Forests and Beaches

Wednesday, May 22, 2013--Sarasota Area

We headed out into the countryside this morning to Myakka River State Park.  The river itself is a slow one lined with a forest of mostly palm trees.  They are so thick, however, that they produce a nice cover of shade.  Where there were clearings, however, the fields were covered with beautiful, yellow wildflowers.  We hiked a riverside trail watching birds and critters.  We didn't see an alligator until we reached the end of the trail and began returning.  One was swimming down the river beside us.  We watched as it hunted for food on the opposite riverbank.  Ahead we saw a couple with two small dogs coming up the river on our side.  The alligator saw them, too.  He stopped and lowered himself into the water so that only his eyes and nostrils were exposed.  We warned the couple that he was there.  The alligator stayed in place until it was obvious the couple were taking their dogs away from the bank, then he started slowly moving again and eventually turned around to go back in the opposite direction.

Further into the park, we took a nature trail that went a through more mixed forest of palms, oaks and other trees.  To one side, there was a short canopy walk.  We climbed a tower about 25 feet (8 m) and walked across a suspension bridge that bounced and swayed at a level just above the tops of the trees.  The second tower at the end of the walk was taller, so we further climbed to 70 feet (22 m) for a view over the entire park.

Before leaving the park, we drove to a lake with a boardwalk overlooking wetlands.  It reminded me of the wetlands that were across from my home in Corpus Christi, especially since there were roseate spoonbills and other birds the same as we have in CC.

Returning to Sarasota, we stopped at Costco and ate lunch--hot dogs, drinks, free samples, and a hand-dipped ice cream bar.  Then we headed for the beaches.

We stopped first at Siesta Beach and walked essentially the same area that we had walked on our visit two days ago.  From there, we drove to Lido Beach were we walked to the north from where we had parked before (vs. having walked to the south yesterday).  Both beaches are so nice and so pleasant to visit. Also, both have public facilities available which make it nice to be there.

Before returning to the room, we explored two college campuses that are near our hotel--New College of Florida and the University of South Florida--Sarasota-Manatee.  The former is a public liberal arts honors university which has received extensive recognition for the unique and quality programs that they offer.  All those years I was at A&M-CC and they "talked" of doing special things, I kept reading national articles regularly praising New College for what it was doing.  The second campus is a new branch of USF which currently has only two buildings.  It is at a similar stage of development as the A&M-San Antonio campus, but, like the latter, has great potential for growth.

Next to hour hotel is a Goodwill Store.  We walked into there to look around before going back to the room.  I had hoped to find some nice shorts or a swimsuit that were short enough that they wouldn't fall below the knees.  Instead, I found two very nice long-sleeve shirts by Daniel Cremieux in my size.  I got both of them (maybe a $140 value if new) for $10!