This was my first time visiting Marco Island and I was completely taken away. Every single house on the Island was breathtaking and our rental house was my absolute favorite place thus far. As for the island itself, everything is very clean and the people are extremely nice. The only issue we had was with the beach access. There is not many options when it comes to getting onto the beach and with a mother with multiple sclerosis and a grandmother it was a quite the process. We ended up flying into Charlotte and then from Charlotte to Fort Meyers. On the way home we thankfully had a direct flight. Once we touched down in Fort Myers we rented a car and drove to Marco. It was roughly 45 minutes so not bad at all. We got in around 6:30pm Saturday night. Like I said, the house we rented was absolutely breathtaking. Very clean and just beautiful. Our backyard was on one of the waterway canals so it was great for fishing. By the time we unloaded everything, my boyfriend and I headed to grab food at CJ’s on the Bay. I ordered a shrimp cobb salad and he ordered a salmon blt. Having dinner while watching the sun go down was the perfect start to our vacation. Highly suggest going here.
On Sunday, we woke up around 7:30am and went to grab breakfast at Empire Bagel Factory. I would honestly have to say they had the best breakfast sandwich that I have ever had. It is not a big place at all, just a little bagel shop but they do have some table seating inside. We just got everything to go and came back to the house. I ordered a breakfast sandwich with egg, sausage and cheese on a plain bagel, my mom ordered a flagel with homemade veggie cream cheese, and my boyfriend/grandma ordered the lox deluxe. Everything was very good!
After eating breakfast, we hungout by the pool for the rest of the day and played some card games. In the evening, we fished on the docks in the backyard and ordered takeout from Cocomo’s Grill. I ordered the homemade crab cakes which were pretty good. They were definitely on the larger side, so very filling. It came with two sides so I ordered rice and coleslaw. Both pretty good as well. On top of all of that, I ordered a caesar salad and hush puppies. Everything was pretty standard and tasty.
On Monday morning, we woke up early and headed to Tigertail beach with my dad and uncle to go fishing. One thing about this beach is it is a VERY far walk from the parking lot to the actual beach itself. You may think that the brown water is the only view but you have to walk left towards the condominiums to get to the actual ocean. I did find some nice shells though but it was brutally hot and the fleas were horrible. We also were able to catch some fish and see dolphins. My boyfriend insists that he saw a little shark but we can’t confirm. lol.
After fishing, my boyfriend and I went to Doreen’s Cup of Joe for breakfast. If I could recommend anything, it would be this place. Not only is it aesthetically pleasing, but the breakfast food is by far the best that I have ever had. My boyfriend and I ordered their french toast as well as scrambled eggs and their homemade sausage patties. Both outstanding! We also went here for lunch on Tuesday. I ordered the biscuit sandwich with their homemade sausage. 10/10.After eating here for breakfast, we went back to the house, relaxed, rode bikes, and swam.
One thing with Marco Island this time of year….the sun is HOT. Unlike the Outer Banks where we usually go, there isn’t much of a breeze and it takes the meaning hot to a whole new level. The level where you can’t sit outside in the sun for very long without feeling like death. So because of that a lot of the time we hangout at the house and just swim in the pool. Monday evening, my boyfriend and I ordered takeout from Pinchers. We went to pick it up and it wasn’t ready yet, so we sat at the bar for drinks. Some drinks were buy one get one so he got a beer and I ordered a sangria. Thinking we would only be paying for one drink, he comes back with two of each. Here it had to be the same drink so needless to say, we got screwed. Lol. It was fun regardless though, we ended up meeting an older couple who live here and we all chatted for a while. It was a cool atmosphere inside and the food was pretty good. I love their cocktail sauce, especially on crackers! I ordered their grilled shrimp which was very good with a side of hush puppies and a caesar salad. He ordered the grouper sandwich and said it was amazing. So I suggest that with a side of their rice because it was super tasty! After getting our food, we went to Dolce Mare to get some chocolates and gelato. I ordered the chocolate gelato and it was very tasty! I am a Sarris Chocolate girl (hey Pittsburgh) so I wasn’t impressed very much by their chocolates. Definitely worth the visit though for the gelato. The staff was also very nice as well.
On Tuesday, we woke up and went to Doreen’s Cup of Joe with all of the family. As stated above, I highly suggest going here. Everything is just so dang good! After breakfast, we all got ready and drove down to Sunset Grill to the public beach. Down here, it is really tough to find a beach that is easily accessible. It was really hard on my mom with m.s and my grandma so we only lasted about an hour. The sand was so white though and the water was a pretty shade of light blue, but it honestly felt like bath water which was not very refreshing. My aunt went to Naples on Wednesday and said the beaches were much much better. So I suggest doing that. After the beach, we all just hung out and relaxed because we were exhausted from the heat. For dinner, we went back to Pinchers for takeout and I ordered a crab cake. It wasn’t horrible but it also wasn’t the greatest.
On Wednesday, my mom, grandma, aunt, and I woke up and went to go to the farmers market which ended up being a bust because it was their off season so we ended up doing some shopping and then headed back to Empire Bagel Factory. Between there and Doreen’s Cup of Joe, I would be broke if I lived here! Lol. They both are so good! There was a really cute boutique next door called OMG That’s Chic. The owner was extremely nice and it was such a neat little shop.
When we got back to the house, I went fishing with my dad, uncle, and boyfriend. We went under the main bridge in which I got absolutely fried. Although I was under a little umbrella, my legs and feet resembled a tomato within just two hours of being outside. So another tip, always wear sunscreen! It was really cool though because we were able to see a lot of dolphins and manatees, up close.
After fishing, we went back to the house and swam in the pool. As you could imagine, I was somewhat miserable because of my sunburn but we played a couple of rounds of Uno and then relaxed. After Uno Tom and I ran to a few places, one being the local surf shop. I was able to finally buy myself a cute beach bag. Surf shops always have the cutest things, I swear! Unfortunately, It ended up really storming in the evening so for dinner we just ordered takeout from Joey’s Pizza. I ordered a turkey and provolone cold sub with banana peppers and a side caesar salad. Everyone else ordered more fancy things but because of having a bad stomach, I stuck with a safe meal. On Thursday, the boys woke up early to go fishing so I went outside and relaxed while watching the sunrise and worked on some blog stuff. It has been so nice not having to work down here and actually be able to step back and relax. I ended up taking my grandma out for some shopping to Kay’s Boutique and Bealls Outlet. I have never been to one before and it reminded me a lot like TJ Maxx.
After shopping, my boyfriend and I went to Sunset Grille for lunch and some drinks. We were able to get a table outside on the beach so we ended up staying for a decent amount of time. Since it was right next to the public beach, my aunt went to the beach while we ate. We ended up all going back for dinner and had a really nice time even though it stormed really bad. Before the storms hit, we were able to watch the sun go down which was the perfect backdrop for dinner.
Today (Friday), is our flight home. My boyfriend and I woke up and headed back to Doreen’s Cup of Joe one last time which of course was amazing. This time I ordered their fruit belgium waffles with blueberries and strawberries with a side of two scrambled eggs.
After breakfast we just hung out and packed everything back up and headed to the airport around 3:00pm for our flight at 5:55pm which has now been delayed. Not to mad though because I am able to get this post up faster then I thought! Right after getting to the airport and turning our rental car in, we got a tornado warning and a killer storm. So our plane is now delayed until 8:00pm so fingers crossed that still happens! Regardless this trip was one for the books.
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