Day 1: Up and out! - Departure Day



 As you know with all trips if you read these blogs they start early.  Very very early.  So why break tradition.   Seriously, for those that read this over the coming days, weeks, years....decades, our goal was to not lose a day of travelling.  

It was harder than most days to leave getting up at 3:15AM for our 6AM departure from W-B/Scranton Airport.  We were leaving our buddy Ollie.  Although in good hands, we were sad to leave him. As I closed the door he enjoyed a snack, music on and the house to himself but in a few hours he would be with Evan and Erkt but more importantly Bro, Dude, and Keeper.  Keeper is his buddy.

We loaded up, actually Jake loaded up the car with me and my bum right arm.  I was so looking forward to getting away but not with an injury on top of all the other crap.  My sense of taste and smell is sloooooowly coming back but still no great sense of taste.  No matter... it is vacation, we are together and we are going to a great location.

Getting on our flight was quick and easy as we met up with Papa, Jordan and Ryan at the airport.  Our flight left on time as we headed to Chicago for our connecting flight to Sarasota.  I have never been to Sarasota but everyone else has.  So I am the newbie on this trip.

Once we arrived we scrambled to get our bags and rental cars.  We started off with two rentals but quickly realized with our gang, three would be far more convenient as we stayed at Jill Murray's home.  It is a beautiful layout that has all the characteristics of Myrtle Beach.

With food supplies ordered in advance by Jen, we had no need to go to a store.  All provisions on hand!

We slipped into our bathing suits and headed out to Lido Beach.  Bam!  First day!

I have not felt ocean water this warm since my days on Okinawa and it was amazing.  But there is a warning up, Red Algae.  Not a major issue where we are but we need to be aware of where we swim.

After getting a few hours in at the beach, we got ready for dinner and headed back to the downtown area to a place called Mattison's where we sat outside and enjoy the evening.  One funny thing that happened was the server starting to sing to the music being played.

BIG NEWS!!  While we were there, Jordan and Ryan got word their house purchase bid was accepted and they would be preparing to be house owners!!!!  A great way to start our trip.


We drove over to Killwins were we hopped in line for our first "ice cream" of the trip.  It seems ice creams at the beach are mandatory and quite ok with everyone. Killwins is a great combination of ice cream and sweets all laid out for the choosing.

All in all, we were exhausted.  

It was long day and we were ready for bed.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 4: Open Air Marketplace & Lounging & Oh no!

 This morning we visited the downtown area in Sarasota for their open air market.   It is an ecclectic group of businesses from the local community.  When we arrived the day's temps were already climbing.  We walked around the various vendors selling a number of items from honey to wood carvings with beach scenes. While there Jill and I had a conversation with a local vendor selling fermented items that help with your digestion.  Her website www.fermentlicious.com is a great resource. We played it relatively low key and skipped the beach but hit the pool .  However, Ryan and Jordan headed out to Siesta Key again.   Jake was busy with homework but also looked like he was doing a deep dive on his eyelid reading.  LOL Once we all got back we got ourselves ready to head out to dinner at Siesta Key.  The spot we headed to was the perfect beach town with shops and restaurants.  We enjoyed a dinner at The Cottage where Jordan felt it ...
Read more

Day 3: The #1 Beach in the U.S.A.

This morning Jen and I got up and headed to the bridge areas in Sarasota where we decided to walk and run.  Even though we were out early this morning the temps were up and it was hot and sunny.  We parked and then headed out.  We took different routes but both did the bride.  Needless to say the bridge is far steeper than it looks but it gave an amazing view.    After sweating every ounce of fluid out we stopped at Dunkin for morning orders and headed back to get ready to head to Siesta Key which is given the title of #1 Beach in the USA.   As we headed out we followed out GPS into the area passing by large beach homes and condos to what feels like a secluded location.   However, once you get there it find it is a developed park area.  As we parked in TURTLE 3, we grabbed our beach gear and strolled out.  The beach was a big more packed.  For me, it reminded me of the Jersey beaches I went as a kid.  It was a bit dif...
Read more