Captiva (part 2 of my vacation continued): "The Mucky Duck"

The second night that all 8 of us were there, we went to dinner at the "Mucky Duck." I think we had dinner at about 10pm and did a whole lot of picture taking prior to dinner. We also managed to get some pics in front of the famous duck after dinner before heading home to enjoy some late night games!

The beautiful sunset before dinner...

A group pic minus me

Julio insisted that I be in one of the group pics.

Thumbs up for waiting!

What can I say? They are just a cute married couple.

And so are these two!

A Mark sandwich

Nora and Jacob - CHEESE!

Is Chris smelling Ann's hair?

Thanks for making Captiva a success Nora!

This spells T R O U B L E.

Hanging out with the no-see-ums and mosquitoes

I imagine Ann is saying something like: "Chris, go check on the reservation. I'd like to eat sometime tonight."

Awww, how nice.

The moon was amazing that night! This picture doesn't do it justice.

Charlie's Angels in front of the Mucky Duck?!

Nice face Kat! :)

CHEEEEEEEESE!!

All I have to say is: Kat, thanks for making us laugh!

Vacation Part 2 -- Captiva, FL

This part of the trip may not exactly be PG-13 enough to post pictures on my blog. Ha. Only kidding. There were eight of us staying in one condo--kind of like the Real World, except without any of the drama. I'm not a big fan of going on huge group outings or vacations, mostly because it usually involves a slew of differing personalities and opinions, which makes it utterly difficult to arrive at a solid decision about what to do, where to go, what to eat, etc. This was the best, most laid-back group of people that I have ever experienced. There were no arguments about what to do, where to go, or when to get out of bed in the morning. Luckily for me, many people in the group like the sand and ocean about as much as I do, which means we spent most of our time at the pool! Yeah!! The best part was that the pool was directly next to the ocean so it was kind of like having the best of all possible worlds--no sand, a nice, cold, clean pool to cool off from the squelching sun, drinks by the pool, and a nice ocean breeze. It was fantastic! I have quite a few pics--not as many as Nora and Kat--but I'll just pick a sampling to post here (well, maybe a little more than a "sampling"). :)


The first night that we were all in Captiva was Friday the 23rd, and we went out to dinner at this place called the "Bubble Room." This would be my "art" shot, utilizing no flash, for the first picture of the night. From left to right: Mark, Kat, Chris (who's parents' condo made all this possible), Nora, Julio, Jacob, and Ann.

Kat and Mark checking out the menu--possibly posing for the shot. :)

Chris and Mark --aww, isn't that cute?!

Kat, one of Nora's best friends from college, and of course, Nora

Julio and Jacob, aka Schmiddjy (not sure about that spelling)

Schmiddjy and Schmiddy - classic

Nora and Ju - gotta love them!

Everyone thought I looked like that girl in the picture so they made me pose with her. I do have to say the resemblance is uncanny.

Ann and Chris - the first to brave the "Tunnel of Love" shot.

Awww, the girls. :)

Chris being inappropriate --thanks for making that shot happen Chris!

Bert and Ernie -- friendship life partners?!

Queens of the Blue hue

The other married couple -- Kat and Mark :)

Who doesn't want to get a shot in the Tunnel of Love??!! (me...ha)

This was too classic to refuse...

Showing off our silly bands...who doesn't need rubber bands that make shapes?!

Kat and Chris attempting the tango...

Chris and Nora - "best friend in-laws" (a term I have coined)

This is before Ann took the microphone away from that guy.

Now we've got the girls singing along -- that keyboard player needed some serious singing help!

Belt it out!

This would be when I was kicking Jacob's butt at Foosball -- I'm the one with the points; he has none. :)

I didn't take this shot because I was too busy kicking Jacob's butt in Foosball, but I'm glad someone got this classic shot so that I could post it on my blog! :)

At the end of the night we all took turns seeing who could hit the punching bag the hardest. Of course Chris won. I think he might have some built up angst. ;)

Too cute!!

Vacation, Finally! (part 1)

After spending the first half of the summer house/dog-sitting, working at school trying to get organized for next year, babysitting, and working at the Ox and Rabbit, it is FINALLY vacation time! The second half of the summer is vacation time and travel time. I am just now returning from spending a week visiting my dad in Naples, Florida and spending 5 days with friends in Captiva, Florida. I'll be back for a few days and then am taking a weekend trip up to DC. Then a week from now I'll be on my way to Chicago to visit my friendship soulmate and best friend in-law. Then it'll almost be time for school to start, which just seems absolutely crazy!

The week that I spent with my dad in Naples was absolutely marvelous. My dad prepared home cooked meals almost every night, which were delicious! I slept in almost every day until 10:30am or later. I vegged out in front of the TV at night, watching a plethora of NCIS and other criminal investigative shows with dad. We laid by the pool, went bike riding around downtown Naples, walked around the new Botanical Gardens, spent a day on the boat, saw 3 movies in the theater (more than I've seen or probably will see at a theater this year!) and relaxed at home.

I didn't take a ton of pictures the week I spent with my dad, but I did take pictures the day we walked around the Botanical Gardens for 2 hours in 100+ degree heat. My favorite quote from dad that day, as we are walking around sweating profusely: "I guess when you've seen one plant, you've pretty much seen them all." We were going to walk around "Corkscrew swamp" later in the week, but the walk around the Botanical Gardens pretty much solidified our nature quota for the week.

I took some great pictures while we walked around the Botanical Gardens, so I hope you enjoy them--maybe even more than my dad and I did because you won't be pouring sweat while you're looking at them. 


When we left the Botanical Gardens, sweaty and dehydrated, we stopped by this general store to get refreshing, ice cold drinks. Dad wanted to make sure this picture made it onto my camera, as he said: "This will be the best picture of the day!"

Thanks for making it happen Dad! And thanks for a great Naples Vacation!!