How could it be Friday already? It is amazing how fast vacation days fly by. All of my comrades were ready to head for one last day on the beach. Anyone who knows me well, knows that sitting on the beach is not my first choice. So today, I decided to spend relaxing on the deck of our condo. The view of the ocean and lagoon was gorgeous.
There was a diary in the condo for guest to fill out about their week. I wrote an entry then caught up on my emails and reading.
When Janet and the two Linda’s returned from the beach, Linda P.’s shell bags were bulging. It was low tide and the beach was loaded with shells. Even though Linda had packed up a big container of shells the night before, she just couldn’t resist adding to her collection today.
See all the shells. Guess Marco Island really was the best place to find shells!
After everyone got cleaned up, we headed to Snook Inn for our last night’s dinner. This seafood restaurant is along the Marco River at the end of Bald Eagle Drive, Olde Marco. We ate outside under a covered patio. It was a casual restaurant teaming with customers. There was a singer with a guitar providing live music. I ordered steamed shrimp and left just enough room for a slice of key lime pie. All in all a great way to finish out our week in Southwest Florida and Marco Island.
Don’t we look well fed, happy, and relaxed? From left to right: Linda H., Janet, Linda P and DoriA view of Snook Inn along the river. There were slips for customers arriving by boat.
We were taking an Allegiant flight from Ft. Meyers airport at 6:50 am. That meant getting packed, washing the beach towels and running the dishwasher before heading to bed by 9. We set our alarms very early. Our goal was to leave at 4:30 am. I am happy to report that all four of us were ready in plenty of time. We were on the same flight to Charlotte and then went on two different flights to finish our travels back to Allentown and Harrisburg. We all arrived to our final destinations without any problems. We all agreed that we had had a great relaxing fun week at Marco Island. Who knows where we four college friends will wind up next year?
We got up bright and early. Linda P. and I had booked a Dreamlander boat tour of the Ten Thousand Islands. These are islands off the coast of southwest Florida. The part just south of Marco Island is called Cape Romano. Almost all of these island are uninhabited.
When we were getting ready to leave Linda P. could not find her wallet. She looked everywhere to know avail. Finally we had to leave, but we asked our two friends if one of them would call Joey’s when they opened to see if they had found a wallet. Linda decided not to worry. Hopefully the wallet was there. Linda H. promised to message us if it was found.
Arriving at the Goodland Boat Park, we walked to the docks. Brandon, our driver, greeted us and helped us climb aboard. We were the only folks on this two hour tour.
Doesn’t Linda look like a pirate? The good news is that she is not getting seasick. Bonine works!I’m ready to search for dolphins.We spotted dolphins right away. Brandon was able to get them to follow our boat; they leaped out of the water right by the wake. It was hard to get a picture of them but it was awesome to witness.Another dolphin pictureLinda on the boat as we passed a mangrove island. Hurricane Irma last September caused a lot of the mangroves to “burn” or die from the strong winds.Here is Brandon, our driver and tour guide. He was a college student on summer break. Nice summer job!
After playing with the dolphins, Brandon took us on a tour through the Ten Thousand Islands which are mostly full of mangroves. We eventually came to Cape Ramona and the Dome House. The Dome House is an abandoned modern house that is located south of Marco Island. It was built in 1980 by Bob Lee, a retired oil producer as a vacation home. The house was made up of six wide domes which made up the rooms of the house, some of which were two stories. It had three bathrooms and three bedrooms and was 2,400 square feet. The house was self sustaining, with solar panels for power and a back up generator. The home was hit by a hurricane in 1992. Lee sold the home in 2005, but shortly thereafter is was hit by Hurricane Wilma which disabled it’s foundation. Hoping to rebuild the house, that owner failed to get the needed permits. The ruins now serve as a reef which attracts a variety of marine life. After Hurricane Irma hit in September of 2017, two of the western-most domes fell into the ocean. We could see the dome tops just below the water’s surface.
There is ocean now below the dome house. Brandon pointed out a beach in the background behind the domes. He explained that the sand has all relocated there after the hurricanes. It really made an impact as to the fragility of these islands and shore lines. Guess there is merit to that saying that a foolish man builds his house upon the sand.
Linda and I with the domes behind us.
This Is a picture of the Dome House when Lee lived here.Here is a picture of the living room in the Dome House.In this picture you can see a top of one of submerged domes. Folks were fishing off a boat in the background.On the way back to the Goodland Boat Park we passed this osprey stand that has been pushed back from Hurricane Irma.This is the best picture we got of a dolphin. It was swimming in the bay by the marina.We passed this gorgeous house in Cape Romano. It is pop singer Shania Twain’s. She also purchased the house to the left for her mother.
Returning from our boat tour, we found a message on my cell phone. Linda’s wallet was at Joey’s! Boy, were we relieved! We celebrated with drinks- a Diet Coke and beer. (Guess who had the beer?) We stopped at Joey’s for the wallet on our way back to the condo. Everything was still in it! Hooray!
That afternoon we spent some time at the beach. I found more shells and even two sand dollars right along the water line.
After cleaning up, we went to DaVinci Italian Restaurant for dinner. Several waiters came simultaneously to deliver our four meals. My linguine with red clam sauce was delicious as were the meals of my companions. After dinner, we explored a few shops. Our greatest find was this beautiful sunset. What a great way to end another day on Marco Island!
Wednesday, May 23rd was a beach day. All of our days had possible thunderstorms in the forecast. Usually the rains held out until mid-afternoon. Beach days were pretty typical. Janet and Linda H. were always at the beach a lot longer than Linda P. and me. Janet loves the ocean and Linda H. loves to read and take long walks on the beach. I cover up with sunscreen and then with my beach coverup to avoid sunburn, and Linda P. hunts for shells constantly. We two restless souls usually returned to the condo much sooner that our comrades.
Linda P. and I came back from the beach around 1:00 pm, got cleaned up and headed for the Winn Dixie to pick up a few more groceries. We even did our hair and put on make-up! Then coming out of the grocery store, failing to take our umbrellas, we got caught in a downpour.
Selfie of two drenched shoppers
We decided to go to Joey’s Italian restaurant that was right across Collier Blvd from our South Seas Tower for supper. We ordered a flat bread pizza with roasted red pepper and onion. Janet and Linda decided to share a cheese- cake for dessert. While our pizza was delicious, the cheesecake was not! Made with homemade ricotta, it was watery and had a lumpy texture. Guess they should have ordered the cannoli.
Returning to the condo, Linda P and I offered to do some laundry. We thought it would be easy. Of course there was trouble.
The laundry room was right next to our condo. We had to load money onto a card that we would use to feed into the machines; $1.50 for the washer and 50 cents for 16 minutes with the dryer. All was going well until we went to switch the laundry to the dryers. There was water gushing out all over the floor in front of the two washers. At first we thought it was coming from the machines. Then Linda saw water dripping from a pipe at the ceiling. Going to the tenth floor laundry, we saw there was water all over the floor here too. On to the 11th floor, there was no water. Knowing the leak was from the 10th floor, we called the emergency number. The answering service worker didn’t seem to know anything about our condo or who to call. We had our doubts about anything getting resolved. However, later that evening a fan was blowing in our laundry room. When Linda finally went to take a bath around 11, our water was turned off; she only got about an inch of water. What a night! Then in the middle of the night we heard water gushing in the bathroom. Linda jumped out of bed and turned off the spigots. What excitement!
Here is Linda P. sweeping the excess water into the drain on the floor. What a mess! We should have let our two comrades handle the laundry.
So much for a relaxing beach day! Maybe tomorrow will be better!
