We’re back! Ryan and I were so excited to be able to spend the weekend in Florida with John, Peggy, and Ryan’s cousin, Katie. It was a short trip but so worth all the travel time. This is about where we were— a little south of Sarasota on a key.
So, as we came to find out, Siesta Key’s claim to fame is their beaches. Apparently, the sand is ground quartz which makes it some of the whitest sand in the world. And, as an added bonus, it doesn’t get hot under your feet. I think Peggy put it best, she said, it feels like you’re walking on flour! And, she was exactly right. Here’s Ry testing out the sand.
Here’s Katie and Ry at one of the beaches. It was packed!
My favorite part of the trip was actually kayaking (jaw drop!). There’s no pictures of this because I was pretty sure I would capsize my first time out, and I didn’t want my camera to drown with me. I had never been kayaking before so it definitely took me a good while to get adjusted and get into a rhythm, but once we were out on the water it was the best. We went through a little lagoon– the water was only two or three feet deep– and we were eye-level with pelicans and egrets, and we were tinier than all of the bushes and vegetation. The water was so serene and the vegetation so untouched that it felt like you were in a different world. We even saw a baby manatee swim right under us!
Ry and I also got to go out on a boat one afternoon which was really lovely. Fortunately, the owner of the boat was eager to take some pictures of us, so we actually have some of us together!
The owner of the boat also assured us that there were lots of celebrities who own properties in Siesta Key… Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, Tom Cruise (or his mom, I believe), Stephen King, and everyone’s favorite, Jerry Springer! So, we did spend a good bit of our car rides speculating about where different celebrities might live.
So far in this blog, I think I’ve mentioned way too many ‘tivities and not enough about food! We definitely took in some of Siesta Key’s best restaurants like Ophelia’s, Bella Roma, and Turtles. My favorite meal was probably at Bella Roma where I got Caprese Salad and Fritto Misto and Ryan got Carbonara with homemade pasta. And, we finished every meal with key lime pie from Publix.
With all that we tried this weekend, there is still a lot of Siesta Key yet to discover. We did not get to try kayaking with alligators… which I thought sounded like a deathtrap… but Peggy assured us was very safe. I think we might let Katie and Peggy try that one first and let us know how it goes! Oh well, back to the grind now! Thanks Peggy and John for such an amazing trip!
Maria Gall 