A great few days of relaxation at Longboat Key

My friends, my family and I were very impressed with the condo (see journal entry) and we spent most of the weekend just catching up on old times. My sister-in-law also cooked some great dinners for us. In between we went out to two fantastic restaurants and walked along the ocean.

Some of the "attractions" in the area are:
Mote Marine in Longboat Key: my sister-in-law talked about the Manatees, turtles, and stingrays that she saw (http://www.mote.org/)
Pelican Man’s Bird Sanctuary in Lido Key: I saw that attraction many years ago, when it had just opened up, and I remember being very impressed with the environment (lots of vegetation) as well as the inhabitants (mostly birds of course) (http://www.pelicanman.org/)
Shopping at the numerous stores at nearby unusual St Armand Circle (the news in the local newspaper that week was how city planners are trying to ensure businesses keep thriving)
Other nearby beaches such as Lido Beach
Ringling Museum: I spent an entire day visiting the museum the last time I was in the Sarasota area. Very impressive! http://www.sarasotafl.org/framesets/thingstodo.html
Quite a few theaters including Players Theater, Asolo Theater, and Theater Works (look in the local paper and see what is playing)
Lots of boating opportunities

Quick Tips:

One tip is of course to check on the web prior to your visit to see what the area has to offer. There are several Sarasota’s web sites such as http://ww2.choicemall.com/sarasota/5.html
And http://www.sarasotafl.org/framesets/thingstodo.html
See also the following web sites:
Sunnyday guide which gives little blurbs as well as discount information http://www.sunnydayguide.com/sa/index.html
Florida on-line (http://www.floridaonline.com select Tampa) which is more geared for Tampa area but I absolutely LOVED the Dali museum the last time I visited Longboat Key

To find out about the restaurants: read http://www.4sarasota.com/Sarasota/Restaurants/

Another tip is to pick up literature (and maps) at your condo that gives you some more information (and some discounts).

Finally Longboat Key has a newspaper that comes out on Thursday that lists some local information that you may not have read about such as what is playing at one of the several local theaters.

Best Way To Get Around:

I personally did not have a car but my friends and my brother did. When I had to get around by myself, I walked. I did see a bus, so public transportation is available. My recommendation, if you are there for a short time, is to get a car since you probably would want to go to Sarasota at least once (that trip and the taxi fare to and from the airport would probably be close to what a car would cost for a few days).

First thing I liked about this condo is the layout and the large spacious rooms with a balcony (called a veranda) that overlooks the pool area and ocean. The balcony is fairly large since each bedroom (on opposite sides of the condo which is great for privacy), the dining room, and the living room have sliding glass doors providing access to the balcony.

Having the two bedrooms on opposite sides of the condo leaves to maximum privacy if you have two separate couples using the condo. I occupied the master bedroom with a king size bed, private dressing room with two closets, bathroom, sitting area, plenty of dresser space, a TV, and access to the balcony. My friends occupied the other bedroom that had twin beds, with access to another bathroom that is a private bathroom unless you have others sleeping in the living room. Their room also had a sitting area, plenty of dresser space, and of course balcony access. In between the bedrooms were a large dining room, fully equipped kitchen with lots of counter space and cabinets, and large living room with very comfortable furniture including a large TV in a swiveling cabinet for easy viewing from several points, and two access points to the balcony.

There were many other things I liked about this condo that I will list (not necessarily in order)
The great location --- the condo was beachfront so it took only a few minutes to walk from my condo (on the second floor) through the pool area and onto the walkway to the beach. The condo was also in Longboat Key where there is a sidewalk along the Gulf of Mexico Drive for walking, biking, or jogging. In addition across the street was a small shopping center that consisted of a grocery store and a drugstore among other stores. Finally, the condo was in the middle of Longboat Key so it was convenient to other beaches as well as Sarasota.
The amenities --- first is the fact that the sailboats were available by leaving a deposit. There was NO FEE to use! In addition there were two tennis courts, bikes available to ride, one continental breakfast, lounge with big TV, and a pretty great health club. And I can’t forget the outdoor pool. The pool was quite long and about 1/3 of the pool actually was under one of the condos (the one I was occupying in fact). This indoor quality was certainly appreciated since the weather was pretty bad for several days and I was able to swim for an hour at a time while it was pouring outside. Since the water was heated and the pool was quite long, it was as if swimming indoors. There were other amenities such as hot tub, barbecues for use, a beautiful courtroom for relaxing, book exchange, etc.

