Longboat Key and Sarasota Dec 31, 2012 to Jan 4, 2013

Sometimes I wish the words could just leap out of my head and into Microsoft Word. They come to me during the middle of the night marching in a frustrating loop through my brain, wandering around useless without computer to transmit onto paper. That is why it takes so long to put out the blog. The words are there, just not in the right place at the right time.

This blog is not the only thing I write. Time spent on the blog is precious time away from writing about interviewing or job search. I am writing a series of 5 e-books to be published in 2013, beginning in January. Sixteen thousand words every month. Each travel blog posting is about 1500 to 2000 words or so. I need to write 700 to 1000 words a day in order to finish a book a month. The competition for time is astounding.

Each day I have the choice or writing a blog posting, writing towards a book, writing a blog posting for The Interview Doctor, seeing the sites, or talking to Kermit. Eating and sleeping are important too. Each are valuable endeavors and oh so tempting.

How to spend my time today? Mmmmm…. Choices. Whenever I choose one of the other activities, the words for this blog march across my brain at night demanding to get out. Right now it is 3:41am so you can figure out which activity won tonight. I give up! I need to write this blog NOW.

When you don’t hear from us, we are still moving. We are active morning noon and night. At least the weather is better in central Florida than it has been for months, normally warm and clear now. We love hearing about weather at home with the wind and snow. Now I understand what motivates snow birds to come to Florida in the winter.

We left Clearwater on New Year’s Eve for a five hour ride to Longboat Key just across the bay from Sarasota. I must admit I didn’t pay attention to the geography much because I had a computer in my lap finishing the second book on resumes. When I lifted my head I saw a beautiful Gulf. We chose to run outside the Intercostal Waterway because we wanted to make better time. The water was flat and blue, just like the post cards.

We left about 11:30am on a rising tide. Low tide was at 11am. With a 50 mile run we had to move quickly to arrive before dark. Kermit punched the speed so we ran about 20 mph in the Gulf to pick up some time.  Even speeding up for a while, we still did not arrive at Longboat Key Moorings until about 5:30pm. It was starting to get dark.

Around the Cortez Bridge we turned in to enter Sarasota Bay. We were running about 12mph here when the boat stopped suddenly. We double checked our location and we were properly within the channel markers. So was the sand. Kermit shut down the engines, floated a bit, and we floated safely back into deeper water. Odd though how you can still get in trouble even following all the rules. Fortunately no damage so we continued on through the ICW around a bunch of bends to Longboat Key.

The area is BEAUTIFUL. I am kind of glad I waited until now to write in a way because the entire area makes so much more sense after visiting the Ringling Museum. Since I am spending so much time writing I am not doing as much research on our locations as I should.

John and Mabel Ringling of Ringling Brothers circus fame came to Sarasota in the 1920s when Sarasota was a sleepy fishing village with less than 1000 people. He bought up a bunch of property and moved in for the winter. Eventually people came to visit, famous people. John Ringling built a beautiful home for his wife, or rather she built the home of her dreams right on the water. John Ringling functioned like a modern day time share developer. All the famous people he invited to visit were dragged out to the many communities he was developing and “encouraged” to purchase property and build. Longboat Key was one of his major developments.In fact, most of the land within miles of Sarasota was owned by John Ringling at one time. 

I didn’t realize this at the time. When we visited Ringling Museum we could see Longboat Key and the big marina where we stayed for New Year’s, the Moorings, from the back deck.

Ringling owned the island and sold lots to his guests. He kept his yacht on a 125 foot dock (now gone). While famous people visited he took his captive audience on boat rides to visit the development. In this way Ringling’s real estate fortune grew. He started the Sarasota Yacht Club. He created St. Armond Circle, another island we visited with Dave and Susan Hoecker. John Ringling’s mark is everywhere around here.

He lost much of it or was about to lose much of it during the Depression. As our guide, Don, said, fortunately he died in 1931 just before the US Government was going to auction the entire estate for unpaid taxes!

Ringling’s dream is magnificent today. 

Longboat Key is very residential

Longboat Key is all residential with a nice blend of high rises and homes, beautifully landscaped and very, very expensive.

View towards Sarasota

Longboat Key - lots of walking

Big boats at the marina - Good Karma looked like a tender

Rusty enjoyed walking at The Moorings

We arrived at Longboat Key in time for cocktails on New Year’s Eve. We docked across the dock from One September, hooked up cable (YEAH!!), water, and electric, changed clothes and off we went for docktails on One September. We met Mike and Judy’s new friends, one couple  who just joined The Moorings and another couple, Roger and Judy, who regularly come down from Tampa to this club. Really nice people. 

We particularly enjoyed talking with Roger and Judy because they go to the Bahamas regularly. Kermit went back to talk a few times the next day to write down lots of suggestions of places to see and how to navigate. They have two French bulldogs that Rusty enjoyed talking to.

