Sarasota, Florida
in a recent day trip around sarasota i really got the sense of reconnecting myself with areas of my community that seemed to have been previously placed on the back burner of my mind. i set out that day with purpose: to rediscover some of the things i enjoyed as a child and to avoid tourists (if at all possible). well, i guess one out of two ain't bad. ;)
i started the day with a trip to the local grove store. it's funny, you know it's only about a block away from where i work but i couldn't tell you when was the last time i visited. but, to my joy, it had not changed. same green shingle roof, same smell, same free orange juice samples. mmm... there is nothing like fresh orange juice during season, so good. so i sampled my orange juice while i explored the store and topped off my visit with a orange/vanilla swirl cone (a childhood favorite to be sure). after taking a moment to reflect and swing on the porch swing outside, i was on my way.
my next destination was downtown to the park on the bay, where i took in the fabulous scenery and admired the art pieces along the bayfront. these art pieces change from time to time, but this year a previous piece was brought back (supposedly under controversy, if you talk to the locals - however, the interim statue looked like a huge tooth to me, so i
personally was pleased to have the previous piece back in place). the piece was a recreation of the famous photograph of a couple kissing on V-J day, which was built into a larger than life statue and placed again at the north end of the row. while taking some fun photo shots around the statue, i ran across a few interesting characters, one of whom was an artist painting the statue (talk about remembering a moment in time: a painting [shown right] of a statue of a photograph of an actual event from over 60 years ago). another man (whom i took to be a semi-local, or a snowbird), was very friendly and starting giving me the complete background of the statue and the controversy behind it. he was so into giving his tutorial that i never had a chance to tell him that i wasn't a tourist, but he enjoyed the telling and i was pleased to hear him. after a while, i walked back towards island park, making sure to read the names on the boats parked along the row as i went (some were pretty amusing). at island park i took brief respite on a bench by the bay where i watched a few kids make some humorous attempts at sailing.
from there i headed to the north end of siesta key, as there are a few secluded beach access areas (ie. less tourists). i only stayed about a half an hour or so, and i didn't even walk all the way down to the water, but i truly appreciated it while i was there. i took my shoes off, walked in the powdery white sand, and people watched. unfortunately, i had to head out and ended up leaving before the beautiful sunset. but i was able to catch the sunset a few days later, because here beautiful sunsets on the beach happen almost daily. and for that i am most appreciative. :)
i started the day with a trip to the local grove store. it's funny, you know it's only about a block away from where i work but i couldn't tell you when was the last time i visited. but, to my joy, it had not changed. same green shingle roof, same smell, same free orange juice samples. mmm... there is nothing like fresh orange juice during season, so good. so i sampled my orange juice while i explored the store and topped off my visit with a orange/vanilla swirl cone (a childhood favorite to be sure). after taking a moment to reflect and swing on the porch swing outside, i was on my way.
my next destination was downtown to the park on the bay, where i took in the fabulous scenery and admired the art pieces along the bayfront. these art pieces change from time to time, but this year a previous piece was brought back (supposedly under controversy, if you talk to the locals - however, the interim statue looked like a huge tooth to me, so i
personally was pleased to have the previous piece back in place). the piece was a recreation of the famous photograph of a couple kissing on V-J day, which was built into a larger than life statue and placed again at the north end of the row. while taking some fun photo shots around the statue, i ran across a few interesting characters, one of whom was an artist painting the statue (talk about remembering a moment in time: a painting [shown right] of a statue of a photograph of an actual event from over 60 years ago). another man (whom i took to be a semi-local, or a snowbird), was very friendly and starting giving me the complete background of the statue and the controversy behind it. he was so into giving his tutorial that i never had a chance to tell him that i wasn't a tourist, but he enjoyed the telling and i was pleased to hear him. after a while, i walked back towards island park, making sure to read the names on the boats parked along the row as i went (some were pretty amusing). at island park i took brief respite on a bench by the bay where i watched a few kids make some humorous attempts at sailing.
from there i headed to the north end of siesta key, as there are a few secluded beach access areas (ie. less tourists). i only stayed about a half an hour or so, and i didn't even walk all the way down to the water, but i truly appreciated it while i was there. i took my shoes off, walked in the powdery white sand, and people watched. unfortunately, i had to head out and ended up leaving before the beautiful sunset. but i was able to catch the sunset a few days later, because here beautiful sunsets on the beach happen almost daily. and for that i am most appreciative. :)
1 comment:
Ah, tourists -- I forget Florida has the tourist thang too - just like our mountains. We have skiers here this weekened, but fortunately they are the respectful tourists and not the scream and get drunk and scream more tourists...or the ones who used a $*#*$# paintball gun and shot it all over the cove...errghh - leaving those rubber paint balls both intact and splattered - errgh.
Sounds like you had a wonderful time... *smiling*
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