Unfortunately one item you should know is the poor office hours!

Best Things Nearby:
Beach and Ocean – wooden path to the beach and you can walk along the ocean
Grocery store to buy groceries and drugstore
Sarasota
other beaches
Armand Circle

Best Things About the Resort:
Amenities such as tennis courts and bikes and sailing are free
Beautiful heated Pool
Health Club
Beautiful spacious rooms with balconies
Washer and dryer in the unit (so I could fly with a carry-on bag only)

Resort Experience:
The Veranda Beach Club (see web at http://www.verandabeachclub.com) is small in number of units (less than 45) but not small in quality! In fact this condo was one of the best of the Florida timeshare exchanges I have made in the last 20 years.

First thing I liked about this condo is the layout and the large spacious rooms with a balcony (called a veranda) that overlooks the pool area and ocean. The balcony is fairly large since each bedroom (on opposite sides of the condo which is great for privacy), the dining room, and the living room have sliding glass doors providing access to the balcony.

Having the two bedrooms on opposite sides of the condo provides maximum privacy if you have two separate couples using the condo. I occupied the master bedroom with a king size bed, private dressing room with two closets, bathroom, sitting area, plenty of dresser space, a TV, and access to the balcony. My friends occupied the other bedroom that had twin beds, with access to another bathroom that is a private bathroom unless you have others sleeping in the living room. Their room also had a sitting area, plenty of dresser space, and of course balcony access. In between the bedrooms were a large dining room, fully equipped kitchen with lots of counter space and cabinets, and large living room with very comfortable furniture including a large TV in a swiveling cabinet for easy viewing from several points, and two access points to the balcony.

There were many other things I liked about this condo that I will list (not necessarily in order)
The great location --- the condo was beachfront so it took only a few minutes to walk from my condo (on the second floor) through the pool area and onto the walkway to the beach. The condo was also in Longboat Key where there is a sidewalk along the Gulf of Mexico Drive for walking, biking, or jogging. In addition across the street was a small shopping center that consisted of a grocery store and a drugstore among other stores. Finally, the condo was in the middle of Longboat Key so it was convenient to other beaches as well as Sarasota.
The amenities --- first is the fact that the sailboats were available by leaving a deposit. There was NO FEE to use! In addition there were two tennis courts, bikes available to ride, one continental breakfast, lounge with big TV, and a pretty great health club. And I can’t forget the outdoor pool. The pool was quite long and about 1/3 of the pool actually was under one of the condos (the one I was occupying in fact). This indoor quality was certainly appreciated since the weather was pretty bad for several days and I was able to swim for an hour at a time while it was pouring outside. Since the water was heated and the pool was quite long, it was as if swimming indoors. There were other amenities such as hot tub, barbecues for use, a beautiful courtroom for relaxing, book exchange, etc.
The décor --- There was plenty of nice art on the walls and the furniture was quality and COMFORTABLE. There were lots of mirrors and lights also in the room. The TV was in a large cabinet (maybe cherry finish) and the entire cabinet could easily swivel so you could have the TV viewed by people in the living room or easily swiveled around for viewing in other areas. There was lots of furniture in the condo but placed so it was not cluttered.

Unfortunately there were a few things I did not like. The most inconvenient was the deplorable office hours. I was shocked to find out the office closed at 4 pm on Saturday, check-in day. Since many condos don’t allow you to get access till 4 pm, I would think most people would arrive after the 3 pm check-in at this resort. Yes there is a security office but the guard is not always there (they may be on rounds till midnight;after midnight, completely off-duty till 9 AM). My brother did not arrive till after midnight on Sunday and had no way of finding me (since cell phones also did not work, I couldn’t communicate my room number to him)! Calling the emergency number produced a wait till Monday 9AM response. It was only pure luck that he was able to find me. The deplorable office hours were also a factor for me using the health club. Even though the health club is open at 8 AM, the office (where you need to get a key) is not open until 9 am.

• Unit Type: 2 Bedroom
• Activities: Good
• Amenities: Excellent
• Unit Satisfaction: Excellent
• Family Friendliness: Excellent
• Service: Poor

Our condo manager recommended several restaurants and we went to Café on the Bay for Saturday evening’s dinner. While this restaurant was a bit pricey ($137 for three AFTER a $24 discount), I am glad we dined there.

