Marco Island — Leave the Car, Bring the Flip Flops

Hello and welcome to our first blog! We are Melissa (me) and Rob, and the proud hosts of now two beachfront vacation rentals here on our lovely and laid back Marco Island. We thought our foray into blogging should start with getting your daydreaming wheels turning so you can experience — at the least through storytelling — what it’s like to vacation here.

Our vision with our blog is to entertain you — and give you a local’s point of view of the island. Oh, and don’t be surprised if we throw in some Marco Island deals or giveaways, and of course amazing beach photos in the coming weeks and months! Without further adieu… a day in the life of one of the most amazing U.S. vacation destinations…

A Day in the Life on Marco Island

Imagine for a moment… waking up — not to a digital iPhone alarm, dreading another 9 hours of monotone cubicle life — but instead to the meditative sounds of blue a green sea, gently pounding the shore right outside your beachfront balcony in Marco Island, Florida. Yes, say “so long” to city life, paperwork and deadlines (as they are nowhere to be found) and take a deep breath because well, you’re on Island time.

Next, you make your way to the kitchen where gourmet roasted coffee is percolating — the smell mixing with the salty breeze that’s blowing through your own personal paradise. Coffee’s ready and you sip it on the balcony while taking in 300 degree views of the sugary Crescent Beach, early morning surfers and some playful dolphins all doing their part to paint the perfect morning picture.

Bike Delivery? But, of Course!

As the morning ticks into afternoon, and the island wakes up, smells of grilled Grouper and island tacos tease your appetite and you decide it’s time to saunter around the island. You make a phone call and, just like that, a Marco Island rental bike service delivers a hybrid bicycle complete with bike basket to your door. In minutes, you’re cruising around with the island air in your face.

First stop? Well, we have a mangrove-sized crush on CJ’s on the Bay, with its beachfront patio and ocean views of Smokehouse Bay. Sip your mojito and gaze out into the endless ocean, and in no time your Lobster Fries and Rum Butter Mahi Mahi arrives. Another drink for dessert perhaps? (Well, that’s what we would do!)

Water Taxi to Paradise

After your Marco Island fare, you hop back on your bike and toodle along, heading over to the marina and then back to your beachfront condo for a lazy afternoon siesta. In an hour or so, you decide it’s time to take to the sea and now the only question is — motor or no motor? Jet ski or water taxi — or maybe stand up paddle… hmmm. Today, it looks like Keeywadin Express Water Taxi to Keeywadin Island in its pristine splendor, with all of its white sand beaches, dolphins and manatees! Oh and hammocks. (We can’t forget about those.)

Next tough decision: catch the water taxi back or set up a tent and camp on the this hypnotic and mesmerizing utopia? Oh, the places you’ll go, but for now, you head back, freshen up and stroll over to Marco Golf and Garden, a mini golf mecca just a lovely 13 minute walk from our place.

End the night on a delicious note close to home at the Sunset Grille where your seaside home is just steps away. We’ll take a margarita with salt, please and thank you! Good night and sweet, sweet island dreams…