The Berardi’s Visit Sarasota

Florida very much fits the famous line from one of the Seinfeld episodes, “If you don’t want to be part of society, jerry, why don’t you get into your car and move to the east side”

In the Berardi’s latest installment of exploring our new home state of Florida, Susan and I, once again, headed West…this time to Sarasota.  We’ve been to Tampa, St Petersburg, Naples, Mount Dora, Destin, and now Sarasota…all nestled onto Florida’s Gulf or West coast.  Whereas, we, on the other hand, live on Florida’s east coast.

For me, the east coast of Florida, and specifically South Florida (which runs from Palm Beach County south to Miami-Dade county), feels like the sixth borough of NY or any part of Long Island.  It is populated by many, many New York and New Jersey transplants.  When asked “where is Bumfuck, USA?”, Paulie Walnuts, a top lieutenant for the Soprano Family, famously replied, “it’s a place where there’s no Italians or Jews”.  Paulie would most definitely feel at home in South Florida but sometimes, as the Seinfeld quote suggests, it feels like it’s just not part of polite society.  On the other hand, Florida’s west coast seems to be inhabited with people from Wisconsin and Canada who are so affable and friendly, you think they’re nuts.

Just like most places in Florida, Sarasota is booming.  Cranes and construction everywhere.  Some of it is new residential, some of it is new commercial, and some of it is to strengthen its defenses against the oncoming sea.  The residents say the newly laid billion- dollar pipes are working and the flooding is not nearly as bad as it was just a couple of years ago. Undoubtedly, its not the last Sarasotans have heard from the Gulf’s encroaching waves.

Sarasota is home to some of America’s most beautiful beaches and Siesta Key is one of them.  Siesta Key was voted the most beautiful beach in America and while I cannot vouch for the ranking, Susan and I both agreed it is breathtakingly beautiful.  Siesta Key beach is public, free, and parking is plentiful. The sand is so fine and powdery white that the boys from Aerosmith would think they died and went to heaven. We all know people who will pay Anything to live by the ocean, and to do so in Siesta Key, one must add 3 more zeroes to Anything to get a nice place a few blocks away. 

Siesta Key beach belongs to the town of Siesta Village and there is a free trolley that runs the roughly 10 miles down the main drag.  Siesta Village is a lazy beach town consisting of cafes,  tiki bars, beach attire, and gear rental shops.  It is laid-back easy like Sunday morning.  At the end of the Siesta Key strip is another beach called Turtle Beach.

Turtle Beach is also stunning and much less crowded than Siesta Beach.  Turtle Beach is all about the turtles.  There’s the Turtle Inn, Tortuga Street, “The Tortoise Seafood restaurant”, etc.  Siesta’s and Turtles…you get the idea…everything moves slowly but with purpose in Turtle Beach.  We preferred Turtle Beach because it was much less crowded.  Like Siesta, Turtle Beach is public, free, and parking is abundant…. but take the trolley…did I mention its free?

Sarasota also has a fun and colorful historic downtown district that stretches for 2 miles.  The mixed residential and retail buildings were all built between the late 1880’s thru mid-1930’s.  In London, these would be considered new builds.  In Florida, they are studied by the FSU’s archaeology department as well- preserved relics.  Two miles may not seem like muc,h but a walking tour in mid-July is only for the strong and hearty.  Weaker walkers, or those with a respiratory condition, may find themselves abandoned by the side of the road for paramedics to administer albuterol or rehydrating salts.  We drove it.

The one other MUST see is the John and Mable Ringling estate and museum.  Yes, you read that correctly.  The very same John Ringling of the Ringling Brothers circus, and his adorable bride, Mable, made the important decision to nest and invest in Sarasota where they built their mansion overlooking the picturesque Sarasota Bay.  I will post a separate review and travelogue of this mesmerizing attraction consisting of a mogul -styled mansion, art collection of painting as big as the egos of a great showman and his wife, and of course, a museum of circus curios.

To sum it up, Sarasota is nice.  Is it really, really nice?  Not really.  Let’s split the difference and simply agree Sarasota is really nice.  Odds are you would think so too.