On the Beach

We all felt we couldn't come to this part of Florida without visiting at least one of the Gulf beaches and as Siesta Beach was voted No.1 in the US (back in 2011, I think), then this was the one!

We had a good journey down to Siesta Key and as we got nearer to the coast, the landscape became more beautiful and the houses bigger and bigger. We followed signs to beach parking and it was right next door to a lot of construction work going on. We didn't know what they were building - a new hotel or apartments, probably.

Parking was free and it was a short walk to the huge expanse of white sand. Now, I'll be honest right from the start...I'm not a fan of the beach...I quite like sitting at a bar and looking at the beach and the sea, but I hate sand getting everywhere and I would much rather be by the pool than sitting on an exposed beach under the glaring sun, especially as it was very hot today!

You can get an idea of how white the sand was from this pic

We arrived on the beach and at first I couldn't see any umbrellas or beds for rent, but in the far distance we spotted what looked like a stand near to the back of the expanse of sand so leaving the beach bags with the children we walked over to investigate.

A very kind man walked past and told us that we needed to go to a small office and pay there. We would then be given a slip of paper to get whatever we wanted and we'd have to pay a deposit in case we felt like nicking the umbrellas and beds. Keith trudged off again and I called the children over.

Next thing, the most tanned and lithe woman I'd ever seen in my life bounded over and I guessed she was the beach attendant. When Keith returned with his slip of paper she took the umbrellas that we wanted and followed us to the spot on the beach that we liked the look of.

She then drilled a hole with an ingenious contraption and positioned our umbrellas for us. I just stood and gazed at her tan in awe (I've never seen anyone so brown in all my life!).

We put our towels down on the sand and then went running in to the sea. It was very warm and we noticed long eel-type fishes swimming about. The very friendly beach attendant had told us that it was a safe beach and that there was a sand bar a little way out where the water was only waist high. Keith and I didn't venture that far out but we did stay for quite a while in the billowing waves, being lazily thrown about by the swell.

The beach was certainly not crowded, but I dread to think what it was like over the weekend! We stayed for a couple of hours and then went up to the most soul-less, ugly and horrible beach bar where we had a very mediocre lunch. Most of the things we ordered weren't written down by the woman taking the order so I had to go back twice to get what we wanted. There was concrete everywhere and I thought longingly of the beaches on Anna Maria Island and couldn't imagine why they hadn't built a beautiful "Tiki" bar and restaurant that would have fitted in so well with the surroundings.

After lunch the clouds which had been gathering all morning had massed a lot more ominously so we decided to call it a day and head back to the villa. On the way, in the middle of Sarasota, the heavens opened and we had a violent storm with torrential rain. By the time we reached our villa, though, the sky was a beautiful blue again!

We had a quick shower and then Keith, Mikey and me headed over to Publix to get some essentials. I treated myself to a bottle of Hess Chardonnay and enjoyed a glass by the pool when we got back. Bliss!

In the evening we set out for The Olive Garden, about fifteen minutes drive away. Back in 2009 when I'd visited Florida for the first time with my parents we'd eaten at this lovely Italian restaurant but it was forever blacklisted by Sophie as, at 13 years of age, she'd been handed a children's menu where characters like Tommy Tomato and Percy Potato featured large. As she was all dressed up and felt very grown-up she was horrified to think that she qualified for the children's menu in the first place. Consequently, she's had a downer on this particular eaterie ever since and all attempts to eat there in the past have been banned.

However, it's a lovely restaurant and I wanted Keith to try it for the first time. We were shown to our table by a very efficient front of house woman and then our dizzy waitress arrived to take our drinks order. Luckily, this time, we were all given very grown-up menus!

We chose three starters to share and then we were given a basket of delicious garlic bread and a huge bowl of salad. More garlic bread followed and I thoroughly enjoyed my main course of Chicken Parmagiana served with a side of spaghetti...phew! Bizarrely, Mikey ordered spaghetti bolognese and was told he could have another for free, to take home! That'll do for lunch tomorrow, then!

Sophie grumbled throughout her meal of Chicken Marsala so she's obviously still not made peace with the restaurant! Her dessert of Panna Cotta did cheer her up a bit though!

When we left we noticed it had been raining hard again and in the distance the sky was lit up by flashes of lightening. We sat on the terrace back at the villa with a glass of wine and enjoyed Nature's free show...I'm going to miss these fantastic storms!