Florida is a great state in the winter for us Midwesterners to escape from the cold. The flights are cheap and frequent which makes the quick weekend away to not be missing work a very accessible option. For more information on how to find a cheap flight, click this link: Tips to Book a Cheap Flight.
My partner and I like those quick cold weather escapes, and just utilized a great deal from Sun Country Airlines to head off to Sarasota, Florida for the weekend!
Here's the TLDR:
Day 1: Lido Key Beach, The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Samurai Japanese Fusion, Main Street Creamery, Live Music at Fresh Fridays Downtown Sarasota
Day 2: Siesta Key Village, Sarasota Beach, Siesta Beach, Lobster Pot, Selva Grill, Live Music at Mattison's City Grille
For next time: Myakka State Park to see the alligators. 🐊
Main Prep Q’s Before the Trip:
Do we need a rental car?
When deciding if you should book a rental car or not, I am guided by price and convenience. It’s not always more convenient to have a rental car, depending where you’re going and what you’ll be doing. Sometimes your only option to enjoying your trip is to get a rental car. With this quick weekend to Sarasota, we could have gone either way, so we priced it out.
If you could go either way, it’s best to price it out. Consider: How many Uber trips would you be taking (to make it easy, I just average each trip around $20/ride)? Then, look into the price for a rental car, the price for a Turo, does it cost to park at your accommodation, and is there a parking cost at the main attractions you’re attending? For Friday - Sunday, we found a Turo rental for $120 total which was definitely worth it for us.
Where are we going to stay?
Accommodations are always dictated for me by price. I am never loyal to a brand, but always to the price. If you’re like me, I urge you to join the loyalty program at any hotel chain you stay. It’s always advantageous yo build up points, and sometimes it even comes with better rooms and a faster check-in process. For this stay, we had enough Hyatt Points to stay at the Hyatt Regency Sarasota for two nights. Free was the winner.
What are we going to do?
Getting tips from friends and family is always my go to before looking up things to do. My parents had recently been to Sarasota and had given us a few recommendations for activities and places to eat. And then blogs like this one are my next place for ideas.
I usually keep a few ideas for activities depending on the weather. I look up indoor and outdoor options in case the unexpected rain storm happens to join the weekend.
Where are we going to eat?
Similar to activities, I love recommendations from people I know, and you can always find a good blog post for a few great restaurants ideas. Now, I’m cheap, so I don’t want to solely rely on restaurant eating. I typically bring a few protein bars to have on hand for the plane ride or if I need a snack, and no matter where I’m going or how long for, I’m going to utilize the grocery store for meals and snacks. In most grocery stores, you’re able to get sandwiches or wraps made fresh, and they’ll be significantly cheaper than going to a chain sandwich shop. In Florida, my go to is Publix Deli. You can get a foot long, custom sub sandwich for less than $10. It’s a great bargain! We made reservations for dinner on Friday night and Saturday night in advance, and the rest we’d figure out while we were there.
Day 1: Lido Key Beach, The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Samurai Japanese Fusion, Main Street Creamery, Live Music at Fresh Fridays Downtown Sarasota
We landed in Sarasota and were pleasantly greeted with blue skies and a beaming sun. Coming from a midwestern winter, all we wanted was to be outside in the sunshine. We quickly learned that one of the great things about Sarasota is the proximity. Within 10 minutes, we were to our hotel to put away our bags and put our bathing suits on before heading to Publix Market for a beach lunch.
After securing our sandwiches and drinks, it was a quick ten minutes to Lido Beach. One thing we couldn’t get over in the Sarasota area was the free parking! It felt like a present every time. We parked at Lido Beach and enjoyed a couple of hours of sun within an hour of our plane wheels touching down.
Lido Beach has a large sandy area to enjoy, and also tons of shells along the shoreline. There are easily accessible bathrooms near the parking lot. Plus, free parking! The walk from the parking lot to the beach was less than five minutes. We enjoyed the beach for a couple of hours before heading to The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, a suggestion from my parents who had been in the area recently.
I would suggest at least two hours for this museum, which actually has five separate museums to enjoy. The main two that we were interested in were both circus focused, and to really enjoy both, we needed about 90 minutes. One building is centered around the history of the circus and all the intricacies of the production. The other building was filled with memorabilia.
