I woke up Monday, and since I had not worked out in several days, I wanted to check out the gym while Mom was getting a pedicure. Now I had to wait until 9 am to go. Reason being I had to get a key from the lobby and the lobby does not open until 9. The gym was terrible, the treadmill had about 15 different controls and all I could do was raise and lower the incline. The elliptical runner was anything but smooth. And I figured about four lifts on the universal gym. So I ran on the beach. Around 11, with the weather pretty good, we decided to take a 90-minute lunch boat cruise from Marina Jack's to all around Sarasota Bay. The only celebrity homes we saw were Brian Johnson's (lead singer of AC/DC) and Jerry Springer's. Not sure what that says, but.... Actually, the views were stunning, and we got a little bit of history about the bay, though not as much as I would have liked.
Then it was off to Smuggler's Cove for mini golf. This was the one thing where I volunteered to pay for everyone. And had I known it cost $10 per game, I might have reconsidered. At this course, they have a pond with real life alligators that people are allowed to feed. After the front 9, Mom and I were tied at 2-over with Dad one shot back. Though both my parents hit a hole-in-one on the back nine and I did not, that was fine. See, I was all about consistency. I shot a two on every back 9 hole, for a score of 1-over for the back 9, and a 1-over 39 for the round. Mom shot 42 and Dad had two costly 4's, leaving him at 45. I still have the scorecard on my desk...
From there, we drove to Longboat Key, which is just north of St. Armand's. It is a very quiet island, very narrow with one main road and a ton of summer homes, condos, and hotels. I did see a lot of For Sale signs though. I guess a lot of people have to give these homes up with the economy struggling the way it is. We stopped to explore a couple of the beaches and we really took in the blue sky, the sand, the rocks, the warm air, and the sound of the waves crashing on the shore. We then went south to Siesta Key, which hosts one of the more famous public beaches in Florida. That night, I polished off the Trivial Pursuit game, winning the sports/leisure and history questions. Yes, those were the LAST two I got right. I did get whipped in Uno though.
Onto Tuesday. Mom and I walked the John W. Ringling Bridge, which connects the Sarasota mainland to St. Armand's Circle. It took 15 minutes each way and it is shaped like the top of a triangle, straight uphill and then straight downhill. Very good walk. We continued the walk into the circle for breakfast at the Blue Dolphin Cafe, a very small, popular neighborhood joint. They had killer French toast. The thick country bread tasted like it had been marinated in cinnamon and vanilla for days. Meanwhile, Dad read his latest book on the beach. We came back and drove east about an hour, arriving at Myakka River State Park. As we drove in, we noticed a flock of vultures flying around. I think Dad was already nervous by this point. But we took an airboat tour through a lake filled with alligators. Now the boat is covered with six seats out in front. In front of those seats is where the captain of the ship sits. Right in front of him are three more seats. And guess who got those three seats??? We sat and I immediately noticed the rail of the boat didn't even go past my shins. So if the boat tipped, well, it's been a good 27 years. The driver gave a very informative and entertaining tour, but where I was sitting, I could barely understand any of it. Anyway after about 15 minutes, we spotted the first gator. As they came a little closer, the driver seemed to slow the boat down. Two of them actually swam right by us. When I say right by us, I mean they were about one foot in front of the boat. It was a little crazy, but really interesting too. All in all, I would say we spotted about 20-25 gators. What was really cool was up in top of a tree, I saw a bald eagle for the first time. And later in the shop (where you can purchase gator stew, by the way), I got an acoustic guitar record and a new beaded necklace.
Then we drove over to the Nature Trail and Mom started leading us through the woods. I figured it was just a typical walk through the woods. Little did I know she had a scheme cooking. We came to this tall wooden tower, the kind you would expect to see a zip line. Instead, we climbed stairs to about 35-40 feet in the air. We then walked across an 85-foot long suspension bridge, one of the few in the US. Dad then headed back downstairs while Mom and I climbed to the top of the tower, 76 feet high. There may not have been any mountains in sight, but getting higher than treetops and being able to see so far away was sweet. And unexpected to boot.
We drove back to Siesta Key for lunch at the Lobster Pot. A very New Englandish seafood joint. Mom had her lobster roll, so that made her day. I almost tried this blueberry beer from Maine, but in the end, stuck with iced tea. I think by this time, we were pretty tired and needed to rest.
At this point, a few observations:
1) The highs have been around 70, the lows around 50. With the heavy winds on Lido, I need about 10 more degrees for what I would call reasonable beach weather.
2) I have never heard and seen so much John Denver. Between the radio, TV, and the highway signs! I think I'm not in Colorado, but now I don't know.
3) The radio stations are much better here than in Chicago.
4) I watched Wheel of Fortune. Next was Family Feud. The question was "Name someone famous whose last name is 'White.'" I never thought of Vanna. And Mom didn't think of Barry. That's embarrassing.
5) Watched DDD on the Food Network late one night. The show was about turkey. They actually highlights the Alpine Steakhouse in Sarasota! Their specialty is turducken, which includes duck, chicken, turkey and a cornbread stuffing. Unfortunately, I was the only one awake at the time. Needless to say, we never made it there.
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