On the morning of January 5th, we departed Bradenton through Tampa Bay, then into Anna Maria Sound, then on to one of our favorite anchorages at Longboat Key. We both had work to do, so we stayed on the boat and had a quiet night in. For boaters passing through this area, there are two excellent restaurants at this anchorage that have dinghy docks making for an easy visit: Shore Longboat Key, which has layered terraces overlooking the water with cozy fire elements interspersed between the table, and Mar Vista Dockside Restaurant & Pub, which has outdoor seating on the sand underneath centuries old buttonwood trees. Both are a real treat. We have been to each on several prior trips, so didn’t feel too bad about missing it this time.
The next morning, after wrestling with the impressive “sea salad” weighing down our anchor chain (George had to do some serious boat yoga, hang off the bow sprit, and stab at it with a boat hook), we made our way to Sarasota where we had reserved a slip at Sarasota Yacht Club. I had told George that Sarasota YC was the one FCYC club that I absolutely did not want to miss. In their dinner bread baskets, they serve the most delicious homemade warm scones that I remember fondly from prior visits. We were greeted by their friendly dockmaster, who helped us settle into our slip and pointed out the kayaks and paddleboards that we were welcome to borrow.
After a leisurely bike ride to explore the shops and galleries at Armand’s Circle, we visited Lido Beach. When we returned to the boat, George grabbed a kayak and explored several mangrove channels. Then on to dinner at the club and the delicious scones (they even packed up some extra scones for me to take back to the boat)!
The next day, January 7th, we moved to the other side of Sarasota Bay to The Field Club, where we had plans to meet a college friend of George’s, Jack and his wife Nancy. Jack and Nancy had retired several years ago to Lakewood Ranch, a beautiful, planned community to the east of Sarasota (it is so large that it has its own exit sign on I-75). They took us to the brand-new home of the recently relocated Mote Science Education Aquarium. The exhibits were informative, interesting, and uniformly well done. We spent the afternoon entertained by playful river otters, cute penguins, graceful manatees, and fascinating sea creatures of all kinds.
Jack and Nancy treated us to a wonderful dinner at their home and then took us to Lakewood Ranch town center for “Ranch Nite Wednesdays” to see for ourselves a weekly cornhole extravaganza that must be seen to be believed. Main Street was lined by more than fifty cornhole boards on each side of the street, with contestants throwing bean bags from one side of the street to the other, surrounded by food trucks, live music, and masses of neighbors milling around visiting and watching the games. Each round involves more than fifty teams, so more than 200 people per round, and with three rounds a night (new teams compete each hour), that’s more than 600 people playing a night. It is reportedly the largest “recreational” cornhole league in the nation (I guess that means there are “professional” cornhole leagues – I am learning so much on this trip). What struck me was that most of the players were young adults (not just old, retired folks, like us) and they all seemed to be having a blast, tossing bean bags, sipping drinks, and talking smack to the opposing teams. All the shops and restaurants along main street were doing a brisk business. What a great, low-cost and easy idea for downtowns everywhere. After all that excitement, we needed to relax, so we returned to Jack and Nancy’s for a soak in the hot tub, before Jack drove us back to our boat. George put together a short highlight video of Longboat Key to Sarasota, including his Sarasota mangrove kayak exploration and the Mote aquarium. I think the grandkids will really enjoy this one!
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Glad you two are enjoying life! I use to live on longboat key. I think I was in early twenties. use to sail my compact from Anna Maria to Sarasota and back. Their is a island off Anna Maria they called bird island? It is now a park I think, but then very few people visited it. there were big guns pointed at Cuba that were washing into the water. Red brick roads, really, red brick, and little cottages where Military lived. Huge tourttus you could ride. We didn’t ride them, just describing how big they were. well, I can’t spell tourtuss and spell check isn’t helping. BIG ASS TURTLE’.I have often wondered if they are still there. It was a wonderful place and we always had the entire island when we went. long boat key was awesome….no condos, just little beach houses, lots of shelled roads. the fishing pier, NO TRAFFIC.
I will never understand why people find such peace and serenity, move in and tear down the very thing that attracted them. I have lived in every area of florida one time or another, and am so glad I had the chance to see it almost untouched. No superhighways, acres and acres of citrus farms, cattle ranches, and cool clear bubbling spring everywhere you looked. The tamiami trail where the Seminole Indians huts were, with river flowing beside it full of fish. Gone. No canals to scar the landscape and pollute the Gulf, lake Okeechobee, and Atlantic. When they were developing Hollywood, we were some of first people there, Dad was in hospital adm. and went there to work. We moved into a little TINY HOUSE, lol, and had to walk a trail through woods to go to school which was a temporary building. Mom had to check for rattlesnakes on cement driveway before
we could go out.
I wish we could stop needing so much excess as a society and just look at florida, and quit tearing down all the natural hurricane barrior’s God provided, to keep beaches from being washed away. Stop building ON THE BEACH and getting mad if anyone dare to walk on it. So very sad for a girl who at one time ran around with dark bare feet, exploring freely, eating swamp cabbage, drinking from unpolluted springs, taking a nap on a huge low lying moss covered live oak limb wide enough for her and her long time cocker spaniel partner, Sam, who was even allowed to go to school with me. now, there is a story….SAM. sorry about the dictation and misspelling’s, surely you get the point. lol I love you guys…jodi
P.S. You know I am longwinded, when we moved to Cocoa fla. we lived in our first development. I have to give that contractor Kudos, as he left nice lots, small houses in the middle of a grove. He cut only what was necessary I have never had a REAL orang, grapefruit or tangerine since, and when they were blooming, the scent was unreal, fresh, mixes with light air drifting through our window from the Indian river, where I FOUND my first boat, knocked a hole in top, put a mast, made a rudder and sail and was off exploring the islands. She sank in a storm that rolled in and SAM and I had to swim to Merritt Island in very choppy water. I got as close as I could and we jumped overboard and let her go.