Marina is right on a golf course

New Years Eve was very quiet. We all went to dinner at one of the restaurants a short walk across the golf course. The Moorings has seven restaurants, one nicer than the other, lots of golf courses, manicured lawns. 

Everything a wealthy retired person could want. The least expensive car in the marina parking lot was a Lexus. Of course we are not wealthy but it was interesting to see how the other half lives. I have no problem accepting that this is not where we will live. Judy on One September was measuring for drapes!!

You should see the laundry room!! Oh my gosh!! Seven dryers and five washers at $1.25 per load! And clean too!! I never in a million years would have guessed I would go crazy or even care a mite about laundry facilities. Kermit did laundry on New Years Day and we were all thrilled.

New Year’s dinner reflected our experience at The Moorings. We spent $68 for two hamburgers and two root beers. Enough said. They were good hamburgers but when are two hamburgers actually worth $68? And that was not a New Year’s special. It was the regular Monday night offering at that restaurant. Back to the boat for a quiet celebration. We were asleep by 10pm. We left the tv on so we heard the ball drop on Times Square and we heard fire works around the bay. But we went to sleep. It had been a long day.

Susan and Dave Hoecker at Lido Key, FL

On New Year’s Day, Dave and Susan Hoecker came to visit with their daughter Sarah and son-in-law Jeff. It was great to see them! It is always great to see friends from home. It makes me smile. We showed off the boat I spent all morning cleaning and chatted for a few hours. 

Sarah and Jeff left and Dave and Susan took us on a tour of Longboat Key and St. Armond’s Circle. Since I hadn’t been to Ringling Museum yet, I had no idea what I was seeing. All I know is the shops are expensive, the cars are fancy, and the landscaping is meticulous.

Cool caption on a shirt

St. Armands Circle

They showed us the new developments that happened in the last 20 years since they started visiting. Dave and Susan said the way you pick the place you want to live is by visiting many times before you buy. They visited Sarasota for years before deciding this is where they wanted to retire in the winter. They said their home is about $500,000 away from the water! But they love it here. 

They took us to the Lido beach area which was crowded with tourists. We saw a great boating beach that reminded us of the sandbar in Sandusky Bay. Kermit helped a guy push his boat off the sandbar where he got stuck when the tide went out.

Kermit to the rescue!

Later we passed the same beach by water when we moved to Sarasota on January 2 and learned today that this is one of the islands John Ringling developed in the 1920s. Go figure.

Sunset from Tommy Bahama Restaurant - St. Armond Circle

We ate dinner with Dave and Susan during happy hour at the Tommy Bahama Restaurant in St. Armond Circle. You can tell a place is wealthy if it has a Tommy Bahama Restaurant. Any place can have a TB store but the restaurant is a real step up. Food was delicious, just as expensive as the Moorings hamburgers but tastier. Susan and I had fish tacos with the best spicy sauce. Kermit had pork sandwich and Dave had sliders. All of this was off the happy hour menu. I had a martini made with vodka, grapefruit juice and basil. It was perfect!!

St. Armands Circle is so rich even the Queen is comfortable shopping here!

Marina Jack has the blue horizontal windows

Wednesday 1/2 we moved to Sarasota where we are staying at Marina Jack right at the foot of historic Sarasota. It was about a 30 minute boat ride. Now I know that is just across the bay but my geography was a little fuzzy when we moved. We got all prepared for a normal multi-hour boat trip but ended up starting the engines, crossing the bay and tying up again. A very quick trip because it is just a hop skip and jump away. 

Marina Jack's is another marina filled with big boats. Our boat looked like a tender, maybe too small to be a tender, next to Big City, a 164 foot yacht, docked right next to us. I can't even show you a picture of the two boats together because I couldn't get Big City in the picture next to our little boat. This ship had crew members crawling all over it all the time. We counted at least five different crew members visible at any given time. 

One September docking - we went in the slip
immediately to the left

Really special architecture

Sarasota is a pretty city. The architecture is really special, the shops are mostly expensive, and the people are really  nice. 

The view from our boat - notice Big City sticking out? 

I badly needed a hair cut so I went to a salon in walking distance from the marina. This is a photo of the entrance way. It was quite fancy, although I think Scott Talbot in Canton holds its own against this salon. 

Salon Nuovo - Sarasota

Friends of Judy and Mike, Bobbie and Irv, came over in a pontoon boat and took us to lunch at the Sarasota Yacht Club. 

L: Irv, Kermit, Michael

OH MY GOSH that is a yacht club! It is spectacular. It is prettier than the Chicago Yacht Club or the Sandusky Yacht Club. Check out the bathrooms!

On the way to Sarasota Yacht Club

Entrance

Coming into Sarasota Yacht Club

Bathroom

Hall of Honor

We ate on the patio - Sarasota Yacht Club

 The food was fabulous. We had salads that were spot on delicious. Even the bathrooms warranted a second visit just to see the exquisite tile work.

