Marco Island Observations

This trip to Marco Island was one of the best beach trips ever, probably because it is so different to our usual trips to the "Redneck Riveria" along the Alabama coast and Florida panhandle.

The shoreline faces west, so you get these unbelievable sunsets over the water, and it's cool to watch the sun finally dip below the horizon.

The beach sand is not my favorite, preference being the sugar with sands of the panhandle.  The sand is very compacted, from all the crushed shells you have to traverse to get to the water's edge.  The biggest benefit of these beach conditions is all of the sea shells that you can pickup off the shore. Out in the water, if you waded to the next shallow area on a sand bar, you could spot live starfish and live sand dollars.  These must be returned to the waters to insure that they are still there for future generations.

Our time there was at the end of "snow bird" season.  You could tell what months they prefer just from the list of weeks that were for sale.  One listing in mid February was for top floor, 2 bedroom, four consecutive weeks for $165,000.  This was the exception, but lots of snow birds find that a bargain compared to the cost of private ownership of a condo unit on the beach.

There were quite a few people from California.   That at first surprised me.  They all said that they loved their beaches back home, but you just can't beat being in these warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.  Two ladies said their time will be spent on this beach and in these waters, and no time in the pool because they all have them back home!

There were plenty of noodles and toys to use at both the pool and the beach.  These are a collection of items left behind by guests that flew in.

These northerners have this beach destination thing figured out.  They fly in, then stop at Walmart, Sam's,  etc... and pickup beach chairs and umbrellas.  Some have even figured out that you can go to the consignment and resale shops and pick up chairs and umbrellas for a fraction of the cost, then either leave the stuff behind or resale it back to the shops.  I think we all have a bit of Jewish blood in us because nobody wanted to pay $28 a day for a setup each day!  Some of our "new friends" gave us four chairs,  two mats and an umbrella that were not a week old.  We shared some of this pirate booty with our new favorite couple from Georgia!

The best part about this southwest corner of Florida is that "my beach season" is the "off season" for the snowbirds!  There were only a dozen or so couples on the beach during our entire week's stay!  I had a FB memory pop up from 4 yrs ago at Sandestin,  and it was wall to wall umbrellas!

For us, there will be many more trips to this corner of Florida.  For us, the pleasure we get from this place far out weigh the drive to get there.  We are only half way home and already we have the itch to return!

Life is good.  All the time!