Saturday, November 24, 2012

Manatee Lake SP, Sarasota, FLThis morning Mike cleaned the front cap of the fifth wheel.  Yay!  Looks so much better.  After that we headed out to the barrier islands off Sarasota.  At St. Armands Key we parked at a cute little area of shops and restaurants (built by Ringling) and had lunch at Cha Cha Coconuts, a little sidewalk cafĂ©.  Mike had gumbo which he said was the best he’d ever had, and I had a really good Cuban sandwich.  After lunch we walked around a little.  Ringling sure did a lot for the Sarasota area.  Continued on to Long Boat Key and finally all the way up to Santa Maria Island.  Rt. 64 which our park is on dead ends on Santa Maria Island, so we took that back to our park.  A really pretty day.  It was 74 in Sarasota, cooler on the islands. 

The Ringlings had a huge art collection.  Most of it is now housed in this building.  Some of it is still in the mansion.

Front gate all decorated for the holidays.

Christmas tree in the park at St. Armands.

Skyway Bridge viewed from Santa Maria Island.

This kid was frolicking around in the water.  Water temp 66 degrees.  OMG!