Hi everyone! As promised, here’s the recap of the lovely Marco Island, Florida. For a little background – I’ve been coming here with my family for more than a decade now and we love it for it’s usual 80 degree weather, great restaurants, and that you can relax a bit since it’s quieter and smaller than most destinations around the state.
Nothing like having drinks poolside! We love going to Stilts at the Marriott Vacation Club since it’s right by the pool – you can either eat/drink in the restaurant or have it delivered where you’re sitting. They also have a great happy hour too with bites like seared scallops, tuna tartare, mozzarella sticks, and more!
When we’ve been coming, the Marriott Vacation Club always had two pools. However, they are currently expanding and are adding a third pool, as well as an Italian restaurant (music to my ears), a couple hot tubs, and more towers so that it’s easier to reserve a spot since it’s always such an ordeal to book with the former limited space. They also have a gym and a kid’s “clubhouse” with games for the littles! One of the big perks of staying here versus the JW is that this location has activities all day every day such as Beer Bocce or BINGO during the day and Wine & Cheese Happy Hour at night so there’s always something to do!
In terms of where to go outside the hotel, we love going to DaVinci’s (near the fountain below) – a really nice Italian spot and not too far from where we stayed. If you want to check out the other Marriott (JW), their beach bar, Quinn’s is the perfect detour when walking on the beach. Great drinks and you can watch the sun set. Joey’s is a great pizza spot, especially for all you Chicago snowbirds out there! Nene’s Kitchen is a great breakfast diner that we love and the owners also hail from Chicago too. Our favorite place hands down though is Tokyo Inn, a Hibachi style Japanese steakhouse. This is where my love of seafood started. Snook Inn is another classic as it’s right on the docks and they have fresh fish daily. If you need something more casual, The Sand Bar is a cheap dive bar that has arcade games and TVs all around too.
Another fun thing to do in Marco is to rent a boat for the day and see all the little islands around since you’re close to the Keys. With this in mind, we like stopping at a couple other places that we can only get to with the boat like Stan’s in Goodland. Stan’s is crazy fun with all the servers dressed in crazy costumes and a quirky gift shop nearby. One last one we frequent is Capri Fish House in Naples (pictured below) – a cute little bar with its own mini beach with colorful chairs and a great patio. Get the fried lobster bites – trust me!
Hoping to be back here sooner rather than later – I noticed a few new spots opened up that I want to try. Plus, I’m hoping to explore more of Naples soon since it has a little more of a “downtown” feel.
Have you ever been to Marco? What’s your favorite spot?
See you in the next post!
