Go Ahead: Marco Island

What a delight to meet up with good friends for Thanksgiving! Doug and Shelley were spending the week on Marco Island and invited us to join them for the holiday. Since RVs are not allowed to stay overnight on the island, we were glad to find a guy named Bruno, who let us store Darby (the RV) in his fenced parking lot (three side by fence, fourth side by gator infested waters).

We all stayed in a house together, rode our bikes around the island, worked on a puzzle, swam, and enjoyed good company. It was a first thanksgiving away from family for both of us and delightful to share in it together. Spending the day at the beach was worth the resulting slightly dry turkey.

Sea turtles nest on the beaches in southern Florida, and Marco Island works hard to protect these turtles. Shockingly only 1 out of 1,000 turtle babies will make it to adulthood! Their natural predators are raccoons, birds, crabs, and the a myriad of marine creatures. Once they grow to adulthood they have virtually no natural predators, other than an occasional shark attack. Humans, however, have increasingly become a greater threat to the species. Attractive shells, used for jewelry and luxury items, is no longer legal, but the black market for these is still alive. Habitat loss due to both development and beach erosion are also threats. Entanglement in plastic bags or fishing lines, marine pollution, and beach activity are all ways that humans have impacted the turtle population.

The friend whose home we stayed in has a deep love for these turtles. Not only is he involved in groups to protect them, but he raises them in his backyard. The kids were delighted to "get to know" these turtles who were not afraid of humans. They fed them kale, gave them names, and took selfies with the turtles.

A special adventure out to Tigertail beach meant crossing a lagoon to Sand Dollar island. Wading up to our waist in murky waters while our toes squished in silly mud was a little unnerving, but the reward on the other side was worth every nervous moment.

Shells as far as the eye could see.

The north end of the beach appeared to dead end in mangroves, but a little path through the mangroves took us to a quiet white sandy beach where only those looking for solitude would go. We went. There were more shells, a sand dollar tree, a horseshoe crab and a beautiful view.