Life has been so busy and getting away for a full week is impossible for me right now. We planned a quick escape for the holiday weekend to Marco Island, Florida. I know we have some Marriott timeshare owners in the group and I have to say if you have some points or extra nights to use somewhere, look into Marriott Crystal Shores. We booked a unit from an owner through Redweek. This place gives off Surf Club vibes, minus the adults only pool and lazy river (kind of bummed to not have a lazy river, honestly). The beds are the most comfortable I have ever slept on. The balcony has nice wicker furniture including 2 lounge seats with nice thick cushions. You could sleep out there really. The primary bedroom shower is fantastic. I cannot say enough good things about the rooms. I think they only have 2-3 bedrooms here, no lock offs. We are in a 2 bedroom.
How I picked this place: I found an airport with a direct flight that we had enough points to book, ended up being Southwest Regional in Fort Myers. Then I went to Redweek and started looking for timeshares anywhere in the area and wala…here we are. It’s been an amazing find and we will come back.
The beach is nice hard white sand and not too wide in this section so it’s an easy walk in and walk out. The water is beautiful, clear, and warm. I could have floated all day. We both are wearing long sleeve uv protective shirts now and I’m so glad we do because we can stay out there longer. This place has 3 pools, one with a large water slide. We found chairs and shade in the middle of the afternoon on a holiday weekend.
Our goal is eat and shop at some locally owned businesses and yesterdays breakfast at a place called Stonewalls was good old fashioned southern comfort food, chicken and biscuits with gravy for Jon and crabcake benny for me…so good. There are lots of places to try that are in easy walking distance which is always important to us. We sit in DC traffic every day so being able to just park the car and walk is so much better to us than having to drive or Uber everywhere like we did in Islamorada.
Today we are off to the Everglades for a private airboat tour. Every time we come to Florida Jon wants to do it so today he finally gets his wish.
Our friend joked that while others in our age range are taking their kids on college tours, we are on retirement tours trying to find our spot. I think we found it in the southwest, gulf coast area! We will definitely be back.
Still hoping for Aruba is February, but this is the next best thing.