As planned, we are at Marco Island for Thanksgiving.
We have a reservation for Thanksgiving dinner at Marek's Restaurant which is about a 1/2 mile from the marina. We made the reservation without a lot of information and have since learned that it is quite a fancy (and expensive) place. We have decided to still go - we have not dined out much this month, so the 'budget' should support it (we hope). I just hope we 'meet their standards' and they let us in.
This has been a busy week getting a number of things done, most importantly a new water heater. After finding that the 11 gallon replacement I had ordered would not fit, we were lucky that a 6 gallon unit could be shippped in quickly. The installation went fairly smoothly. The boat yard was able to return the unit we could not use, with only a small restocking fee. Kudos to Rose Marina for a job well done!
Yesterday afternoon was our first day to really enjoy Marco. Sipping coffee at an outside table at Starbucks overlooking the fountain at the Esplanade was very nice.
Tom
P. S. By the time we left for dinner, Tom had me nervous that we were not going to be allowed into the restaurant. One website described it as being dressy, for special occassions, and we have no clothes on the boat that would fit the description. We both dressed in some of our best clothes (Tom even wore socks), and we were greeted warmly upon arrival. Although we were not the best-dressed people there, we were in about the 50th percentile of casual/formal. We keep forgetting that we are in Florida; even Marco Island is quite casual compared to the north.
And, we are not washing dishes because we couldn't pay the bill, so that is a real plus. The meal was good, but I would have preferred Plainville Farms (may it rest in peace). The chef has cooked for the Queen, when he and his wife lived in England, and the building was the former home of one of the founders of Marco. All-in-all it was a very pleasant experience, although we missed family and friends.
Next door to the marina is a vacant lot in a very nice neighborhood of large houses. After investigating, Tom found that there is a burrowing owl nest. This is an endangered species, and cannot be disturbed. We had to feel sorry for whoever owns the property, because the value is greatly diminished if no building is allowed. As we were coming back from dinner, a little owl was sticking up out of its burrow. We were about ten feet away from him, and he was such an adorable guy; we felt so fortunate to see this rare sight. Tom is hoping to take a picture of him with his good camera: his phone camera just doesn't do the little guy justice.
Joyce
Docked at Rose Marina
Marco Island
Collier County, FL
Map 2012-13 Cruise
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