~Fun Times In Marco Island, Florida~

Well we just got back from a trip to Marco Island, Florida and even though it was short it was worth the trek from Seattle.  Mike's company hosted their annual company meeting there.  We felt so lucky to be able to go!  The weather was perfect!  75 degrees with sunny blue skies whocould complain?  Marco Island is a vacation spot for many people who live in the busy city areas of Florida.  We stayed at the Hilton, an all suite resort located on the beach!  

Every room had an awesome view of the beach and the Gulf of Mexico.  While we were there we ate, drank, and had lots of fun with all of Mike's colleagues.  Great memories and friends were made along the way.  

So what did we do?  Lots of things!  We arrived Friday and were so tired that we ate at the restaurant in the hotel...had a few drinks in the lounge...took a quick walk out to the beach, then hit the hay!  We flew in to Fort Meyer's airport and had an hour cab ride to get to Marco Island so we were incredibly tired, not to mention the 3 hour time difference.  

Saturday we ended up sleeping in completely missing breakfast so ate lunch instead at the poolside cafe at the hotel.  We spent the day walking on the beach and hanging out at Captain Brien's.  Here we enjoyed buy 1 get 1 free drinks during happy hour.

A few hours later we went back to the hotel to freshen up to meet everyone at the pool for a yummy buffet dinner!  After dinner we had some time to kill so we headed off to the hotel lounge and drank some more.  At Captain Brien's there is a comedy show around 9:30 on Saturday nights so we went back to watch.  It was a great night. 

Sunday Mike went to his first meeting so I slept in...again I missed breakfast!  Mike was out of his meeting around noon so we relaxed in the room for a bit then went over across the street to Nacho Mamas...seriously that's the name!  Nacho Mamas is right next to Captain Brien's.  It is a little Tex-Mex Bar/Restaurant.  Here we experienced happy hour with $1 draft beers.  We also ate some burritos, very tasty. 

The Superbowl playoff game between the Cardinals and the Eagles came on about 3pm so we stayed and watched.  Poor Eagles!  After the game we took off and met up with some of Mike's colleagues at the hotel.  We took a cab ride up the island to a restaurant on the water called The Snook.  It was delicious!  We shared some oysters for an appetizer.  For dinner I had sea scallops and Mike had the soft shell crab.  We sat outside and listened to live music.  After dinner we took a cab back to the hotel and went to bed.

Monday Mike had his second meeting and I didn't sleep in!  I actually woke up with him and stayed awake.  It was a little overcast and sprinkling rain outside so I stayed in the hotel and watched an HGTV House Hunters marathon.  Once Mike was out of his meeting we went up to the Marco Island Town Center Mall which was a few miles north of our hotel.  I found Christmas ornaments at 2 stores in the mall so I bought a bunch. :-)  If you are reading this and know me well you know I love Christmas and especially ornaments.  Later on everyone went to the Tommy Bahamas in Naples.  

It took 2 shuttles to get about 50 people there.  Once we arrived we had a shrimp appetizer, Caesar salad, and for the main course there was a choice between chicken, steak, and sea bass.  Of course we both picked the sea bass.  It was delicious!  

Since most people were leaving on Tuesday this was the last night to hang out together eat drink and be merry.  That is exactly what we did.  After dinner we went back to the hotel but stopped for a beer run on the way.  We went to the lounge and started up a poker tournament.  Midnight came around and we closed down the bar with no place to go but the hall ways outside the meeting rooms.  This is where the poker tournament and beer drinking continued until 2am.  

Tuesday morning came quickly and we missed breakfast. :-)  We went to the lounge around noon and watched Obama's Inauguration.  We caught the 1pm shuttle to the airport.  Our flight didn't take off until 6:30 so we ate some lunch and killed some time.  Finally we boarded the plane and began the long journey back home.  

We arrived at the Seatac airport around midnight, took our fancy

schmancy limo ride home in the 32 degree weather...we were cold! Once we got home we had 2 cute little kitties that needed some attention, Minnie and Stamper missed us!  Once the kitties gave us their forgiveness for leaving them home all alone we took showers, ate some macaroni and cheese, and went to sleep!  It was a great trip.  :-)