Recap of Marco Island …. kind of travel blog thing <3

Well, big day here and there as we all anticipate the two minutes of the eclipse. While our family is spread out way too wide, Rachel reminded us this morning we are all in the main path of it. She even shared the Fievel song from An American Tale. The one where they sing about being under the same moon. It’s basically our theme song. 

I thought for today I would give you a recap of our trip to Marco Island, where we stayed, ate and what we did plus my impressions. I enjoy reading about places I may want to go or have been so that’s the goal. If travel blogs are not your thing, I will see you tomorrow <3

We found it cheaper to fly into Fort Lauderdale and drive across the swampland of south central Florida then to try and land on the gulf side. Since that meant we were near enough to Jupiter, Russ checked the Cardinal training games schedule and discovered we would be able to catch their last game of the season. 

He got us booked at a Homewood Suites. These are always nice and the breakfast buffet gave us a great start to the day. The weather was overcast, but we were spared rain. After breakfast we checked out and drove around the ballpark area. Parking was easy to find as there is a free parking garage near the restaurants and stadium. 

We ate at the Stadium Grill. I had the Seafood chowder that was loaded with shrimp and other little chunks of seafood. Russ had a wrap that was very good. The prices were reasonable and we enjoyed dining outside. The atmosphere for the pre-game was fun and relaxed. Plenty of people but not packed like a summer season game. 

Our seats were under a big tarp so when the sun came out, we were protected and if it did sprinkle a wee bit, we were fine. Russ reconnected with a former colleague who has season tickets and happened to be sitting just a little bit away from us. That was fun. 

After the game, we drove to Marco Island. Imagine if the prairie around here was turned into swampland. With no towns along the way. That was our drive. We would see signs where you could pull off and hike…uh, no thank you. 

We got to our condo early in the evening and found it to be very clean and offered a fair amount of security to get in and out of the building. Everything needed key access, so if you were traveling alone or maybe with a group of ladies, you would feel very safe. Our lodging was nice and clean. It was like a small one bedroom apartment but had a beautiful view of the ocean, and we loved sitting on the balcony. 

We stayed at the Apollo complex. Russ felt it was a bit dated, but we spent so little time there, it was fine.  A few things that I noticed were there were no amenities like soap, shampoo, coffee pods, basic season gins {I am leaving this typo in because a friend texted me this morning and said she was sorry to hear I didn’t have access to season gins….I meant seasonings, people. And I actually did proofread this!} and the laundry is shared on each floor. I ended up doing one load and had to use a credit card. There was laundry detergent in our condo.

The Apollo offers a lovely pool area. Much nicer than other Florida pools we have had. There were plenty of chairs and it offered a lot of shade and sun depending on your preference. Several young families seemed to gather there each day around the same time we did and we enjoyed their company. 

A key access gate led down to a tarp walkway to the beach. The sun is rather intense this far south so we limited our time to early evenings to sit and watch sunset and morning walks along the beach. The sand along Marco Island is not the sugary sand we are used to. Along the beach were tons of beautiful shells throughout the day, but all of these shells mean the sand is a crunchy blend of crushed shells and sand. You could easily wear shoes as you walked across it, and I would highly recommend wearing them as you walk along the shore. Those shells were sharp!

Our condo actually houses one of the first restaurants we tried. The Sunset Grille was a bee hive of activity with the March Madness fans filling every nook. We sat at the bar for our dinner as we were lucky to find two stools side by side. Our meal was delicious and the cheering over various games was a fun way to start our week. I had the shrimp taco. It was so good and packed with fresh shrimp. 

For other meals we enjoyed and would highly recommend: 

The Salty Dog – located in a mall like atmosphere a nice walk from our condo. Again we could watch the games on the many tv’s located and the atmosphere was fun and friendly. I had vowed to not eat French Fries the whole trip and my grilled fish sandwich came with Cole slaw. We ate here again on Thursday night, sharing a table with a nice family from Ohio who were North Carolina fans but cheered for the Illini with us. I had the same thing both meals!

Another fun place was Snook Inn. We headed there for an early dinner, and again would highly recommend the timing for that. Arriving at 4:00, we still had to wait for a table, but we enjoyed a great local group called Geezers in Paradise. They played music from our era and were excellent. Our dinner came with a salad bar, again complying with my no French Fry vow. The food was so good and it was fun to watch the boats out on the bay. 

One evening we walked to La Tavola, an Italian place. We did the early dinner plan again. Russ had a Caesar salad and Shrimp Cocktail. I had the calamari and a wedge salad. We shared the seafood. My salad was one of the best I have ever had. 

The other place we ate is called Pinchers. Again we enjoyed eating outside. This was a day we had our big meal in for lunch. I opted for their shrimp taco and was not disappointed. They do have live music here, but we missed the window for that. Pinchers is located in the same areas as The Salty Dog. There is an ice cream parlor there as well. Of course we had to make a stop there one evening. Best Moose Tracks ever. 

Mostly we walked, read, ate and napped. We did visit the Marco Island historical museum. This was interesting. We also went to the theater in that same plaza mall area and saw Cabrini. It was so good. The only driving we did was to church on Sunday and Snook Inn on Monday and a few runs to the Publix. Walking around the island is easy. We stayed on the southern end and could walk miles just looking at one gorgeous house after another. 

Marco Island was developed in the 60’s (I think) to have a network of canals with homes built along every single one. It is mind-boggling to see the homes and the boats on street upon street. It is all very beautiful, but personally I missed the campy feel of 30A. We noticed a very different vibe on the beach. No music playing from group to group. The place shuts down around 9 or 10. We did appreciate the quiet, but it just didn’t have the same beach feel we are used to. 

That being said, everywhere you go is casual. We saw people in beach ware, shorts, and dressed up at all the restaurants. The people we encountered were nice and welcoming. Naples is close if you wanted to visit while staying on the island. There are other shopping plazas to drive to, we just chose to stay close to our place. The vegetation was so pretty and prolific with flowers and the sunsets were gorgeous. If you have wanted to make that get away, I would say do your research on lodging. It is a lovely place to visit.