What Time is the 4 o'clock Rain? -- Updates 11/2-4 -- Tim's surprise and Marco&Recap

[KatMark]

Wednesday, August 28 was our first beach day. We like going first thing in the morning before it gets too crowded, and we can leave before the sun becomes too unbearable.



A fisherman snagged a stingray and spent an hour trying to get him loose.









He finally had to cut the line and let him go. Hope the little guy survived.

It was hard work watching that man with the stingray:









Tonight we were back to having dinner with Todd and Nicki (the previous two nights Todd had to work).

We were eating at the Pub tonight...a restaurant we first tried back in April and we fell in love with it.



Some of our food:







From there we went to a new little coffee shop for cappuccinos and lattes and dessert:





We had a great day with a few more to go.

Also, on this day I got the text from our son and daughter-in-law that this guy was coming home with them:



Up next our last few days on Marco

 

[DMGeurts]

Great update Kathy! It always looks so peaceful and beautiful in Marco.

I hope the stingray survived too - how sad, but I am sure it happens all the time?

And the food at The Pub looks wonderful!

Your new grandpuppy is adorable too!

Looking forward to more updates!

D~

 

[jenseib]

Interesting to see they get in the water with the whales, which of course is more exciting.

 

[Chicago Mo]

I'm Caught up!!!! Yay me!!!

AWWWWWWWWWWW the meet up with Nikki is so adorable! YAY your all together!

Is it me or is that enclosure for the whales really small??

I love dolphins. they are just such sweet looking creatures! Miami? Looks like Detroit.... Another HUGE CONGRATS on the BIG WIN!!!!!!!

best news ever!


Minni is one cute puppy!!!! bet you just wanted to SQUISH HER!!! then POOF out comes Rolo! what a doggie(animal) packed update!!!

 

[Deesknee]

nice beach day! That stingray looks huge? Is the picture deceiving or was it really a big one?
You & Mark look so relaxed. I envy you. Not that I want to wish away the youngest childhood.
Your granpuppy is adorable.
Your meals look yummy too. Love the looks of that salad with the fresh peppers on it. Now, it's only 9:17am and I am craving a salad.

 

[afwdwfan]

Mark needed to stop for gas so, of course, he picked one right near the Starbucks that we go to every year on the way to Marco (be quiet Andy!).

Mark had the ribs

Mmmmmm....

We arrived at our home for the next nine nights

Wow! 9 nights? I didn't realize you spent so long there!

Do you think they were happy to see one another?

No. Not at all.

Nicki and I stopped for our coffee and then hit the malls

Goes without saying.

I can now let you all in on Tim's (that's nice) post about me being the best (which I am far from being by the way).

Don't be modest. That was very nice of you.

We had one hell of a day. We took the bus to MK, got off to find it absolutely pouring rain so we got back on and went back to AKL. Called Melody's cousin and went over their house to spend the afternoon. We went back to MK and we were running late. I had to buy Juliana a day pass (which costs $95 with tax) because she only had 1 day left on her 10 day N/E pass which has FP+ linked to her ticket, she needs to use the 10 day ticket tomorrow. (WOW that is confusing) We finally checked in at 5:20 for our 4:55 ADR. They took us no problem. Took a picture of Melody and Gabby at the table, then grabbed the camera 5 minutes later to take another picture- except the damn shutter button is gone. There is no way to press it to take a picture so my camera is DONE. UGGGHHHHH I am so upset. Not because of the money for the camera but for the fast that I now have to take pictures with my cell phone for the rest of the trip.

Wow... That was awesome that Kathy snagged that ADR for you. A lot of drama to get there, but I'm sure it was all worth the effort.

By the way, can't you stick something down in the hole where the button used to be to make it work?

Miami is filthy, traffic is horrendous (especially when you get hit with more rain) and where LeBron James plays...reason enough to hate it!

No really, how you do truly feel about Miami?

Brat kid of mine should have said don't sit in the first 15 rows on the sides or in the middle or you will get drenched.

Well played!

We left when it started to rain again. We decided to stop at the casino in Immocole (I know that is not spelled right) on the way back to Marco. I was down to my last $50 when I hit a jackpot of $1250 and then won another 700 after that. It was a VERY good day.

How do you always manage to do that?????

 

[Pluto0809]

It looks like you had a nice, relaxing time on Marco Island!

Oh and Minnie is adorable! Is she a Bichon?

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Wow, lots to catch up with here!

That rain seems to be the theme on this trip. It just follows you around! Glad you were able to meet up with Todd and Nicki; it always seems like a great visit for you.

I'm getting hungry staring at all the food pictures. That hurts on a Monday morning.

So it was very subtle, but it sounds like you're not a fan of Miami. You guys really covered a lot of ground in Florida, though.

Nice job by your kid setting you up for the splash zone.

And this settles it. Next time I go to Disney World, I'm letting you handle my ADR's. I can't believe how often you get into BoG! I've never once seen an available time there! What's your secret?

Anyway, what a great gift to Tim and family. I'm sure they loved it.

 

[mommy2mrb]

other than all that rain your time at Marco looks fun and relaxing! puppy Minnie is so cute!

love that you were able to get the BOG adr for Tim, bummer about his camera

 

[mickeystoontown]

I've always heard that Miami was a dirty city/town/whatever it is. The first thing that I noticed in the pictures was the fact that the trainers were in the water with the whales.

The beach day looks glorious! Not too crowded either.

 

[natebenma]

Mark went to play checkers by himself

Did he win?

