I had a work related trip to Ft. Lauderdale planned for Monday and Tuesday this week so I decided to take the opportunity to make it a long weekend and spend some time at our second home on Marco Island. We arrived on Friday and spent the weekend with friends, drinking great wine, taking in some beautiful sunsets and doing a little sea kayaking. We had a great time but most important it was restorative and relaxing. On Monday I drove over to the east coast for a financial conference. We stayed at the W right on Ft. Lauderdale beach. Nice hotel but a little too cool and trendy for me. On Monday night we had a craving for Cuban food, so we choose an authentic restrauent located just ten minutes from the hotel, named Padrino’s. They have several locations along the eastern coast of Florida. The atmosphere was pleasant, clean and a little cozy. I’ve included the link here. http://padrinos.com
We ordered a few cocktails before dinner. We each choose a mojito, which might just be the perfect cocktail. With mint, simple syrup and white rum it’s always refreshing and tonight did not disappoint. In fact, I had two! Dinner started with a few appetizers. We had picadillo empanadas, which included puffed pastry with seasoned ground beef and fresh guava chutney. We also had mariquitas, which were crispy plantain chips served with garlic sauce. Both were very tasty but I LOVED the plantain chips!
For my entree I had churraco, a char-grilled skirt steak with homemade chimicurri sauce. It was served with black beans, white rice and sweet plantains. Yummy. I ordered my steak medium and it was cooked perfectly. I eat every bite.
I got up early Tuesday morning to go for a walk and catch the sunrise. It was a cool, windy day at the beach but nice weather for a brisk walk. I walked along the beach for about a mile and took in the sunrise. It was a little cloudy but still so pretty.
I also snapped a photo of this iconic landmark along Ft. Lauderdale beach.
After the conference I headed back to Marco Island where my husband and I grabbed a quick dinner at new restaurant on the island, just two months since their opening, Thai Sushi. We dined in and I had the vegetable role pictured here. It was really tasty and the service was terrific. We will defiantly make this a regular stop on our trips back to Marco. They are so new they don’t have a website.
We then went to the beach to catch the sunset. Still a little cloudy and chilly on the west coast, but still a beautiful evening.
We then spent a few hours in the pool for one last swim. Back to chilly, gray Cincinnati tomorrow.
Feb 01
2018
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