A Week in Sarasota, Florida

I got to spend the last week in Florida with my parents. They were on a month long trip there, so I decided to crash the latter half of their stay. Dave was coaching so unfortunately he couldn’t make it but it was so special having time with just my parents. It was mostly a chill and relaxing getaway but we did some fun adventure stuff too!

I really haven’t spent that much time in Florida before so it was cool exploring the Sarasota area and seeing the ocean. I really love the mountains but there is something to be said about being by the water. It’s sooo refreshing to the soul.

Most days we’d wake up and go on a long walk on the beach, look for sea shells and then go grab some food. I’d then hop on some work calls and then take the evening off and walk into town for dinner.

We were staying in St. Armands in Sarasota and had some really great seafood. Our favorite restaurants were Blu Kouzina and Speaks Clam Bar, in case you’re ever in that area! It did feel mostly like a retirement area but there was a cute downtown with lots of shops, restaurants and obviously the beach is right there, too.

I also took a few days off work and we got to explore the Myakka River State Park. We drove from one side of the park to the next and stopped along the way at all the scenic points. The Myakka State Park is so lush and green and has major jungle vibes. I was really loving all the mossy trees and big green plants. We also went up the canopy walk way, which was surprisingly a lot smaller than I expected but still cool to walk across. We did short 1 mile long nature loop trail as well, which was quiet and goes through the trees. We even saw a bunch of wildlife like big alligators, birds, wild hogs, baby deer, and a raccoon.

^^ My cute parents. Let’s please take a moment and appreciate my dads shirt that says, “All that and dim sum” 😂

We had one other adventure morning where we rented kayaks and kayaked through mangrove tunnels. It was super cool and unlike anything I’ve ever done before. The mangroves are super impressive and there are tons of black crabs walking along the trees. We went with Liquid Blue Outfitters and it was a fun 2 hour tour.