We continued to enjoy the Florida sunshine and life in general.
Here’s the Reader’s Digest version:
We have so many wonderful restaurants in Sarasota, Classico is among our favorites. Cocktails are always top notch and I’m in love with their charcuterie board and broiled oysters.
One of the best things about living in Sarasota? Attending a spring training game at Ed Smith stadium, home of the Baltimore Orioles. We repped our Yankee shirts…to no avail. The Orioles crushed us. It was beyond ugly. Thank goodness the day was cloudy, because to add insult to the Yankee injury, it was hot and super humid. #ihatetolose
Here we were before the blood bath, taking happy selfies.
As often happens, a passing Yankee fan offered to take a better photo.
Just as Timmy and I are on the other side of the seventh inning stretch…so are the cats. Fluffy is 16 years old and Freddie is 14. That’s 80 and 72 years in human years. Fluffy began having stomach issues last summer and they continued throughout the fall. When we returned to Sarasota after our Christmas visit to New York we realized how thin he’d become. We spent some time seeking clarity from two wonderful Veterinary offices…Cat Hospital of Sarasota and Gulfcoast Veterinary. Testing, including x-rays and a sonogram were somewhat inconclusive…final, but not definitive diagnosis is IBD. So we began steroid medicine from Gulfcoast, which Timmy adds to Fluffy’s food and weekly B12 shots at the Cat Hospital. At first he seemed to be maintaining his weight…but recent visits are less encouraging. He’s the sweetest cat ever and aside from the weight loss, he’s his usual Fluffy self.
Another restaurant favorite is Kojos…Asian fusion and Sushi.
Spicy sweet potato bao buns.
We spent a fun Saturday morning helping to set up for a “Meet the Candidates” event sponsored by the Sarasota County Democratic committee. The event was held at the Circus Arts Conservatory in the Sailor Circus Arena. I think I’ve mentioned how integrated the circus is in the Sarasota community. This is a very cool venue, offering circus arts classes and performances. It’s also available to rent out.
We spent two mornings a week in class at OLLI … Tuesdays we took a history class with a favorite teacher, Monroe Brett. This semester was bittersweet, as this course was likely Monroe’s last teaching gig. On the final day, his entire family attended class (his children coming from out of state), and Monroe told us that he was going to take a sabbatical. He also recounted how he retired from his profession when he was 53 years old (30 years ago), enrolled at George Washington University and reinvented himself as a high school history teacher…something he’d always dreamed of doing. He is a wonderful teacher; charming, funny, self effacing…his high school students must have loved him. We sure did. I especially appreciate his classroom management skills…he lets you know on day one that this is his show…his one man show. (This is important because sometimes you might have one or two students who hijack a class by over sharing). Anyway, his son in law videotaped the class and it was lovely to have been part of Monroe’s last semester.
Wednesdays found us in music class with Tony Moon. Tony’s a song writer/record producer from Nashville via Los Angeles. Very knowledgeable and chock full of music industry anecdotes. The class focused on music from the 1970s… very nostalgic and fun.
Classes let out at 12:30 pm …perfick timing for lunch. Depending on the climate – sun, wind, temperature…we’d choose to eat downtown, on St. Armand’s circle, on the water, or at the marina. Choice is good♥️
Mattisons is a cool place with a fun vibe…always has live music in the evenings, eclectic menu, delicious food.
So let me tell you the story of this hibiscus. Last October we went to buy a Mandevilla (my favorite vine in all the world) and I spied this beautiful yellow hibiscus, so I bought it too. We placed it on the back patio and after the initial beautiful bloom…it never flowered again …until March. Meanwhile, I’d fertilized it and watered it religiously. No new flowers, save for this lone bloom…which lasted all of two days, then faded away…and as of May 9…no new blooms. It even has our gardener, Lue, stumped. Meanwhile, everyone of our neighbors have spectacular blooming hibiscus. What the actual heck?
Here are two pics from a morning walk in our neighborhood.
This anhinga drying his wings made my day when I came upon him.
So for about a year we’d been hearing about this new restaurant “Florence and the Spice Boys”… it’s in a shopping center just over the bridge from Siesta Key. We held off trying it because we have so many favorites already; it’s a challenge to get to them all and I’m not keen on shopping center ambiance…anyway…Big mistake. Florence and the Spice Boys is the real deal. You might know that we favor Mediterranean food…well! I’m at a loss to convey just how wonderful the flavors are at this restaurant. Plus the venue itself is adorable.
I arrived at the beach early on St. Patrick’s day…good thing, because by the time I was done with my walk…the sand was over run with Paddy’s day celebrants.
#thesearemypeople
Every March, Robarts Arena hosts the Sarasota County fair. We usually go in the evening because I love the atmosphere at night – the rides, especially the Ferris Wheel, all lit up bring me right back to my childhood. Anyway, this year we decided to attend during the day.
Inside the arena vendors are set up and this guy probably escaped from the circus
Children from the local 4-H club raise all sorts of chickens, geese, bunnies, pigs and cows and enter them for prizes. Some of them sell their livestock too.
This chicken didn’t win any prize…but he was my favorite.
Okay, so this was the best thing at the fair. Here we have 80 (yes 80) year old Grandpa from the Wallenda family showing us how new performers begin their training. This little guy balancing on the chairs was beyond precious.
After the little guy made his bows, Grandpa balanced on four chairs, atop a small platform. I admit, I was nervous for him.
And even more nervous as he climbed the pole and performed some pretty tricky maneuvers. Yikes.
Another fun event at the fair are the pig races. I won 1 race for the second year in a row.
My winning pig was Bustin’ Bacon Bieber.
This beauty was the grand champ of dairy cattle ♥️
I have to admit that I missed the nighttime energy. I think the paucity of crowds was due to the beautiful weather…most folks were probably at the beach on such a beautiful Saturday.
Still working on our selfie game.
This was such a cool act…sad that I failed to capture the motorcycle spinning around the track.
Timmy sharing his admiration
Mid month we attended a Democratic Party fundraiser at the Hyatt Regency. Pretty cool… over 500 like minded folks coming together to support democracy. This was the one and only time all winter and spring that we put on fancy clothes.
The gulf is usually calm, on this day we had some nice waves.
We loved Florence and the Spice Boys so much that we went back the next week.
You may remember that my 84 game Wordle streak ended last fall while we were traveling. Well this is where my 173 day streak ended on March 25. Grrrr…
Okay, so here we are at another of my all time favorite Sarasota restaurants: Speaks Clam Bar on St. Armand’s Circle. Just look at the beautiful presentation of this fish dip.
The bread is beyond yummy. Timmy had a bacon spinach salad.
Easter fell on the last day of the month and we celebrated at the beach. It was a glorious day, so many families enjoying the warming gulf waters. We had a picnic and decided Siesta beach is the perfick place to spend any holiday.
The day was so perfick that we stayed through sunset.
And it was a perfick sunset.
I’ve said this before, and it bears repeating…I am grateful every day for this life of ours. I appreciate how precious what we have is and I try my best to stay in the moment and be present for whatever comes our way.
Thanks for following along ♥️
