We had a wonderful time in southwest Florida last week! The kids' spring break was from Thursday, April 2nd through Sunday, April 12th. We decided to go to Marco Island Tuesday through Saturday, leaving some time before to do things around here and go to Concord for Easter! Bob ended up needing to go to New York for work on the 1st-2nd, so this all worked out well.
We originally booked a round trip on Spirit Airlines, but the outgoing flight kept getting bumped earlier and earlier; when it was moved to 6am, we decided to switch to a 12:15pm Delta flight. Last year, we had arrived to AMI before the house was available and found it to be frustrating to not have a place to go/unpack. So- we had a leisurely morning getting packed up and had no issues at RDU (other than the only parking available being on the highest/7th level). We got lunch to take on board, and, after a short delay getting off the ground, had an uneventful flight. We landed in Fort Lauderdale around 2:30pm, took a shuttle bus to the car rental area, hopped in our snazzy Chevy Blazer, and headed west!
The ride to Marco Island was about 2 hours. I was nervous about driving through the Everglades (pythons), but it went smoothly with Bob only seeing 2 dead snakes along the side of the road. The road was super straight with water on each side and chain link fences along most of the way. We passed through an Indian reservation and also a panther refuge. We didn't have any traffic issues, stopped at Publix on the island, and arrived at the house around 5:30pm.
We rented a 3BD ranch about a 5 minute walk from the beach. The house was renovated and was beautiful! It was spacious, had a great kitchen, and, most importantly, had a large pool! We settled in and enjoyed fried chicken from Publix, mac and cheese, and veggies for dinner. After that, we walked to the beach for our first peek, then back to the house to the pool!
Wednesday morning, after having pancakes, eggs, and bacon for breakfast, Bob attempted a bike ride with the bike that came with the house (it was a little small for him) and then tried to rent another bike, but they were sold out. During all of that, we girls hit the beach! After enjoying the beach for a couple of hours, we came back to the house for lunch (subs with stuff from Publix) and pool time. Then it was time to shower and mini golf, followed by ice cream, shopping, and driving past fancy homes before a Mexican dinner (after trying 2 other places that had very long waits).
After dinner, we went back to the house and the girls did some photos on the beach.
Thursday morning, Bob and I took a walk and tried to pick up donuts, but the targeted donut shop was closed and two other breakfast places didn't have donuts. We wanted to check out the famous Tigertail Beach on the island, which was a short drive away, so we solved our donut cravings at Dunkin, then parked at the beach and ventured a short way to the smaller beach area along a creek. After watching other people, we realized that the actual beach required a short ford through the creek. After some encouragement, we did that and enjoyed a very nice time there, complete with football! Then it was back to the house for another sub lunch, pool time, and showers. Today, we made reservations at CJs on the Bay for dinner which was very good food with fun live music and dancing that Erin joined in! Anna did a little shopping at a boutique across from the restaurant. After dinner, Erin, Bob, and I checked out the JW Marriott near the house and the (short but entertaining) fire dance show.
We did some laundry at the house that evening.
Friday was boat day! We drove over to Goodwin, off the island, about 20 minutes away. We found the marina easily, hopped on our pontoon, and drove for about an hour around Keewaydin and Marco Island to Keewaydin Island (Bob had found this ahead of time).
Here, people beach their boats and set up camp for the day on the long, narrow island that is only accessible by boat. An added bonus: food and drink boats set up there during the day! We raced over to the drink boat when it arrived and got ourselves some beverages, and then got burgers at the burger boat (Bob and I got Island Burgers as seen on Food Network; they were delicious!).
Otherwise, we hung out on the boat, picked up some shells on the gulf side of the island, and swam for awhile. We really enjoyed the boat ride; the water was calm and clear, we saw many dolphin and birds, and traffic wasn't too crazy. The water was well-marked as well. It was a great day! Upon returning to the house, we nursed sunburns, swam/played in the pool, and showered. I got pizza from a pizza place nearby for dinner, then Bob and I took another walk while the ladies rested and packed.
Saturday, we needed to be out of the house by 10am, so Bob took another bike ride while we ladies packed/cleaned up. We hit the road north to Naples, about 45 minutes from the house. We enjoyed walking around the beautiful Old Town area and seeing many fancy cars.
We also drove by some $40-200 million dollar homes in Naples. After a lunch at Moe's, we headed back east along Alligator Alley to Fort Lauderdale. The kids needed to wait in line to check their bags, but it was no problem as we had a quick car drop-off and shuttle bus ride. After picking up bagel sandwiches for dinner, we took our first Spirit flight home, and it was just fine, but definitely economy! The flight was delayed about 20 minutes, but they made it up with quick boarding (fewer bags and the flight wasn't totally full) and we landed close to on time. We got home to a happy and relaxed Finley.
So, it was a really great week! The beach and island were beautiful, and the house was one of the best that we have ever rented. There was lots of wildlife on the island: we saw many birds and rabbits, and saw signs for "low-flying owls" and gopher tortoises (?). We thoroughly enjoyed seeing a new area of Florida and would definitely go back!
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