We had our first indication that the restaurant would be quite exclusive since you had to go through a security gate to get to the restaurant. Before entering the restaurant, we gawked at the marina and the beautiful boats docked at the moment. In addition we also took some time to appreciate all of the Christmas decorations that were in the restaurant "square".

We were greeted at the door and shown to a nice table that overlooked the water (so we could continue to gawk). While my girlfriend was picking out the wine (she ordered the cheapest bottle of white wine at $29 which tasted fine), I was trying to decide which creamy frozen drink (my weakness) I wanted. I decided upon the Chunky Monkey which had bananas and ice cream and Kailua. Delicious!

On the actual meal, the salad was so-so, the hot bread was great, and my dinner entrée was great. I had potato encrusted Grouper that was very good (and nicely presented). My two friends each ordered the fresh tuna. My girlfriend thought the tuna was a little too rare (but made for a great doggy bag meal for the next day). Her meal came with mashed potatoes that were arranged very nicely on the plate. In fact we took pictures of our dinners.

I would highly recommend the restaurant based on quality of food and atmosphere but the price alters downward my recommendation.

I remember a few weird things about our lunch experience at Harry’s.
First is that several people raved about their pancakes. In fact it seemed like you would want to go to Harry’s just to sample their famous apple pancakes.
A second chuckle concerned the attire of most of the patrons. My girlfriend thought we were going to a deli so she had on denim skirt, top, and wore sandals. Her husband and I also were dressed very casually in shorts. We were the exception since almost all male diners had on suits. I surmised that people went to Church and then stopped by Harry’s for their famous pancakes.
The third eye-opener is the age of the patrons. I am in my fifties and I was definitely one of the youngsters!!!!

As for the food, my girlfriend and I ordered the seafood gumbo which was excellent. I was almost tempted to get something else because the prices were pretty high, but decided the "specialty" was worth the couple extra dollars. Her husband ordered the Turkey club which was good but not what he expected. It turned out his meal was an open-faced sandwich on a croissant. Again the meal was good but a little expensive.

The tables were very small and very crowded together AND all full with patrons. I took some pictures of the interior since it was very quaint.

There are several "attractions" that I have been to before when in the area last, but this time I elected to go the freebie way. If you don’t want to spend money you can have a good time if you are staying at this condo. Here are some suggestions:
Swim and/or just enjoy the pool area: The pool is quite large for the amount of condos for this resort. Not once was there a crowd in the pool (of course the weather was not the greatest). There are a fair number of lounges and there are multiple "areas" so you could get away from the crowd.
Walk along the ocean (too cold for me to swim): I went in both directions and after walking about 1 ½ miles one-way, I turned back. It seemed you could walk forever. Of course there were shells along the beach so if you are into finding shells to bring home you will have a good time. The beach also had many lounge chairs and cabanas for your use.
Take out one of the sailboats: Quite frankly I have NEVER before stayed at a place where the boats are free so this was quite a surprise.
Walk, bike, and/or jog along the wide sidewalks that run along the entire bayside of the highway. On one of my walks, I found Longboat's sanctuary and also saw a very unusual tree with a vine that looked like a sculpture imprinted on the tree.
Play tennis at one of the two tennis courts: the two courts were separated so you did not have to worry about interruptions if two matches were being played at the same time. In addition the fences were fairly high so not once did a ball sail out. The sun wasn’t out too much while I was there, but I think the vines covering the fences would help in blocking some of the sun (and wind)
Walk to the many marinas along the bay and enjoy the beautiful boats: It was fascinating to see such large boats.
Watch the sunset from your balcony: I watched it several times and took pictures once (but the pictures didn’t turn out that well). But the sunset was very beautiful to watch.

Workout in the health club: I went to the club every day. The two treadmills (brand name of True) were the BEST treadmills I have ever used. Not only were the belts smooth to run on, the multiple displays (of distance, pace, time, heart rate) were wonderful. There were also two "True" recumbent bikes which were very smooth to pedal. There was also an elliptical trainer but I only used that piece of equipment for a short time. Other items included: light free weights (rather than heavy ones for guys only); a universal machine (which was not adequate for leg strength training), sauna, other equipment, and a scale (so I could monitor my weight).