I always thought I’d hate being old and I never thought I’d move to Florida. So here I am, old and living in Sarasota. I really don’t mind being seventy and I love living here in Florida. I love walking on the beach. I love the palm trees, the brightness and warmth of the sunshine. I especially love that it’s December and 76 degrees on our patio. It is beyond wonderful that we enjoy breakfast and lunch out here every day. Every single day. An added bonus is that we can allow the cats outside. Unlike on Long Island, there are no ticks and feral cats to worry about. I am a total convert to this Florida lifestyle. It is very seductive. Like really seductive.
We arrived back home on October 18, after two nights and three days of driving from New York. The less said about road trips with two cats…the better. Actually Fluffy seems to be fine – he hunkers down behind the driver’s seat and pretty much sleeps for three days. Freddie is an anxious traveler. He whines, cries and drools. I can tolerate the crying- but, oh my goodness- that drooling!

So Timmy built this table for the back of the truck. Our suitcases slide under it and the litter box is secured to the top. The cats have free run of the car and access to the box the entire trip.

Because of the drooling and the fact that both cats have pretty sharp claws, Timmy bought these amazing, indestructible seat covers and floor mats from Armour Tech. They are pretty easy to install and remove.

The first thing I do upon returning, is head for the beach. This blue heron hangs on Siesta beach. He’s always in the same general area and usually by himself. I just love him.

I usually opt for the Cobb salad.

After my first walk we headed to the Parrot for lunch. The Parrot is eight minutes from our house, has a great menu, yummy food and really delicious strawberry daiquiris.

First night back we enjoyed a super sunset over Lake Tippecanoe.

One of my favorite places on Siesta beach is “Patriots Pier”. It changes every day.

Within days of our return, we asked Lue to trim our backyard jungle. Lue Carroll designed and installed our patio and garden in 2019. She hand trims our hedge and palms and keeps our flowering plants happy. Her tag line is “I make it pretty”. If you live in Sarasota and need a master gardener, you can reach her at luesgarden@gmail.com She is super talented and a wonderful person.

Saturday morning at the Farmers Market. We are sad that some of our favorite vendors have not returned. We miss the honey guy, the tomato women and especially the truffle guy. Hopefully they will return after the holidays.

One week we were delighted to discover a costume contest for pups.

Back on the beach…This precious bird is friends with my favorite blue heron…I will sometimes see them walking together.

Here’s a view from the other side of Patriots Pier…you can only access it during low tide.

Is it any wonder why I love this beach?

Here he is again…he walked along with me … okay …maybe it was me who kept pace with him.

My favorite Ferrari…the color is extra!

One Saturday we headed over to St. Armand’s for the Ferrari show

The owner of this Batmobile lives in Sarasota.
There were several Ferraris on the circle that were not entered in the show. I loved this one.
This was some kind of rum drink…I can’t remember the name. It was delicious.

After wandering around the show grounds, we headed over to Shore Restaurant. Shore has two locations…this one on St Armand’s and another on Longboat Key. Both venues serve wonderful food. I usually order the fish tacos here and the lobster Cobb salad on Longboat but switched things up and went with the Cobb…I just love the presentation.

Timmy had a healthy salad, so he rewarded himself with this cake.

If you can stand them, here are some pics from a late afternoon into evening spent in Venice. Venice is a cool little beach town, a twenty minute drive south of Sarasota. We decided to drive down there instead of heading to Longboat because of the construction nightmare in downtown Sarasota leading to the bridge to Longboat Key.

The bread is amazing, and so are the toppings- herb butter, humus and two other yummy spreads.

We had a great dinner at Fins restaurant at Sharky’s Pier. Just like all the other old folks here in Florida, we made reservations for 5 pm. We really do not usually dine so early, however I knew the 5:30 pm sunset would be spectacular.

Crab Rangoon … delicious.
Perfect dinner spot for sunset views.
Such a great dessert, I wish I could remember the name. Okay, this is one aspect of aging that I don’t necessarily enjoy.
That’s a dragonfly.

Here’s why I love this man so much…I said “Hey, Timmy go on over there and let me take a pic of you with the mermaid”. He is such a good sport.

After dinner we sat on a bench near the water and watched folks come and go as the moon rose over the pier. This is why I say this lifestyle is seductive…it’s like being on vacation all day, every day.

Patriots Pier at high tide.

This little guy was so stealthy, I nearly stepped on him.

Selby Gardens is one of the absolute gems of Sarasota. This super cool botanical garden has two locations. We spent a delightful afternoon at the downtown location and enjoyed the 2021 Orchid exhibit which featured a tie in with the Ringling Circus.

It wouldn’t be a visit to Selby without a stop at the koi pond.
Chalice vine.

I said “Hey Timmy, come on over here and let me take your pic”.

That’s the Ringling Bridge in the background…you cross that bridge to reach St, Armand’s Circle, Bird Key, Lido Key and Longboat.

Selby Gardens also has a presence on Spanish Point. We attended a lovely “Music in the Garden” one late afternoon. It was wonderful right up until the rain began.

At first we thought it was just going to be a sun shower… then the skies opened. So we headed off to Darwin’s.

Darwin Santa Maria is a super chef from Peru. His restaurant, Almazonica- Amazon Soul- is among our Sarasota favorites.

We fell in love with Pisco Sours in Lima in 2018…they paired perfectly with the truffle fries.

Guacamole with plantains.
Mussels.
Who orders fried chicken in a Peruvian restaurant? When it’s this delicious…Timmy does.

Sunset on our patio.

I couldn’t choose between these two photos…still working on the hoarding problem.

This is Freddy waiting for Timmy to join him for lunch.

My preference is always to walk the beach. Every day on this beach is different. Every day on this beach is a gift. Below is Point of Rocks…it’s at the opposite end from Patriots Pier.

Another Lake Tippecanoe sunset.

Because I love the beach so much, I don’t walk my neighborhood as often as I should… which is sad because we live in a beautiful neighborhood. Here are some pics I took on Thanksgiving morning. All this amazing nature is across the street from the side entrance to our community. We are so freaking lucky.

As seductive and wonderful as Sarasota is, it is missing something very, very important to us …our Long Island Lovebugs. So we are heading back to NY for the Christmas holidays. We are looking forward to Gingerbread houses, Christmas carols, and all our other holiday traditions. Thanks for following along. We wish you all happy holidays and wonderful memories with the folks you love.