Still a little travel-sore

Well, I’ll go ahead and say it: I need a vacation from my vacation!

I got in at 5am after road tripping back home to Indiana from Marco Island, Florida.  A 1200-mile trip that should have taken 20ish hours took me about 18 hours…my excuse if I had been pulled over?  “Officer, I really really want to get home.”

A little back story:

Every year for our anniversary (September 25! This year was our seventh anniversary, woohoo!),  we do something a little more beachy or adventurous (in honor of the fact that we flitted off to Maui for our own wedding).

For our first 2 anniversaries, we had the opportunity to explore different Hawaiian islands.  In 2004, we tagged along with my parents when they visited friends in Oahu, and were able to be in my cousin’s wedding on Kauai.  Of course, we had to return to Maui in 2005, because Maui no ka oi! (Maui’s the best).

In 2006, we spent it with family in New York, because we knew that my grandmother was not long for this world (she died February 2007).

In 2007, we explored California, driving up and down the Pacific Coast Highway.  My parents had recently moved there in the latter half of 2006 to be closer to my grandmother after being New Yorkers for 20+ years.

In 2008, I had the opportunity to inherit my parents sporty CR-V, and get a cross-country road trip out of it (something I’ve always wanted to do!).  So, we flew out to California, and meandered our way back to Indiana, taking lots of pictures along the way!

In 2009, I was craving sun and sand again, so, we decided to take up our father-in-law’s offer of using his condo on Marco Island, Florida for our sun and fun needs.  Since we’re trying to be responsible adults, we decided to return to my father-in-law’s condo on Marco Island this year so that we had another year to save for a trip back to Maui.

 

A typical day on Marco Island:

-Around 10, walk down to the beach to get some morning sun while doing my morning, pre-breakfast (but post-coffee!) cardio

-Back to the condo to swim in the pool for an hour, which for me means taking turns tanning in and out of the pool.  I’d bake for a bit on lounge chairs, and when it’s too hot, jump in the pool for a few laps before taking a break and baking on the chairs again.  That’s my idea of an interval workout!

(oh, and the elevator was being repaired, so it was 5 flights of stairs for us each time we wanted to go anywhere/do anything.  Some people may be inconvenienced by that.  But, I thought, “Cool. Sprints!”).

-Around noon, eat breakfast, which for the first half of our week is traditionally bacon, eggs, and toast (or croissants!).  The best aromatherapy is coming back to a condo that smells like maple-y bacon.

-From 12-4pm: Depending on the weather, either cool off in the condo, while watching copious amounts of HGTV, Animal Planet, and the Discovery Channel and deciding which local restaurant to eat at for dinner. (Generally, at this point it will rain for an hour anyway to break up the humidity; also, we don’t have cable TV, so HGTV is basically our secret indulgence). Or, cool down poolside, and if it’s especially hot, float around in the pool for a bit.

-Around 4-7: Go on the hunt for thrift store goodies, food, and ice cream.  Mark is obsessed with Good Will and other secondhand stores, and of course, who doesn’t like food and ice cream??  We try to patronize as many locally owned businesses as possible, but a trip to Coldstone Creamery did work itself in there.

-From 7pm on: Watch movie marathons, or episodes of home renovations on HGTV before passing out around midnight. (Again, we don’t have cable TV, so these are definitely treats for us!)

-Lather, rinse, repeat.

Anniversary Special

So, for my actual anniversary, we decided to walk on the beach again, yay…but this time, instead of enjoying a condo-cooked meal of bacon, eggs, and croissants (which, by the way, I’m a total expert at cooking), we walked up to one of the restaurants lining Marco Beach (aptly named, Quinn’s on the Beach), and splurged on a little brunch.

I ordered the shrimp BLT (which had arugula instead of a traditional lettuce, served on a French baguette, yum!).

We finished off our day bobbing around in the pool, and otherwise not moving until our requisite steak dinners at 7pm, for which we were only mildly hungry.

Afterward, we enjoyed a movie marathon of the living dead (Resident Evil! I Am Legend!), because nothing says “I love you” like watching survivors of an apocalypse kick butt!

Happiness is the meeting of sun and sand

I tend to be a lot more relaxed during these vacations because the holiday season in the retail industry is most frenetic (I don’t like using the word “stressful” as it has lost it’s meaning and impact), and I like to soak in as much sun and fun to carry me through till January (where I usually take a vaca in the middle of the month for my birthday.)

I always believe that the best souvenirs are a killer tan, and beautiful memories/pictures of a very relaxing and stress-free time. Here is my last view of the beach.  I’m sure you agree with me.