Honeymoon Travel Tips: Sarasota

Today's guest blogger is Adrienne, a coworker, fellow alumna and my new running buddy!  Adrienne hails from the magical land of Florida where sunshine and charm abound.  And based on what I've heard, her hometown of Sarasota would be the perfect place for a vintage inspired, low key and fun honeymoon.  Read on for more of Adrienne's excellent advice on how to get the most from a romantic Sarasota getaway!

I didn’t know it at the time but I grew up in paradise.  As a teenager, I kept a bikini and a beach towel in the backseat of my car in the way that people up North always travel with an ice pick, because you never knew when you’d need them.  I left Florida at 18 but now as I get older, I find myself going back to visit more and more. Lately, I’ve taken to suggesting to friends planning vacations and honeymoons, “Why don’t you just go to Florida?  You can do all of that in Sarasota…”

And really, a stateside honeymoon in a Florida beach town has a lovely 1950’s vintage vibe and you can save a ton on flights.  While Sarasota may have a Ritz, it also has countless adorable mom + pop beach bungalow resorts and you will have the opportunity to go both fancy and budget.  Below is a quick hit list of retro Florida charm from my hometown….

Siesta Key is a 7 mile barrier island off the Gulf of Mexico.  Two bridges tether it to mainland Sarasota.  The sand on the beaches is 99% quartz, making it some of the whitest sand in the world (which keeps it from getting too hot in the summer - - - hello 7^th grade physical science!).   A good way to stay on the beach and save is to stay at a resort that shares beach access with another resort – this will allow you to stay alongside the beach and always have a parking space.  Google Siesta Key and lots of fun retro options show up – prices are cheaper after spring break and stay that way until December.

While you’re out on the Key, be sure to check out Siesta Key Village (locals just call it the Village).  The Daiquiri Deck offers some fun Florida silliness with a wall of machines mixing 13 different frozen concoctions (and one non alcoholic daiquiri of the day – ask your server).  It’s 2 for 1 Daiquiri’s from 3-7 and you’re on vacation so it’s totally fine to start drinking at 3 (or 11 am for that matter….) A word of advice – don’t drink the ones that boast grain alcohol….those are for the single girls and you really don’t want to end up barfing into your honey’s hair….

Up the street is the Old Salty Dog, a Sarasota fixture with great hot dogs and an awesome blackened grouper sandwich.  You’ll pass all the cute souvenir shops on the stroll where you can pick up postcards to use for thank you cards!  Be sure to also get a waffle cone from Big Olaf’s – sooo tasty! 

My hometown is not all deep fried hot dogs and custom-built booze slurpee machines.  We have a pretty excellent cultural scene for a town so small!  At the turn of the 20^th century John Ringling commissioned a museum to house his art collection which became open to the public in 1931 and houses a Renaissance heavy collection.  This commitment to the arts has lived on in future residents and we also host the Florida State ballet, have an opera house, and a great number of galleries around Main Street in downtown Sarasota.  You can also wander the grounds alongside Sarasota bay and see the old Ringling mansion (which was featured in the remake of Great Expectations).    While you’re driving around, check out the public access radio station, WSLR 96.5.

Finally you can’t get vintage Florida without checking out the state parks or having some time out on the water.  There are tons of places to rent kayaks or jetskis if you’re staying on the key.  Close to Sarasota are two state parks, Myakka River State Park and Oscar Scherer State Park.  At Myakka you can rent canoes, go on boat tours or just go hiking and biking – they’ve also built a canopy walkway on one of their trails which is absolutely gorgeous.   Oscar Scherer also features canoe rentals, hiking and has a lake for swimming.  It also connects to the Legacy Trail a “rails to trails” path that connects Sarasota to Venice, a town a little ways south.  The trail is great for biking and jogging.  

Happy Honeymooning!