Sarasota, FL
Sarasota has the keys to your heart…five keys to be exact. Manasota Key, Lido Key, Casey Key, Longboat Key and last but certainly not least the ever-so beautiful, Siesta Key.
Siesta Key is the most popular beach of the five Keys in Sarasota. It was named number two on Dr. Beach’s top ten list. Siesta is always topping charts for beauty and relaxation. The sand is white and soft like powdered sugar. The water is crystal clear and it’s The Gulf of Mexico so the water is just the right temperature. Siesta Key’s public beaches get crowded quickly in the
afternoon but early in the morning it is a beautiful place to get in a brisk run or even some yoga. Some of the hotels on the beach have classes you can sign up for where they take you out onto the beach as the sun rises and you do some quiet yoga.
Along the beach there are four lifeguard chairs. Why am I mentioning these? For two reasons. One, they are a sign that a lifeguard is on duty and that is a very safe feeling. Two, they are uniquely colored. All four of them are a different color: blue, yellow, green and red. This makes for a great photo opportunity combined with the sun set or even the sun rise. The Siesta public beaches also offer tennis courts, volleyball nets in the sand, shaded playgrounds for the kids and plenty of picnic areas for family BBQs on the beach. One experience you should definitely have is Parasailing. This is something that you will never forget. When you are so high up in the air, all the people on the beach look like tiny ants and since the water is so clear, you can see the dolphins swimming around! If you happen to be staying in the Siesta Dunes area keep a sharp eye out in the early morning or late evening for rabbits. They live wild all throughout the dunes and they love fresh carrots. Keep an extra bag in your cooler, just in case.
One of my favorite restaurants in Siesta Key is Philippi Creel Oyster Bar. The seafood is very fresh and they bring the outdoors in. The dinning room is very open with lots of windows so there is never a bad seat in the house. The deck, just outside the restaurant has a beautiful view of the Siesta inlet. While you are dinning there you have to try the crab legs. They are seasoned just so and are incredibly juicy. The Oysters are great too. They bring them to you in a giant metal bin and you shuck them yourself, put it on a cracker with hot sauce…delicious.
On the same road as Philippi Creek, there is a small marina called C.B. Saltwater Outfitters. They have boat rentals, a gift shop and they sell bait for fishing. The people that own the store are very down-to-earth and nice people. The store has everything you need for a day of fishing and more. I would stop by the marina with my step dad before all of out outings. If you have any questions about the waters or if you are looking for a good place to eat, ask the people working at the marina. They are family owned and operated and know a lot about the local hide always.
Just north of Siesta Key is Lido Key. Lido is a very cool, calm and collected version of Siesta. There is lots of shopping and wonderful beachy condo scenery. There is limited public beach access, but Lido is home to St. Armand’s Circle. This is a wonderful place to walk around and do some light – or heavy – shopping. Grab a snack at Scoop Daddy’s; a local ice cream shop with a 50’s ambiance feeling and amazing ice cream. It may very well e the best ice cream shop you will ever enter.
I have two dogs who are spoiled rotten and both of them love gourmet dog treats. St. Armand’s Circle has a small shop called Wet Noses where they have everything to pamper your pooch, from diamond studded collars to iced dog cookies. My Labs love their cookies.
If you are looking for a good souvenir for someone that had to stay behind at home, visit Crazy Shirts. They sell t-shirts that are died using plants, foods, even money. The chocolate shirts are brown, like chocolate, and they even smell like chocolate! They have red shirts that are died using red peppers and green shirts that are died from old shredded money! If you think that is interesting, each different color shirt has a different way to be gift wrapped. The pepper shirts get rolled up and put into a box that looks like a pepper and so on. All the shirts say something funny on them too. Crazy Shirts is a great place to just walk around and smell the shirts and read them! How often do you get to say that?
The Sarasota Bay, located in Lido Key, is home to two very interesting things. A 25 foot tall statue of “Unconditional Surrender”, that you have to see to believe and a tiki bar which makes burgers so big that they can only be eaten in two or more sittings.
The Statue is made of sculpted and painted aluminum. Originally it was there back in 2007 and it was made of sculpted and painted Styrofoam. At the time it was a temporary artwork and would later be replaced with something else extraordinary. This 25 foot monument brought people from all over and received so many great reviews that they brought it back in 2008. The statue was supposed to be taken down in March of 2009 but a man started a fundraiser in hopes of making “Unconditional Surrender” a permanent display.
The tiki bar is called Cocktails in Paradise and is an outward facing, upscale “shack”. You order inside then eat your meal under a straw pavilion where live music is always playing. The pavilion is right on the sand and it is directly to the right of the Sarasota bay so boats will just ride up, grab a burger and go. It’s like fast food on the water. My mom ordered a burger from here and it was so big that she had to cut it in half to eat it. She didn’t even finish a quarter of it. To this day she still says it was the best burger she ever ate, and it took her 3 days to eat it. The unique thing about Cocktails in Paradise is the tiki men. They are everywhere, all shapes, sizes and colors! Around every corner there is a tiki man.
The beaches of Lido Key are all ready for your enjoyment with plenty of concession stands, shaded playgrounds and cabana rentals. North Lido is very secluded and has no lifeguards on duty. People rarely go to that side of the beach.
Longboat Key, Casey Key and Manasota Key are all very secluded and some areas are deserted. Manasota is completely deserted but does have a boat ramp on the bay side to allow for visitors. If you are looking for a scenic drive, Longboat Key is the place to go. There are a lot of windy roads with beautiful mansions all up and down the streets. Casey Key is very private and home to the world renowned author, Stephen King.
Sarasota is a beautiful chunk of the Gulf of Mexico. Anyone will be taken aback by its charm, wonder and excitement. I know I was.
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