(February 11th – 29th, 2024) – We embarked on a three-week adventure to Sarasota, Florida to celebrate my recent retirement from Wright County as County Highway Engineer!
The adventure began on a Sunday morning as we set out for Coralville, Iowa for the first leg of the journey. We stopped for lunch at Canadian Honkers in Rochester, MN. Just after lunch we headed out on the freeway again towards Coralville & we noticed the “check engine” light on the 2020 Subaru Forester was lit up on the dashboard. Along with the “check engine” light the “Eyesight” technology was disabled and the “S-drive” was flashing continuously.
We pulled over and read the owner’s manual and did some additional research online. We decided to drive to a nearby O’Reilly Auto Parts store to get an error code scan done to determine what might be wrong. The scan showed “P26A3 – Engine coolant bypass valve ‘A’ Range/Performance”. Further online research indicated that the issue is likely that the Thermo Control Valve is no longer working (and that you don’t need to stop driving the vehicle, but the engine could overheat causing further damage & to get the engine repaired as soon as possible). We decided to continue driving to Coralville, Iowa for the night and then determine the best option to get the repairs completed at a Subaru dealership along the route.
Monday 2/12/2024 – We were able to get a service appointment for Monday afternoon at Lou Fusz Subaru in St. Peters, MO (near St. Louis). We arrived at the Subaru dealership at about 12:30 pm for our 1:00 pm appointment. We received a loaner vehicle while the car was worked on and went to a local restaurant (Gingham’s Homestyle Restaurant) in St. Charles, MO. The Thermo Control Valve was replaced and we picked up our car at about 4:00 pm and were back on the freeway to our next destination (the Drury Inn Conference Center in Cape Girardeau, MO).
Tuesday 2/13/2024 – We drove from Cape Girardeau, MO to Rock City at Lookout Mountain, TN and on the way stopped for a meal at Massey’s Kitchen. We had a very yummy wood-fired Mediterranian style pizza at Massey’s Kitchen, likely the second best ever wood fired pizza (Pompeii Pizza in Elk River is the best). The visit to Rock City was very fun – hiking through the trail to the impressive lookout!
Wednesday 2/14/2024 – Today was all about traveling – the final driving leg of our journey to Sarasota, FL. We logged 550 miles in about 11 hours of driving (with stopping every couple of hours to stretch, and stopping for a meal). The meal was at Austin’s Cattle Company in Valdosta, GA,, and the steak was delicious (better than Texas Roadhouse). We arrived at our Airbnb accommmodations in Sarasota at about 6:30 pm local time. The fun/adventure was about to begin!
Thursday 2/15/2024 – We began the adventure this morning with a mangrove tunnel kayak tour with SurFit USA at 190 Taft Drive on Lido Key. We were in a group of 10 kayaks total (including our tour guide Orion). The tour included three mangrove tunnels in all and was also very informative/educational. The mangrove tunnels, as it turns out, were created by the Army Corps of Engineers in the 1950s. What was once a freshwater lake near Sarasota Bay was a breeeding ground for mosquitoes! Property owners that lived directly on the lake complained and eventually the Army Corps of Engineers came to the rescue building “mosquito ditches” (now known as mangrove tunnels) to allow saltwater to flow into the lake making it saltwater and eliminating the mosquitoes. We were able to see jellyfish, starfish, birds, and dolphins along the kayak tour. We were told of a nearby spot for a lunch by the water and headed there next – the New Pass Grill & Bait Shop. We enjoyed sitting by the bay watching the beautiful scenery while eating fresh shrimp and a delicious fish sandwich. We then finished the day off poolside at the Airbnb relaxing in the delightful atmosphere – what a glorius day!
Friday 2/16/2024 – Today was our first beach day! We arrived at Siesta Key Beach with beach chairs and a beach umbrella in hand at about 10:15 a.m. There were ample parking spots to choose from at this time (but not later in the day). We walked to the famous “Siesta Key Beach” sign for some photos and then walked along the powdery white sand to the edge of the Gulf of Mexico. We found the perfect spot and screwed in the beach umbrella auger and set up the beach chairs. We enjoyed our time in the water – floating & bobbing as the gentle waves came towards the shore. It was a refreshing, delightful, and joyous time! We made up a little song while we enjoyed our time together in the water (one of the very few in the water) – 🎶”We’re from Minnesota, here in Sarasota, it’s not cold, we are bold! I am fine because you’re mine!” 🎶.
