My Top Five Favourite Sarasota Things
🔝5️⃣ I have said this before, but walking around Sarasota’s downtown you could be forgiven for forgetting that it is in Florida, other than the sandhill cranes flying over Sarasota Bay and the sun high in the sky.
We’ve lived here now for more than two years and there is still so much more to explore, but these were My Top Five Favourite Sarasota Things from last year.🦩
1️⃣ Mary Selby Gardens & the Green Orchid 🌺
We are members of these botanical gardens, which rightly calls itself a living museum. The gardens are stunning if you ever visit Sarasota, and there’s also a beautiful little restaurant there called The Green Orchid, which we try to get to regularly. Powered 100% by solar energy, the lunch menu has literally just been sourced from the garden, and it has started to open for dinner.
2️⃣ St. Regis Longboat Key 🐚
I love a hotel as some of you will know. The St. Regis opened in October, 2024 and occupies a stunning position on Longboat Key. We sit at the expansive bar and pretend we are on a weekend-break like many others that breeze through the lobby in designer swimwear, or eat at the excellent CW Prime restaurant.
3️⃣ HL Asian Market 🍜
Now, I love this place and can get lost for hours in it. This densely stocked Asian market has been open for just over a year and has an abundance of foods, vegetables, fish, cookware, and ingredients. I love cooking so often find myself walking out of here with a bag of spices, sauces, noodles and sake.
4️⃣ German Bakery & Coffeehouse 🇩🇪
Bavarian family owned, not far from us. I sometimes take my laptop and work from here whilst drinking strong coffee and picking at a stupendous range of pastries and sweet goodies. If I overstay my welcome I order the schnitzel for lunch.
5️⃣ The Overlook at The Oaks 🌳
This is across the road from us and part of ‘our community’ but we are infrequent visitors, which is a shame because it is a beautiful spot overlooking one of the golf course’s fairway (there are two courses). The food is good, but me and the thirsty-other-half come for $4 glass of wines at happy hour.
Hi CA we certainly share your fortune of settling in a wonderful area. Having only had the 2 week holiday normally in late Oct to avoid the hurricanes we’ve made it an annual event most years since 2001. You are surrounded by cultural and entertaining venues on all sides- we stay mainly on Anna Maria and whilst it’s a wrench to get away from the fab beaches and bars there magnetically we are drawn south over the incredible drive over Longboat Key stopping at Pass a Grille by the bridge for a sandwich and chowder with the locals before we get tomato Armands then over to Sarasota. A day spent aimlessly strolling around downtown and finishing with a sunset cruise by Marina Jacks is a ritual we’ve instilled in the kids now in their 30’s will soon be embarking with their clan and emulating this event!! Shame you have to do so much travelling but you must be so grateful when you are on your way ‘home’!! Keep up the posts on this and of course our team and fingers crossed this Sat against Chelsea I re bet the Boxing Day 4-2 win having taken some CFC in the East Stand that day!! All the best.