may 26 - june 3, 2007
day 1 Orlando
the flights to Orlando were just fine and both arrived early in spite of the holiday weekend.
both planes were filled with excited little children...alot of them anticipating their
upcoming visit with mickey, minnie, goofy and the rest of the gang.
we went to dinner at "BJ's brewery" and had some awesome avocado and sun dried tomatoes eggrolls and salad
....and of course, beer. while not a microbrewery (Florida doesn't have many we were told), the beer was good...
not Free State, but then that's the best thing (and it is wonderful) the state has going for it
day 2 Orlando
awoke early this morning and spent a little time on Sara's balcony...the weather is beautiful
she looks wonderful!
we met Sara at the hospital as she ended her over night 12 hour shift.
she took us on a tour of the hospitals (there are four in the complex; she works in the emergency department of two of them.
the Arnold Palmer children's hospital and Orlando regional medical center) and we met some of the other interns and her boss-doc
they are beautiful places to work (eat and sleep).
it was so great to get a visual of
where she spends so much of her time.
we went to breakfast and then back to her place for a lot of visiting.
Sara is truly passionate about the work she does and the people it affects.
I'm so amazed by her knowledge and skills and so happy for her that she is pursuing a career that she loves
on the road......
we hit the highway mid afternoon for the four hour drive to Marco Island.
we put the top down, the cd's in, the cruise on and headed south.
we were greeted with hugs from Mike and Becky and these great goodies
were in our room....koozies, sunglases, sunscreen, beach towels, beach music,
the book "gift from the sea" and a beautiful sand dollar
we all piled in a van and headed out towards the everglades looking for a particular
restaurant...(okay, this is really a gross picture, but I couldn't
resist.... how often do you see this along the side of the road?)
we ended the evening with key lime pie and coffee on the balcony over looking the gulf waters.
we then went on a wonderful long walk on the white sand beach that was lit up by the nearly full moon.
we got back to the condo about 1 am and headed to bed.
(but I didn't stay there long. the cool thing about having insomnia while in Florida, is that
even in at 4 am, you can sit outside in the warm night air, and listen to the sounds of the ocean, while
surrounded by palm trees....and, in this case, high speed internet too)
day 3 Marco Island
6 am on a quiet beach...just wonderful!
the sun was shining brightly and a gentle breeze was blowing as we all enjoyed the laziness of the beautiful day..
we all just chilled out.....some read, some napped, and some talked. photo on the right
is taken from below the balcony with Danny, Jen and Brock looking out at the view
UP, UP AND AWAY!!!!
as a surprise for Danny for father's day, I bought him a parasailing ride...mike went too at the same time.
(Becky and I had both been parasailing before, so we just went along for the ride)
and there they go.....higher and higher....
all the way up and out 1500' to see above the whole island
back safely in the boat and headed to shore with great big smiles and another new adventure taken.
the water was a little chilly as we waded back towards the beach
..
we went back to our lounge chairs and spent the rest of the afternoon just relaxing.
we stopped at the hot tub on the way back to the condo...ummmm...nice
Mike and Danny went on some errands...and did a little shopping and each bought a Panama Jack hat.
dinner was really good: hot spiced shrimp, baked potatoes, cole slaw and corn on the cob....
all of us are excellent cooks!
Dan and I decided to take a long walk on the beach tonight.
at the point we were going to turn around, we saw a couple of young guys fishing...really
working hard to pull in something....
it was a shark...about 5' long.
I'd never seen a "wild" shark before...it was so unusual looking.
they were getting ready to fillet it, so we took off, enjoying a wonderful long walk
back to the condo. it was so deserted and quiet all we could hear was the sound of the water
day 4 Marco Island
this morning the plans were for part of the crew to go on a fishing boat and Heather and I were going kayaking.
(I was soooo excited! kayaking has been on my "47 things to do" list for a couple of years
and something I've been so anxious to do!)
started our trip by going in and out these mangrove "islands"
then we headed down a channel towards the gulf
we beached the kayaks on a small island and did a little shelling...the water was so clear....amazing!
in the meantime, the group on the Fishing Boat.....
Jen displays her fish; Mike's fish is on the right--it was about 42" long king mackerel
really cool!! a sea turtle
Danny and Mike fishing and keeping the sun at bay with their new hats
dinner on the island
the pool at the condo