The museum is interactive. You can walk the tight rope, take photos as clowns, and watch clips from the most famous circus acts in history.
Visitors can also see the impressive 42,000 piece circus model made by Howard Tibbals. This model goes through every stage of what went into making a Circus Day for every town it encountered, including everything behind the scenes.
We also enjoyed the grounds between the museums, which are full of landscaped parks from building to building. You can also Ca' d'Zan, which translates to the House of John. This was the house of John and Mable Ringling. It's an extra $5 to enter, but highly worth the price.
Next, it was on our way to explore the South Village in Sarasota at Samurai Japanese Fusion for a cocktail and a few sushi rolls. My review on this restaurant couldn't be any higher. The sushi is excellent, the prices are incredibly reasonable and it has a fun and energetic ambiance.
Next, we wanted to go into Downtown Sarasota to Main Street Creamery, which even at 9:00 PM and a 60 degree evening, the line was outside the door, and seating inside and outside were full. After going here one time, I can see exactly why it was packed. The ice cream is fantastic. There are dozens of flavors to choose from, and the staff are warm and friendly, while being speedy and efficient, getting patrons through the line. I enjoyed one of their homemade waffle cones with a scoop of Double Dark Chocolate and Triple Peanut Butter. It was some of the best ice cream I've ever had.
And, to cap off the evening, we wandered around Downtown Sarasota, enjoying some window shopping and checking out the variety of open air bars with fun music streaming out. We were looking for a place to stop in for a nightcap, when we heard a band that we were excited to check out. We stumbled upon Fresh Fridays Downtown Sarasota. There was a big stage set up with a large band, and the street was filled with people dancing and enjoying the night. We learned from a few of the locals that this occurred the first Friday of every month, and we got lucky catching it on our visit. It was such a great atmosphere to end our first night in Sarasota.
Day 2: Siesta Key Village, Sarasota Beach, Siesta Beach, Lobster Pot, Selva Grill, Live Music at Mattison's City Grille
We started the day in Siesta Key Village, about a 15 minute drive from Sarasota. This is an adorable local beach town, just a short walk from the beach. If you like chain restaurants and shops, this town is not for you. Every building is unique and locally owned.
We enjoyed the variety of shops before heading out to the beach. It's very active between Sarasota Beach and Siesta Key Beach. The sand is hard and compact making it very easy to walk long distances. We walked the mile in between the two beaches.
After a few hours enjoying the sun and and the sand, we enjoyed another recommendation from my parents at the Lobster Pot. It's one of the few restaurants in Siesta Key Village that doesn't have outdoor seating, but they can open the big front windows to allow the breeze and sun into the restaurant. It's a majority seafood menu which all looks very reasonably priced, but I will say, if you're counting your pennies like I typically am, make sure to verify the market priced seafood, otherwise you'll be in for an expensive surprise. We split the Lobster Bisque and the Stuffed Lobster Duchess. Both mouthwatering.
We went back to our hotel to relax and enjoy some time in the hot tub before our last night in Downtown Sarasota. We had dinner at Selva Grill which is Latin fusion cuisine. We were both still craving seafood, and it was a fantastic meal to end our trip on. This restaurant is dark with a lively ambience. It's definitely on the pricier side, but the service, food and efficiency of the restaurant is well worth the price tag.
To end our last night in Sarasota, we were hoping to get lucky with more live music and we absolutely did! While we were strolling around downtown, we followed the music again and it lead us to Mattison's City Grille for live music and an even livelier crowd. We danced and chatted with friendly locals until it was time for us to put our two action packed days to bed.
Final Review on Sarasota: This city is clean and affordable. Though we were only here for a short time and kept our activities to the beach, shopping, the circus museum, restaurants and nightlife; there are so many more activities for us to enjoy when we come back. With calm waters, there's great kayaking and manatee viewing. Myakka State Park is a great place to see wildlife and there are several hikes within 30 minutes for wildlife viewing as well. It's not the busy nightlife and beaches as you'd find in other Floridian cities, but for someone looking for a slower pace, this city is the perfect stop. It was a great 48 hour destination and somewhere we would gladly come back to visit with another cheap flight find.
Leave your favorite Sarasota activities below in the comments!
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