Blogs from Sarasota, Florida, United States, North America - page 9

The Mote Aquarium on the road from St. Armand's Circle to LongBoat Key is well worth the a visit. It would be a fun place for us to take our grandchildren some day. They would see sharks, manatees, sting rays, dolphins and more up close and personal. The Mote exemplifies the spirit of volunteerisn. Almost every exhibit has a very knowledgable and friendly docent on hand to do everything from gently holding a stingray (stinger barbed clipped) so a tot can pet it to explaining everything about a very large and formidable moray eel. One guide told us that the manatees were "frisky" today. Those are his "finger" quotes meaning we might see a mating ritual. So such luck. But we did get to see a lot thanks to videocameras and mirrors considerately placed behind and ... read more

I have been wanting to visit Myakka River State Park since I first heard of it a month or so ago. It is the state's largest park and has about 39 miles of trails along with a large lake and airboat rides. Mark agreed to go with me which would make it more fun. He arrived a little later than I expected and that always throws me off - I felt like we needed all day to see it. I'm just crazy that way. It is only about 14 miles away and takes about 30 minutes to get there from Siesta Key. Once we arrived we stopped in the visitor's center and looked at all the stuffed dead things that if we were lucky, we would also see alive and in the wild. We played with ... read more

Hello there: It's hot here in Florida, between 95 and 100F practically daily. Thus, nothing like escaping to the beach for a few days. After visiting the University of Central Florida, the second largest university in Florida, we headed to Sarasota and Saint Petersburg, 2 cities on the golf of Mexico. Beaches packed with people provides quite a scenario for an addicted people watcher like myself. A display of the ever so growing American body, literally speaking ( 67% of the American population is now overweight), families, tourists,... Very different from the beaches in Brazil and the springs around gainesville. Many languages could be heard, primarily German and Spanish. An Italian guy played tones from his homeland, a group of Colombians played the instruments from their native home, dancing to their hearts content. An interesting observation: ... read more

Being as SRQ is considered the Culture Coast and having beaches with the whitest sand and sunshine nearly year-round, I decided to highlight a bit of my hometown. Getting out of the gloomy British weather and stepping into my sandals and sunglasses to Sarasota, Florida is where I was 3 weeks ago. As we all know, America does not have a long history but to tell you a bit of SRQ's background...it all started in the 1880's when Sarasota was promoted in Scotland becoming known as a "Paradise for the Pampered." The famous "icon" of Sarasota is John Ringling of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus with the extravagant mansion: Ca d' Zan (served as several film sites), rose gardens, statues and museum of art. Sarasota was a secret but is becoming more and ... read more

Pete worked a half a day, John drove us to Sarasota. We spent the night at the dock. It was cold. Cold front was coming in, wouldn't you know...... read more