A beach on the west coast of Florida is alluring enough. Even better: a beach with a fun city attached, with an abundance of places to eat, drink and shop. I’ve driven the coast so that you don’t have to, and have concluded the ideal location is Naples.

I first arrived here in the Eighties — yes, I was very young at the time, thanks — as I drove the Tamiami Trail. This road, also known as Highway 41, was carved through the Everglades in the Twenties to connect Tampa with Miami — hence the name. The highway provides an artery for a region rich in nature, in the sensuous shapes of the Ten Thousand Islands and the ever-mysterious Everglades. It’s worth discovering, so take advantage of seven days’ hire of a compact car from Miami International Airport from £166 or upgrade to a Chevrolet Camaro Convertible from £263 through Hertz.co.uk

Base camp for my expedition is the Lemon Tree Inn, promising “A Touch of Key West in the heart of Old Naples”, this marvellous throwback to the 1960s is cheap, cheerful and close to the action on 5th Avenue.

Other streets with this name are available — I believe there’s one in New York City — but the version in Naples is low-rise and instantly likeable. For example, as you window-shop or gaze at the works in some of the 100-plus art galleries, you can park for free. Don’t try that in Manhattan.

5th Avenue, Naples

Despite its 21st Century ambiance as a great place to relax, Naples is also a working port, with dozens of fishing vessels based at Crayton Cove, where the bay infiltrates inland.

Forty years ago a young man called Vin DePasquale arrived here from California and decided that what Naples needed was a waterside restaurant. And The Dock at Crayton Cove was born. Initially, the price for oysters was 30 cents each. They’re slightly more expensive these days, but diners still pack the place like sardines.

Crayton Cove, Naples

Mangroves, crabs and alligators

The south-west corner of the Sunshine State is called Florida’s Paradise Coast. South from Naples, the Ten Thousand Islands are scattered across the Gulf: fragments of land, swathed in mangrove and rich in wildlife. Hire a good captain, and you can step ashore on your own desert island, where the sands and shells tell a story.

Back on the highway there’s plenty of roadside Americana. The smallest post office in the US puts its stamp on the Tamiami Trail, and close by there’s a corrugated iron barn that’s been turned into Joanie’s Blue Crab Cafe. No prizes for guessing what’s on the menu. Joanie's gets very busy, especially at the weekend. You may be waiting a while, but as they say here: “If you want fast food, keep driving — 42 miles west, 66 miles east.”

Everglades, Florida

If, however, you want a close, safe encounter with an alligator, step aboard an airboat — a launch fitted with a giant fan rather than a propeller, to avoid entanglement in these shallow, mysterious waters. You can travel at 40mph through the mangrove swamps of the Everglades — natural thoroughfares that lead deep into the past of the planet.