The club decided about 5 years ago to remodel. So they blew up the entire club and built a brand new facility with parking on the first floor elevating the restaurant, fitness center, and pool to the second floor giving a great view of Sarasota. Everything is completely new, shiny, and well manicured. Did I mention the food was great? The sourdough rolls were worth the extra points in MyFitnessPal. Dessert was the cutest little scones in a variety of flavors. I think mine was pie spice with cinnamon. They just melted in the mouth.

Sarasota Yacht Club pool

Tour boat towing the kayaks - from SYC patio

 It got foggy two of the three nights we were at Sarasota. You can see the fog coming in over the big boats at Marina Jack. These boats are all 50+ feet long.

We had pasta and chicken for dinner on One September and made plans for 1/3. I had a business meeting on Thursday morning for breakfast. When I returned Kermit was on the boat in his swim trunks washing the boat. I mention this because somehow between washing the boat and sleeping he managed to hurt his back. I think he pulled a muscle in one of those sleeping accidents old men have. He insists it happened while washing the boat. He spent the afternoon laying on the floor  with an ice pack moaning a little and sleeping. Rusty was not amused to share his space with Kermit. Kermit stayed still all day Thursday. He pulled himself together and we went out to dinner to the best dinner we’ve had in a long time.

Kermit and Rusty resting 

Café Amici is an Italian restaurant right on the main street just 2 blocks from the marina. Mike loaned Kermit one of those back wraps that warms up. We both had Oso Boco with paparadelle noodles that just melted in our mouths. Even the wine was perfect. 

The waitress recommended a cheeky Italian well priced because it was a little younger but ready to drink. We staggered back to the boat, stopping for a few minutes to hear the live music in Marina Jack’s outdoor bar. Altogether a wonderful day, if you forget that Kermit’s back hurt.

Ca d Zan - House of John in Venetian dialect - the entrance

Friday we visited the Ringling Museum. This is a must-see place mostly designed by Mabel Ringling and furnished by Mabel and John from auction purchases. We went to the circus museum and the mansion but did not go to the art gallery because we ran out of time and Kermit's back hurt. 

The circus museum: 

Miniatures of how a circus worked: very informative
this is the "hotel" where the 1300 workers ate - they sat at assigned seats!

 We had lunch at the Ringling restaurant with Dean Donataccio. It was so nice to see him. We usually see him in the summer when he visits his dad, Don. He lives in the Tampa area and was nice enough to come down to see us and share lunch with us.

 The grounds are exquisite. The state of Florida puts a lot of money into maintaining this property. This is a mangrove tree I think.

Mabel's Rose Garden

 The building was designed to look like a Venetian palace. The mosaic and enamal on the outside was made in Pennsylvania. All the windows are handblown glass in special colors. The upper bedrooms are painted according to the glass colors.

The back steps of the mansion -you can see all the way to Longboat Key

The building is covered with these

The front of the mansion - see the colored glass windows? 

Handblown glass windows everywhere

Guests entered through the main door (above). They signed in like a hotel at a big desk next to this gold door - real gold on the door and on all the trim all over the house.

 A guy named Bob hand painted all the stuff that is painted. Everything except these panels in the ball room which were painted in NYC and sent out to be installed in the ceilings then trimmed by Bob. Each corner pictures couples dancing and the middle panels represent countries of the world.

Bob did the ceiling in the dining room too. This looks like wood but it is all paint on plaster. 

The house was furnished with used furniture purchased at auction from rich people's houses that were being dismantled. The chandelier in the living room was purchased from the Waldorf Astoria when the first hotel was moved to its current location. Evidently John Ringling bought this stuff and told the architects to put it somewhere.

 John Ringling's bedroom furniture came from Napolean. His bathtub was carved from a solid piece of marble on site.

A kind of fuzzy picture of Kermit with our guide, Don, a cool guy with lots of stories to tell. This is taken in Mabel's bedroom. 

All the furnishings in the house including the kitchen utensils are original. 

 We really enjoyed our visit to the Museum and mansion!

L: Kermit, Katherine, Judy, and Mike

 One last photo: Sarasota is home to a big statue of that famous photo from VJ day in 1945. It is located outside the Marina and was the subject of much controversy about who gets credit for the picture. Everyone told us this story. After lots of controversy, one rich fellow bought the statue and gave it to the city as a way to resolve the lawsuits. Everyone who told us about it told us men invariable look up the lady's skirt. Sure enough while I was standing there taking this picture a guy looked up the skirt. I wasn't quick enough to get the picture but trust me, he did!

 

Sarasota is very energy conscious I think. These are the first charging stations I have ever seen for electric cars. 

Saturday morning 1/5 Judy and I took Rusty over to the farmers market and bought fresh fruits and vegetables - all fresh from Florida. The strawberries smell out of this world!!

 Then we left town because the motor cycles are coming for Bike Weeks starting today. We've lived through that noise in Sandusky and are not interested in hearing it in Sarasota. So we are off to Venice today. I will write about Venice and parts further south in a few days!!