We’ve been home for almost 3 months…here’s what we’ve been up to.
Well, the Readers Digest version:
January 2024
New Year’s Eve with Arlene and Gil at Kojos…pretty chilly. Thank goodness for heat lamps.
Most of January was quite cool and we usually requested seats near heaters.
Here we are at 1592, it is a favorite downtown restaurant with a Mediterranean inspired menu. Timmy had the pulled lamb open faced pita, I chose the shrimp pita.
And then…Affogato for the win.
Fresh Friday block party on Main Street. The Sarasota chamber of commerce sponsors this fun event on the first Friday of each month.
Such a fun evening…sadly I’ve forgotten the name of the band.
Every week you’ll find us at the Sarasota Democratic Party headquarters, doing our part to save democracy. Sometimes we write postcards, other days we stuff envelopes.
Sometimes it’s just too cold to dine outdoors. When that’s the case, we will head to a neighborhood spot like Bohemios. We love the variety of tapas and always find it difficult not to overeat. Timmy loves the Sangria, I love that the wine glass is always chilled.
Cool decor and Iberian ham. They bring the ham to you and slice it table side. Bohemios.
Another indoor destination is Meliora…one of my absolute favorites. I failed to capture the Japanese milk bread, spicy cold noodles and red snapper…my bad…they were so yummy.
Tim claims he loved the sorbet…I’m so glad that I ordered the:
So yes, January was pretty chilly and we continued to frequent favorite indoor spots…among them – Darwin’s…(which he renamed Almazonica). We love Peruvian food and chef Darwin Santa Maria is highly regarded and recognized throughout south west Florida as a top talent. Look him up.
Timmy started with a taco…the menu allows you to choose your protein and your salsita.
I loved my Chifa with noodles…but oh that Pisco!
January 21 at 7:50 am…yikes!
It took a few days, but by January 24, we’d warmed up quite a bit. North end of Siesta beach.
This pelican was injured, a local mother and daughter called the wildlife folks and within 20 minutes they arrived and took the bird off to rehab.
Sand sculptures abound.
Scooter is a longtime lifeguard on Siesta beach. He has his own Facebook page “Scooter of the Beach”… he posts a morning video with beach conditions which we check religiously before heading to the beach.
Towards the end of the month we were able to enjoy a lovely dinner outside at Libby’s, a longtime Sarasota mainstay. I never dreamed that Timmy would finish those ribs! Yes! He ate them all.
Despite the cool mornings, I walked the beach most days and when we weren’t out and about… most afternoons we were home with Freddy and Fluffy.
Timmy sharing his chips with the cats.
Some January days were just too chilly or windy for the beach, so I walked our neighborhood, which includes Urfer park.
On Tuesday’s a small group of folks meet to paint.
I love this park and I’m grateful to have this resource so close to our place.
It’s quite large and the trails are extensive.
So there’s this service called NFHS network, which for a monthly subscription fee (like Netflix and Hulu)…broadcasts high school games. We were able to enjoy quite a few of Claire’s JV basketball games…here she is drilling a three pointer. She was called up to the varsity for the playoffs. She’s only an eighth grader…so yes, of course we are… #proudgrandparents
Shore restaurant on Longboat Key is one of our absolute favorites for lunch. On an especially beautiful warm day, we’ll head over the Ringling bridge and drive north to Shore. The drive along the gulf offers amazing views.
If you look closely, you might see the remnants of our Kung Pao calamari with Napa cabbage.
Back on the beach…I came upon this jellyfish…Timmy looked up the name, but now it escapes me 😢
Just another day in paradise.
I like the panda better than the snowman♥️ By the end of January our beach was full of snow birds and locals.
So there you have our January in photos.
We continue to enjoy every day here in our small slice of paradise. I’ll upload February pics soon and share our summer travel plans. Thanks for checking in♥️♥️♥️
