Bird Key and Hello to the Harwells!

We now have our friends the Harwells on board! They will cruise with us for a while as we head south. We ran our errands yesterday (groceries, West Marine, drug store...) and did some browsing in local shops.

In this area around Sarasota, John Ringling (as in Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus) is big. This was his favorite area and he left his stamp here in many ways. Ringling was instrumental in developing St. Armand's Circle - a very cool shopping area near Bird Key. My daughter Rebecca would love the classical statuary all around the circle. I took lots of photos for her. We browsed the shops and smelled the heavenly scents coming from the restaurants and sidewalk cafes.

Lunch was amazing sandwiches and wraps at the Old Salty Dog. Dinner was at the Columbia Restaurant, a 100-year-old family owned establishment with Spanish and Cuban food. I include these tidbits because some of my readers consider me a "tour guide". The Columbia Restaurant is on St. Armand's Circle and was recommended by Diane's sister Karen. Karen and John have a home in Siesta Key. They visited the boat and went with us to dinner. They are a very interesting couple. They love to travel and have been on many cruises and trips.

Today (Monday) we will head out for Venice!

Yay! The Harwells are here! They haven't been aboard since the Hudson River.

Bird Key yard art. There were lots of these "tubular" people around town. They look like the commercial...

I especially liked the giraffes.

This was across the bay in Sarasota - a large statue of the famous WWII photo.

A street at Armand Circle - note the classical statue, there were lots of them.

This is a poster-size photo of St. Armand's Circle. It's in a shop window, so it has some reflection on it but you get the idea.

Mr. Ringling

This is for you, Sweet Pea!

This was parked in the St. Armand Circle. Very cool!

So was this...

Hard to see this, but there is a man playing the piano sitting under a "whale tail" sculpture.

The Old Salty Dog

At the Columbia Restaurant - Beth, Steve, John, Joe, Diane and Karen