The weather just has not cleared up! It was another chilly and cloudy one, making any time on the beach less appealing. Gulfport is a jewel of a little town right on the bay just west of St. Petersburg. Very artsy, with lots of crafty, artsy shops and adorable and colorful houses. We strolled the main street and visited a…
Category: Sunshine State Road Trip
Day 12: Gulfport, Fl, near St. Pete
Spent most of the day in the Sarasota area; once again the weather did not cooperate for a beach day but we made the best of it. There’s a from scratch small batch bakery near where we stayed with amazing pastries and candied bacon, so we walked there for some breakfast treats. Erica then had some admin stuff to do…
Day 11: Sarasota, near Siesta Key
Not much to report today… we rode our bikes to a “from scratch” bakery this morning for a wonderful breakfast sandwich with candied bacon. Erica had decided to go back to the Ringling compound today, and I chose to do some laundry and bike out to the beach. The weather continued to be cloudy and not all that warm, but…
Day 10: Sarasota, near Siesta Key
The day dawned with a major fog alert, (so maybe it didn’t really dawn at all?!), and we headed off on our beach bikes by 8AM to meet a cousin of a friend of Erica’s for breakfast on Siesta Key. It was about a 4 mile ride in the dense fog, across the channel and along the beachy town road.…
Day 9: Sarasota, near Siesta Key
A morning run in the foggy coastal air was a great way to start this day. The humidity is a real change from the west coast, but the route and the calm waters of the Gulf were lovely. And since the fog cleared we had a lovely, perfect weather day for our meander up the coast. First stop was Sanibel…
Day 8: Bonita Springs
The promised breakfast was indeed quite amazing at Natalie and Jeff’s compound this morning. Lots of fruit, toast and bagels, yogurt and pancakes and eggs with grits and potatoes. The first crew — 10 of us — were done by 8:45, just in time for the next group — what appeared to be a family of 5 and two other…
Day 7: Homestead
I went for a run this morning down to the beach towards the White Street Pier and got the most amazing photo of the sun peeking through the clouds… since I missed sunset last night, it was the answer to my need for a sky pic! Also caught the local chickens/roosters along the route, which pretty much rule Key West.…
Day 6: Key West
Another day in historic Key West. And it’s another CHILLY day in Key West. While we are not suffering the eyebrow and nose hair-freezing temps of the NE and midwest, it certainly isn’t very Floridian down here. Lots of layers of what otherwise would qualify as summer wear is the weather, but not fashion, dictate. A brisk walk to warm…
Day 5: Key West
It was another chilly and windy day… not at all a typical south Florida day. So much for the tee shirts and shorts I packed! I walked down to the most southernmost point in the US landmark — a buoy where people line up nicely to take photos of each other and yourself there. Silly, but the touristy thing to…
Day 4: Key West
Crazy thunder and rain storm last night; we were so glad to be safe and warm in our mobile home (insert sarcastic smiley face here). Truthfully, it was fine. We headed out around 10AM, while it was still raining, and hoped for a break so that we could take advantage of some of the beauty of the Lower Keys. The…