Sarasota Trip 2012

Jon and I like to get away for a long weekend once a year to enjoy each other's company sans children. It is a really nice way to reconnect. We do end up missing the kids a lot, but it's not too long away that we can't handle it. Jon's mom came down to stay with the kids, and we also had a sitter assist for 4 hours at night.

I am lucky to have 2 cousins who live there, too, so it was nice to meet up with them.

Our first day, we got into Tampa at 9 AM, rented a car and drove down to Sarasota. Jon's co-worker lives right across the street from Crescent Beach/Siesta Key, and we stayed there. The location was prime. We sat on the beach for a couple of hours the first day.

After soaking in some rays, we decided to walk down to the village to see what was going on. Not only do they have a myriad of fun places to eat at and buy souvenirs from, but they had a couple of great bars that were pretty fun, too.

Our first stop was the Daiquiri Deck, where Jon had a Purple Haze and I had a Mangolada.

I tried to get ahold of my cousin while we were there & succeeded. We made plans to meet up for breakfast in the morning (Mother's Day). We took one of those golf cart free rides back to "our" house since the walk was 3 miles each way.

The next morning, we met up with Biff, my cousin. We went to this great French Cafe' that had just opened called Bonjour. They had fantastic homemade croissants. I had the yummiest ham and cheese croissant with bechamel sauce. I also got a free crepe for Mother's Day.

Oh wait- I forgot that on Saturday night, we traveled back to the village to hang out. We ate at a local place called the Old Salty Dog, where we had scallops and a really yummy crab dip. Cheers!

I had also purchased this fun beach hat to match my new bag and sundress.

Anyway, back to Sunday...

We made plans with Biff to hang out at Siesta Key beach for the afternoon. The water was just fabulous. It was kind of an overcast day, but it never rained and the temps were perfect. Whereas the water was like green glass the day before, there were actually waves this day.

The sand at Siesta Key is like powdered sugar. It is currently rated the number one beach in the US, and the sand is a big reason why.

We took the above photo of our feet on the beach before my cousin joined us. I forgot to mention that we also ran 5 miles that morning. I've been sick and my asthma and allergies have been bothering me, so I complained a lot. We ran back on the shore, which was much easier than the pavement, but it was a bit rough on our feet.

After hanging out with Biff for a while, we headed our separate ways. But not before grabbing a quick photo or two.

That night, we had dinner reservations at the place my cousin Jeff works at. We met him there and he was a great host. He knew exactly what was the best at Salute', and we had it all. We had quite a few courses, as well as wonderful wine from their vineyard in Tuscany and their own barrel aged grappa. The meal was superb and the company was great, too.

The next day was my birthday. We started the day off great with a 10k run on the beach in bare feet. It was heavenly. Then, at Biff's advice, we ate brunch at an Amish buffet. We were completely amazed to find when we got there that the placed had been bought at the beginning of May by Der Dutchman. We could not believe it! It was strange to see Plain City listed on the front menu. Talk about the comforts of home!

Also on Biff's advice, we checked out Nokomis Beach, where we were hoping to catch some glimpses of dolphins, but they werent around that day. Pretty and relaxing area, though!

For dinner, all I wanted was a burger on my birthday. We ate at Gilligan's, which was a very friendly, fun place in the village. We dined outside with the lizards.

I also wanted a birthday drink or two back at the Daiquiri Deck. We had some crazy 7 daiquiri rainbow blend. Drinks were two for one during happy hour!

We took one last stroll along the beach at night and snapped some pics. We wrote down names of rentals while we were out, because we would love to bring the kids back with us next time.

After dark, we watched live music and ate raw oysters at the Siesta Key Oyster Bar. Jon still can't believe that he ate 3!

We met a nice couple, Suzy and Chip, that were on their first trip together. We always meet the most interesting people on vacation. They were nice enough to take our picture together.

Tuesday morning, we had jut enough time to walk along The beach one last time before heading back to Tampa. It was bittersweet. So sad to leave such a beautiful place, but we were so happy to tuck our little boys into bed that night.