We headed back to our Airbnb called “Jungle Paradise” for some relaxing time by the pool, and then cleaned up a bit for a “lupper” meal. We found out that locals rave about the fish tacos at “SKOB” (Siesta Key Oyster Bar) – so that is where we headed! We found “SKOB” located in Siesta Key village – a small quaint area with many shops, restaurants (and not many available parking spots). SKOB is a popular place to eat and we had to wait about 15 minutes to get a table even though we were there at an off-peak eating time. We both ordered the grilled Mahi tacos – Linda with Caribbian Jerk seasoning and me with Blackened seasoning. We also ordered a crab-cake appitizer with remoulade sauce, and this was the star of the show for the meal – very yummy (second only to the crab-cakes at Cap’s Place at Lighthouse Point near Pompano Beach, FL)!
We walked back to the car and along the way stopped at Olaf’s Homemade Ice Cream Shop for a delicious after supper treat. Butter Pecan and Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream hit the spot to cap off a perfect day in paradise!
Saturday 2/17/2024 – Rain was forecast for most of the day today, along with cooler temperatures (only in the 60s) – so we planned for an “indoor” adventure day. We spent the morning at the Mote Marine Lab & Aquarium. It was amazing – seeing all of the saltwater fish, jellyfish, sharks, sea turtles, manatees, etc. What a beautiful sample of the variety of God’s creation – truly a joy and wonder to experience!
Today our meal of the day was at Yoder’s Amish Restaurant and we had one of the most delicious and savory meals of the trip so far. The fried chicken, mashed potatoes & gravy, cheesy grits, and macaroni & cheese were all top-notch! A delicious piece of chocolate cake was shared for dessert. We then stopped at Target for procurement on the way back to the Airbnb and then visited a local laundromat. The rain cleared up and the weather turned from overcast to sunny and about 80 degrees. We drove back to the Airbnb for some more relaxing time by the pool.
Sunday 2/18/2024 – Today turned out to be the real rain day, a steady rain from morning into the evening. We enjoyed a relaxing morning indoors, reading and then watching church on the Westwood Community Church YouTube channel. We did venture out about mid-day to Ripfire Pizza – a woodfire pizza place located in Siesta Key Village. The pizza was very tasty. We decided, with the steady rain, to head back to the Airbnb for the rest of the to plan our adventures for the coming week.
Monday 2/19/2024 – Today’s adventure was a visit to Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota. The gardens are situated on about 15 acres and boast the best collection of orchids anywhere to be found. The tropical conservatory was impressive with the many variety of plant species!
In walking through the gardens we were able to walk to the edge of Sarasota Bay in several locations for amazing views out over the water. We stopped at the Selby House & Cafe for a delicious tomato bisque soup and grilled cheese sandwich – very yummy! This was the most amazing botanical garden that we’ve ever visited in our travels over the years! Next we went back to the Airbnb for some downtime/relaxing before heading to the Nokomos Sunset Hut for a meal with Kelvin & Leann. Kelvin is a collegue of Virgil’s that has worked with him over the decades. Kelvin & Leann recently built a new home in Port Charlotte, Florida and have been making the transition to staying in Florida as their new home base. Linda and I both ordered the Grouper fish tacos and they were delicious! It was a wonderful 6th day on our Sarasota adventure!
Tuesday 2/20/2024 – Today we went on a “Dolphins & Donuts” boat tour in Sarasota Bay. We signed up for the FunBoat tour that departed at 9:30 a.m. and arrived back at the docks at about 11:45 a.m. or so. It was a delightful boat ride on a beautiful sunny morning. We love being on the water and a boat excursion is mandatory on just about every one of our trips. 😊 We saw many fancy houses that were located along the bay and also many different bird varieties. Near the end of the tour we saw some dolphins.
