A year ago, we loved our restful time on Marco Island, Florida with Walker's parents, so we were excited for another trip down there this February thanks to their generosity. It was fun to arrive at a house we're familiar with and no pressure to go anywhere with the pool and estuary behind the house. And so different than most of my over-planned itinerary-heavy trips! Similar to last year, Walker's dad rented a boat for an afternoon (after breakfast at Doreen's for key lime pancakes!) and …
Thanks to Delta cancelling our flight home from Florida, we had an extra day to explore, so we drove down to the Everglades. We took a tram tour with Shark Valley, the only operating tour through the national park. The first thing our guide, Julio, did was to right our expectations. Unlike Grand Teton and Grand Canyon National Parks, the Everglades has no dramatic or awe-inspiring scenery. Instead, it is a prairie, home to a complex biodiversity of animals. Conservation is the reason for the par…
During our stay on Marco Island, Walker's parents rented a boat for us to explore the mangroves and gulf. My first surprise were the pelicans swarming at the boat rental; they were enormous, dino-looking creatures with awkwardly bent wings. I don't think I've seen them so close before. My second was the bright green and blue water. I had thought of Floridian water as bit muddied compared to the Caribbean, and it is a bit, but the colors off the sky were bright. We started our cruise through th…
Walker's parents were in Florida for a respite from the midwest winter this year, and they planned a long weekend trip for us to see them. It was such a different experience being in a house than a hotel. The house they'd rented was on a canal not far from the Marco Island Resident's Beach. Such a lovely, clean feeling to walk right out of my bedroom to read in the sun by the pool each morning, And so wonderfully relaxing to have the kitchen pre-stocked with our favorite yogurts and gluten-free…