On the way to our lunch, we saw a Photopass photographer at a spot we like to stop each trip. This guy was fabulous. The only problem is they lost ALL but one of the 20 shots he took. I was so disappointed when I loaded my pictures and they were all gone. He was so good. He had us pose with the picture frame and then he had us kiss. And then he instructed us NOT to stop kissing. And he kept saying: keep going, keep going, keep going. And the reason he did that? So he could capture this:

Too bad most of the pictures were lost but, WOW! This is awesome!


Trying to catch up. I have made it through Part 3 of Aug 22:

What great photos of an empty New Fantasy land and of the Little Mermaid queue. I love all of the little details you shared.

You really hit some classics that morning: Pooh, Dumbo, HM (love the closeup of the organ and the picture of Madam Leota), Big Thunder, Pirates and of course, the ever popular Tiki Birds. I hope the line wasn't too long there.

 

[natebenma]

Great looking lunch at The Plaza. We have never dined there.

Loved all of your traditional photos!

The tribute to your dad brought tears to my eyes. What a positive, upbeat and generous act that will forever be remembered by that family, and you.

 

[GrammyJudy]

Coats on your big win. Miami has no appeal to me. Love the puppy pictures. Nice relaxing time after Disney.

 

[MaryAz]

Marco looks so fun. Girls would have liked that dolphin show.
What is up with your Dec ticker??? A month and 12 days??? I think not!

 

[Millie12591]

You ROCK Ms. Kat!!!

I tried to snag this ADR for Tim and Mel too, but you were the one to get it done. I'm impressed!!

 

[KatMark]

I'm going to finish this puppy up and then will come back and do responses and after responses a recap of our thoughts on this trip.

It was now Thursday, August 29. While the kids were on their honeymoon on Marco Island, they had done the evening cruise on the Marco Princess (a more expensive cruise as it included prime rib, etc.). Mark and I decided to do the lunch one which was less expensive.

We had breakfast in the condo and I did some laundry until it was time to go to the lunch cruise.

We arrived, checked in and saw these guys waiting for food from someone:



Sitting on the boat before leaving port:





Soon we were underway. We saw a couple of dolphins, including a momma and baby, and one manatee. They move so fast it is hard to get pictures. I'm not sure I got one or not, but here are the pictures I took during the cruise:









This is an osprey nest:







Tonight's dinner with Nicki and Todd was at a new German restaurant in a mall that they found.

I was warned not to get the potato pancake but got it anyway. I should have listened. It had no taste at all:



Some of our food (most of us got the Schnitzel which was out of this world):





The owner makes THE best cappucinos on the planet and also puts designs in them:



We skipped dessert as we were walking down the sidewalk a ways to go here for dessert:



I was too stuffed for anything else (yes, I ate that entire plate of schnitzel along with the mashed potatos), but the other three had a blast sampling and then creating their cups:







Another perfect day on the island and another perfect dinner with best friends:

 

[KatMark]

Today was going to be a beach and pool day.











This woman did NOT leave the water for the three hours we were there...she stayed in that exact spot the entire three hours:





Pool time (after we went to Starbucks, of course):















We had a visitor (it was hot and he needed a drink):



Tonight's dinner was at Steamers...a hole in the wall in a stripmall (after we shopped at Bed Bath & Beyond).

Oh my good...I can taste it all now. One of our best meals of the trip.

I present you food porn:











Nicki



We, obviously, stopped at Starbucks after dinner for coffee and dessert.


Up next, our last day on Marco and our farewell dinner

 

[dizneeat]

Not a huge fan of Miami myself it ALWAYS pours down with rain when we drive through.

Yeah for a great win at the Casino!

Love all the pics of Nicki, Todd and you guys.

Oh, and that Schnitzel looked good. Hm, I think I might want one for dinner tomorrow - I better let Tom know, he's on sickleave and has time to cook for me.

 

[KatMark]

It was our last full day on Marco (we would be leaving early the next morning).

It's Saturday, August 31, and we are up early to go to breakfast at one of our favorite places before driving to Ft. Myers to see some of Mark's customers.

Our view from the balcony while I waited for Mark:



I could NEVER tire of that view.

Someone was ready to go:



Can anyone guess where we ate?





After breakfast, we got on the highway and drove to Ft. Myers to stop by two customers. As long as we were there, we stopped here:







I picked up a really cute sundress while we were there.

Then it was back to the condo for lunch and our last day at the pool:






Another friend:





I left Mark at the pool to finish up some laundry and packing up our stuff.

Mark came back around 3:30 and took a shower and we headed out for our last evening out with Todd and Nicki.

I obviously didn't get a picture of the sign this trip, but we always have our last meal at Da Ru Ma, a Japanese Steakhouse. We LOVE this place.

Food porn (with a drink or two thrown in) and some people too:



























BESTIES FOR LIFE:



(Continued in next post)

 

[KatMark]

Our new tradition after dinner is to go to Cheesecake Factory for dessert rather than Starbucks for coffee (although we still have coffee anyway).







Yumminess:











We then knew it was time to leave and say goodbye. And as those of you who have been following my TR's for awhile know, Nicki and I always end up in tears when we say goodbye. This was no exception. And no there are no pictures to prove it...trust me, we both burst out in tears.

Mark and I drove back to the condo and went down to the dock for one last time and took our yearly pictures on the dock:



My new sundress:



We went upstairs, packed up the rest of our belongings that we could and hit the sack for our trip to the airport the next morning.