Florida 2020: Diary – Day 5

Breakfast in the restaurant was the buffet again. I believe they finally had enough people in the hotel to justify having it. There were significantly more people than when we first arrived, but it was far from crowded, even during peak times at the pool.

Beach Time (for real!)

Unlike the previous day, I didn’t get any last minute phone calls cancelling the boat shuttle to the beach. We headed to the boat dock after breakfast about 20 minute prior to the boat departure time as directed. When the boat arrived they took our names and the names of the other groups. Capacity was limited on the boat to ensure proper spacing, though the boat was pretty full.

The boat ride was a smooth one across the bay and only took 15 minutes to get to a private island the hotel shares with a condo association. Only guests of the hotel and owners at the condo association have access to the island and each run their own boat shuttle.

On the island is a large building housing restrooms and a concession stand, offering snacks but no prepared food or meals. The beach is also set up with chairs and umbrellas for everyone to use at no cost. Just put your towels on the chairs to claim them. There were plenty to choose from, especially because we were on the first trip to the island.

The beach looks our over the bay and the waves weren’t very big. The sand was mostly clean but the water was on the chilly side. Then again, it was end of December so being outside in shorts was satisfying enough for me!

The boys played in the water for a bit and then we spent a bit tossing the Frisbee. The wind was calm and the weather was very pleasant. It wasn’t too hot but warm enough to enjoy the beach.

Since the boat shuttles leave every hour, we had to time our return get back to the hotel since the boys were getting hungry as noon approached. We finished our time at the beach and made our way to the dock which was a 5 minute walk from where we had set up on the beach.

The shuttle ride back was a mirror image of the trip to the island. Once back at the hotel we ended up eating at Corkscrews, using up our $50 food credit for the day and enjoying eating outside. The added the challenge of fending off the seagulls, though. They were quite aggressive!

Afternoon Shopping

After eating, the boys went in the pool for a while to fill up the afternoon. As they got tired, we decided to head to the local mall to walk around and do some window shopping. We had a list of things to get at Target and we spent some time at Barnes and Noble to get some books for the boys.

Back at the hotel we threw the Frisbee some more before deciding what we wanted for dinner. We decided to get takeout pizza and found a place not too far that was recommended by the front desk. It ended up being decent, though not particularly memorable. Again, it was great being able to eat it in our hotel room and being able to take advantage of all the space and the view.

After another round of ice cream at Cool Beans we walked around the property some more. The boys spent some time playing Frisbee in the pool since it was otherwise empty. We then watched some people cooking s’mores at the fire pit which looked like a lot of fun. Maybe we could use one of our Cool Beans coupons closer to the end of the trip to get a s’mores pack.

Somehow in the excitement we lost the Frisbee. I think it got left at the pool, though it wasn’t at lost and found the next day. Bummer. That Frisbee had been all over the world with us!

Back in the room we watched some TV before calling it a night. The boys still had three more days of remote school before their holiday break started. Hopefully they could maintain their concentration!