FLO-Reeeeda!

A long, long time ago a song came on the radio that happened to be by the artist FLO-RIDA (long "I") and I happened be a little rap artist impaired at that point and said to my good buddy Bridget: "This FLO-Reeeda song is pretty good!" She of course bust out laughing and has yet to let me live it down. Thank goodness for her and my rap genius friend Kendra or else my play list would be lacking some good stuff...especially my running list! So every time I say the name of the state Florida, I now pronounce it FLO-Reeeeda based on principle alone! :) But despite the silly story, AK and I spent a few days in Flo-reeeda (okay, enough, I know!) last week.

We flew all the way to Marco Island, FL and it was well worth the day of travel it took us to get there. This place is beautiful and full of some of the nicest people. There was not one person who was in a hurry and even fewer people without gray hair! HA! It was perfect for us as we were trying to escape the chaos of Chicago and warm our bodies up from the winter (even though it was the mildest mid-west winter ever!). I would love to write about all the very exciting things we did, but essentially we did....NOTHING!!! And this was exactly what we were hoping for! We rented a little 1 bedroom condo off of the VRBO website and it was complete with a full kitchen and a balcony looking directly out to the ocean....this happened to be key!!! So we got lucky on our accommodations and the rest kind of fell into place as we had a few recommendations from friends regarding restaurants, entertainment, etc.  I will try and post our week in pictures, but will describe the routine first and then add a few funny stories....

Pretty much every day we woke up, ran on the beach, had breakfast, jumped into our suits, found a spot by the pool and/or ocean and parked it for the day with a packed cooler and good books. We also went out for dinner each night and one night we grabbed some fresh food from a local market and just watched the sunset while enjoying our own picnic including....beer and champagne of course!! :)
 We did have one rain day which ended up to be perfectly timed after two long days in the sun (if you haven't noticed AK is a red head with fair skin who likes the shade!!). :)) We sat on our covered balcony, looked out at the ocean and read all afternoon. It. Was. Wonderful!!! And the last day we were there the weather couldn't make up it's mind so on our way back to the airport we checked out Naples, FL....walked out on the pier, had lunch, checked out the beach, etc! Pretty darn cool if you ask me.

Now for a few stories and/or memories....

I said our covered balcony was key....one reason being it kept us covered but also outside during the rain day and the second reason being it looked out directly to the ocean which made it the perfect view to watch the 4 or 5 dolphins that swam and jumped and played right in front of our condo!!! It was so cool and as if they new we were watching. AK could have stood out there for hours (and he may have), but it was seriously cool and he got some seriously cool photos with his fancy dancy camera that has a zoom lens. Hopefully he sends those pics over before this post goes to press!! :)
And now prepare yourselves...every Michigan State fan/Michigan lover will enjoy this!! So everywhere we go (and I mean EVERYWHERE we go) it never fails that AK knows someone from Michigan somehow. I will give him the fact that he went to a couple different schools growing up, but after that he gets nothing! And I tell him all the time that I get overwhelmed because he is NEVER alone in his Michigan love and/or his Mich St posse and I feel like I'm constantly fighting for the big I-A and the hidden gem that it is! ;) So this trip was no different.....First license plate we see when we pull into our very small (compared to the other hotels/resorts) condo residence....give ya one guess....a Michigan one??? Ding, ding, ding!!  First couple we truly meet and have a conversation with....not only are they from Michigan, but their entire family are Michigan State alums (nothing wrong with that, but this "coincidence" happens all the time) . Just when you think you're going to escape a few days of "Go Green".... I found myself right in the middle of it all the way down in FLO-Reeeda (couldn't resist). But it gets better....AK jumps in the pool with the MSU alum that we had been chatting with and another guy in the pool pipes up that he went to MSU too...unbelievable, but it gets better....Another guy gets in the pool as the three MSU boys are chatting with their backs turned to the pool stairs (and I'm eyeing this whole situation go down from my lounge chair) and the new addition is a Michigan fan wearing a Michigan hat. Of course he goes unnoticed and AK is telling the other two MSUers that the spot I picked at the beach that morning was right next this Michigan fan (said man in MI hat)..."can you believe that," AK says! And AK's new little buddy responds: "well good for him, he probably didn't even go to school there!" I mean seriously it never fails, and the MI fan literally took one dip in the pool filled with green and white and decided the ocean side was a better fit! So in summary 4 men enter a swimming pool (in Florida nonetheless), 3 Michigan State fans, 1 Michigan fan.....sounds like the start of a crazy joke, does it not??? :))

But enough of that....take a look below and check out the beautiful place we called home last week!!

day 1....i love this picture! AK passed time by dipping in the ocean, shelling and skipping sea shells!

first beach day....sunscreened and ready to rock!

night of picnic....fun! fun!!

beach!

cheers....bubbles, picnic, and sunset!

i love sunsets....and God is good!

he got it!

AK called this "the position!"

so happy to be in sun and on a beach!!

i. love. this. photo!! framer for sure!

ready to set sail.....

with my captain! HA!!! :)

what would a destination be without a yoga pose??? tree, anyone?

fancy night with fancy food!! so fun! and so yummy!

Naples was windy but beautiful!! HA HA!!

fancy dinner night with an awesome view! pretty great!

dolphins.... belly flop!

jump and twist

dive!!! so fun to watch (almost every day!)

my favorite thing about FL beaches is how long they are....they go on forever which made for some fun morning runs!

 So there you have it folks....our vacation told by funny stories, things to remember and a few good photos!!! If you've never been, Marco Island is a place to check out....absolutely lovely!!