Everglades City, part 2

After a big day of swimming, gator hunting, and perfecting one's pedaling or walking skills, it's nice to relax on the porch and wait for the boats to go by. Particularly with a glass of wine, if you're not a member of the under-5 set. If too much time passes between boats, or Mommy or Ganghi start to look too relaxed with their glasses of wine, there are plenty breakable items to seek out and play with.

After cocktail hour is over, it's time for dinner. Sometimes, we brave a restaurant. I put Lucie in her pretty Mexican dress to meet her great-grandma Doris. She sure looks sweet, right?
To quote Ash in "Army of Darkness": It's a trick. Get an axe.

After munching crackers for about 11 minutes, Lucie decided she had had quite enough of the Rod and Gun Club, pre-packaged twin packs of Saltines, and extended family. She pitched a fit that lasted through: walking around the lobby to admire the extensive taxidermy collection, sitting on a sofa with a bottle, walking around the pool, visiting the ladies' room, a diaper change, Ganghi's relief cuddling so I could actually eat, and a boat ride - about 90 minutes or so.

We had much better luck at the beach. Brennan really enjoyed splashing in the little tidal channel at Tigertail Beach on Marco, even if the bottom was kind of slimy and muddy.

A stay at Club Everglades means lots of boat rides, since it's on a little island in the Barron River and if you run out of bread or something...Boat Ride!

Even if you don't need to go to the fish market or drive to the beach, you can usually wrangle a boat ride out of Grandpa by late afternoon, when he finishes the Official Boat Project of the Day. I don't know a lot about sail boats, but I'm getting the impression maintaining one is kind of like painting the Golden Gate Bridge - when you reach one end, it's time to back to the other side and start over. Or sell it and buy a bigger, more broken one.
Woobie likes boat rides, too.

My big Valentine's Day date was lunch on Marco Island with Brennan. We left Lucie napping under Ganghi's watch. After a quick stop at Starbucks - I bribed him away from Grandpa and the sail boat with promises of a chocolate milk box and a cake pop - we parked into the Marriott and shamelessly disregarded notices that beach access was for hotel guests only.

We even changed into our swimsuits in the poolside restroom. Ha!
The water was a little too chilly for swimming - but that's OK, Bren prefers hopping in the waves just as they reach shore, and looking for shells. Marco is a great beach for shells - and some of them have weird, slimy little animals inside!
It was a great week in Florida - so nice to be warm and spoiled by grandparents - we were a little sad to leave. But we'll be back...