The “meal of the day” was at a restaurant within walking distance from the boat excursion – called Spear Fish Grille. I ordered the Hogfish & coleslaw and Linda ordered the Grilled Shrimp & Cheesy Grits. The Hogfish was delicious, but the grilled shrimp with cheesy grits was even better (possibly the most savory meal of the entire trip)!
The next adventure took us to Nokomis Beach on Casey Key for a brief stop and then driving north along Casey Key Road. The beach was nice and had a different sort of sand than the sand on Siesta Key beach. The sand on Nokomis Beach was more coarse and had many shells/crushed shells mixed in. The drive along Casey Key Road was narrow and slow and included passing many very, very expensive homes & beautiful vistas overlooking the Gulf of Mexico! We then headed back to the Airbnb for relaxing time by the pool to end a wonderful day 7 in Sarasota!
Wednesday 2/21/2024 – Today our Sarasota adventure included a visit to the Ringling Museum – which for $35 each included entry to the Museums, Bayfront Gardens, and a self-guided tour through the first floor of the Ca’D’Zan mansion. The tour of the grounds, museums and mansion were very enjoyable on a nice sunny morning/afternoon. The mansion is located on a picturesque setting with Sarasota Bay behind it. The mansion had many interesting furnishings that we took photos of – including the “lightly stained” glass windows.
We worked up quite an appetite walking the grounds of the Ringling and Linda found a great place to have lunch in downtown Sarasota called Duval’s Fresh Seafood on Main Street. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day so we decided to eat outside in the sidewalk cafe area along Main Street. Linda and I couldn’t resist trying the crab cake/shrimp appetizer and it didn’t dissapoint! We rated it as the second or third on the list of the best crab cakes ever (behind Cap’s Place at Lighthouse Point, FL near Pompano Beach, of course, – but maybe ahead of the crab cakes at Schooner’s at Panama City Beach…maybe…). Linda ordered the Lobster Bisque soup and I ordered the award-winning Shrimp Po-Boy sandwich. Both were very delicious with the Po-boy sandwich being slightly more tasty. We took a walk down Main Street after our meal to the Main Street Creamery for a delicious ice cream treat. We ordered Chocolate, and Coffee Bean ice cream and both were very good – with the Main Street Creamery living up to its award-winning reputation! We then retired back to the relaxing, calm and peaceful pool at the Airbnb to reflect on another great day on our Sarasota adventure.
Thursday 2/22/2024 – Today we visited Bayfront Park in Sarasota for a walk/stroll along the bay and took photos of the famous “Unconditional Surrender” statute. We then drove to Casey Key for the day’s meal at the Casey Key Fishhouse. There was about a 30-minute wait to get seated because it was so busy (at 2:00 p.m. on a Thursday no less!). Linda ordered the fish tacos (blackened grouper) and they were delicious (2nd best fish tacos ever, nothing can compare to the fish tacos in Scottsdale, AZ)! I ordered the Blackened Grouper sandwhich and it was also delicious (even better than the Shrimp Po-Boy sandwich at Duval’s). We then took a drive to nearby Oscar Scherer State Park. Linda enjoyed the beatiful trailhead plants while I took a hike along the South Creek Nature Trail. The trail followed the creek and it was awesome – it felt like walking through a jungle!
Friday 2/23/2024 – Today was Lido Key Beach Day! We traveled 15 minutes to Lido Key Beach and checked out the outdoor pool that is located next to the pavilion. The pool was closed on this day, much to our disappointment. We walked along the beach towards the Gulf and soon found a good spot to set up the beach chairs. We sat and enjoyed the beach and view, and the sounds of the Gulf of Mexico with the gentle waves crashing onto the sandy shore again and again – it was delicious! We spent the morning at the beach and then headed towards our meal of the day – this day it would be a break from seafood and Linda found a highly rated steakhouse near the Airbnb. We freshened up a bit from our beach day and then headed to Conner’s Steak & Seafood Restaurant. The sirloin steak was delicious! The savory taste was so good that we’re ranking it second best steak ever (second to the “baseball steaks” that we had in Montana). We spent the remainder of the day relaxing poolside at the Airbnb.
