food delivery to your hotel to avoid long lines, high gratuities and long waits.
- find apps/restos that offer free delivery. We used DoorDash because it had $0 delivery free for first 30 days. Zu didn’t have an account so she signed up.
- stop by a grocery store to stock up on items that you eat often and healthy ones to balance out the extra sodium and grease from restaurant foods.
- share meals with someone
- split one restaurant meal and eat twice
Nourish Through Movement 