What to do in Sarasota in March

[trishpmc]

My husband and I will be in Sarasota for a long weekend from March 2 to 6. If you have any recommendations for restaurants, sightseeing, attractions, activities, etc., I would appreciate hearing them. Thanks.
Trish

 

[akbmusic]

Definitely the Ringling Museum

It is wonderful and relaxing. Definitely worth your time IMHO. Here is a link to the website:
http://www.ringling.org/

 

[trishpmc]

Amy, thanks for the suggestion. The museum and its grounds look wonderful. I think we would enjoy it.
Trish

 

[pcgirl54]

We prefer to do lunch rather than diner.

St Armands Circle=Colombia Restaurant. Dine outside cafe style.

http://www.columbiarestaurant.com/sarasota.asp

There is also Tommy Bahamas Tropical Cafe and Hemingways same area.

 

[maddaug]

I second St. Armands Circle. We really liked going there in the evenings, eating dinner, looking in the unique shops there and people watch. Then take a stroll down to the beach.

We absolutley love that whole area of Florida!!!

 

[caribbean]

Baseball Spring Training !!!

Trish-

If anyone in your family is into sports, baseball spring training games start about the 1st of March. There are several teams located in the area. BlueJays, Phillies, DevilRays, Yankees, Reds, & Pirates.

You can visit the Major League Baseball website and from there reach the individual teams sites to get information about their schedules and tickets.
http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/index.jsp

And here is a site with lots of information about spring training.
http://www.springtrainingonline.com/

Hope this helps.

 

[SherryS]

We love Mote Marine Aquarium and recommend the boat trip with naturalists aboard...a real learning experience! (www.mote.org)
Also go to the public beach on Siesta Key. The beach walking is heavenly and so relaxing. The sand is white and powdery, and is well-packed for your walk. You can stroll for 3 miles. Sunset there is wonderful!
Lots of great restaurant in our area, too.

 

[Jim Bryan]

If you go to Mote Marine eat at "The Old Salty Dog." It's right there. PC, on St. Armand's I'm partial to "Cha Cha Coconuts." It satisfies my beach nature and Island attitude.

 

[trishpmc]

Thanks for all the great suggestions. Keep them coming! I plan to print this page and the links' pages and take them with me when we go to Sarasota.
Trish

 

[pcgirl54]

Trish
Cresent Beach,Siesta Key is voted one of the best beaches for their quartz sand that is white and does not burn your feet. At sunset many people bring chairs and toast the sunsets. It is beautiful. I read an article that on Sundays there are musicians that play tamborines and dance to the sunset.

In Sarasota there is Woodys BBQ. Very small informal place in a strip mall near Sugar N Spice or Yoders Amish Restaurant. I much prefered their menu to the Amish one. It was delicious. All of these were TUG recommnedations when we visited.

http://www.woodysbarbq.com/images/menues/sar_brad.pdf

Address and phone are on the menu.

You can do a city tour on a Segway. I regret not trying this while we were there.

http://www.floridaever-glides.com/

 

[SherryS]

The Sunday sunset celebration on Siesta Beach is at 5:30pm. We love The Broken Egg Restaurant on Siesta for breakfast and lunch (only), and Capt. Curt's on the key has awesome clam chowder.

 

[JLB]

At least do the drive from Holmes Beach/Anna Maria Island on the North down to Siesta Key.

Our favorite Florida restaurant:

HOLMES BEACH Shells
3200 EAST BAY DR.
HOLMES BEACH, FL 34217
Phone: 941-778-5997
Fax: 941-778-7593

SARASOTA Shells
7253 S. TAMIAMI TRAIL
SARASOTA, FL 34231
Phone: 941-924-2568
Fax: 941-925-2458

 

[pcgirl54]

Trish
I have posted this link for others before and they found it helpful should you drive north of Sarasota for places to eat. Nice map.

http://www.2fla.com/island_restaurant_guide.htm

 

[trishpmc]

I'm bumping this thread, just in case anyone has anymore suggestions. Thanks for all the great ideas!

 

[Vodo]

Drive over to Hillsborough County (Plant City) for the annual Strawberry Festival. Lots of good old-fashioned country fair fun. We'll be going on the 12th to see Trace Adkins and Big and Rich. While you're in the Tampa area, you can check out the Florida Aquarium, Lowry Park Zoo or Busch Gardens. Or you could take in a hockey game - go Lightning!

Cindy

 

[trishpmc]

We are back from our trip to Sarasota. We followed many of your recommendations: visited the Ringling Museum, drove from Anna Maria Island to Siesta Key, viewed the sunset on Sunday evening on Siesta Key, had lunch at Columbia Restaurant and shopped on St. Armand's Circle, and had breakfast at the Broken Egg. Because of your great suggestions, we had a wonderful time.
We would like to recommend a place for delicious gourmet pizza and Italian food, the 15 South Ristorante Enoteca near St. Armand's Circle.
Thanks for your help. We enjoyed it greatly and hope to return to Sarasota for a visit in the next year or two.
Trish

 

[SherryS]

And the weather has been FANTASTIC, but the traffic has been bad

 

[Don]

As Amy said, Go to the Ringling Museum. Many times they will have a special exhibit showing. We took our kids who came down for Christmas ('04). They had the August Rodin exhibit. They also have his house and the circus museum.

Sarasota Jungle Gardens is a mile or two south of there.