Saturday 2/24/2024 – Today was another laundromat day at Suds in Sarasota. We also worked in a procurement trip to resupply the Airbnb with provisions. We created postcards (using the online Walmart photo lab services) from one of the beach photos that Linda had taken at Lido Key Beach. While waiting for clothes to dry we filled out the postcards and later mailed them to all of the grandchildren. Poolside/relaxing time was next as we enjoyed the beautiful and sunny afternoon at the Airbnb. We began to get hungry with all of the relaxing poolside so we headed to the Madfish Grill for our “meal of the day”. We each ordered the blackened grouper sandwich and it was delicious. We’ve had such delicious food on this Florida adventure! We then spent the remainder of the day poolside at the Airbnb for more relaxation – it was delicious!
Sunday 2/25/2024 – Day 15 of our Sarasota adventure included a visit to a local church – Bedrock Sarasota which had a 9:15 a.m. service. The worship music was great and the message was even better. The message today was about Revelation, chapter 13 and Pastor Blake Harcup was exceptional in teaching the context and application/meaning! We headed back to the Airbnb after church for a quick change & then drove to Sun Outdoors Sarasota for a visit with Gary & Lori (Linda’s brother-in-law & his wife). We had a nice visit with Gary & Lori who gave us a golf cart tour of SOS. We enjoyed a meal together at Stottlemyer’s Smokehouse restaurant located across Fruitville Road from Sun Outdoors Sarasota.
Monday 2/26/2024 – Today was a spring training baseball day! We attended the game at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota and watched the Rays play the Orioles. Our “meal of the day” today was before the 1:00 p.m. game and was our first repeat restaurant – Yoder’s Amish Restaurant. The fried chicken and cheesy grits at Yoder’s are exceptional – and today’s meal didn’t dissapoint! We arrived at Ed Smith stadium, parked, and found our seats just in time for the start of the game. We had seats in the bright sunshine and it was about 72 degrees and not a cloud in the sky – a perfect day for baseball! However, after one inning we discovered that the intense Florida sun was too much for us “lily-white” Minnesotans – haha! We moved to the left field area of the stadium and found seats in the shade to watch the remainder of the game. We decided that this evening was going to be the night to watch the sunset over the Gulf of Mexico – so after changing into our swim suits at the Airbnb we drove to our favorite beach – Lido Key Beach! We arrived at Lido Key Beach and set up the beach chairs at about 4:45 p.m. and the sun would be setting at about 6:20 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. We went into the Gulf waters and bobbed & floated as the waves came into shore – it was amazing and invigorating – we loved it! We enjoyed sitting in our beach chairs and watching the scenes play out at the beach as the sun set over the Gulf of Mexico. A newly married couple was having photos taken by a photographer; kids on boogie boards with the sun setting in the background; and a small crowd of people watching in awe as the glorious sunset occured over the Gulf! We listened to some Louie Armstrong (Moon River & What a Wonderful Life) and Ann Murry (Could I have this Dance for the Rest of My Life). It was a magical evening witnessing the glorious sunset!
Tuesday 2/27/2024 – Today was “get-away”, “hit the road”, “get out of dodge”, or “get the H home” day! We loved our time in Sarasota the past two weeks and we experienced and saw so many beautiful things – but we’re ready to get back to our home. We left the Jungle Paradise about 9:00 a.m. and traveled about 160 miles to Ocala, Florida to Silver Springs State Park where we went on a glass-bottom boat ride. It was great – the Silver Springs/Silver River was amazing! We enjoyed the boat ride adventure and then left the park at about 2:15 p.m. and drove towards home making it as far as Marianna, Florida where we hunkered down in a Fairfield Inn. It was a great day!
Wednesday 2/28 & Thursday 2/29/2024 – These two days were all about traveling – getting miles to make it home, which we did – arriving home on Thursday evening! We enjoyed listening to the Audible books “Boom Town” and “Trail Drive” by Brad Dennison during the trip. We drove for 12 hours (622 miles) on Wednesday, and drove for 13 hours (718 miles) on Thursday. We thouroughly enjoyed the Florida Retirement Adventure and saw and experienced so many beautiful things – and we’re grateful to be back home!