Rachel

Thanks to all who gave advice for our trip to Siesta Key. We has a great time. Stayed at El Presidente condominium complex, which was perfect for us. Clean, spacious, good location (close to bridge to mainland). Great pool and beach. Some complexes do not let you take the chairs too close to the water, but not an issue here. Complex was about half full, and other guest were friendly. While the complex doesnt allow BBQs, we noted several families brought grills and grilled on the beach in the evenings. I dont know what they were cooking, but it smelled great!
Based on advice given, I did not bring my roller blades. It was the right choice. While SK is beautiful, its not good for blading.
We didn't do much besides relax, shop and dine. Took long beach walks every morning, played at the beach and pool everyday. I read two books. We jet-skied. We did some college shopping for our kids,both of whom start new colleges in a few weeks.
We missed the drums on the beach. Just totally slipped my mind. We'll have to save it for another time. We also missed the Lobster Pot. Tried to go twice. Way too crowded one time, and closed the second time. Had good meals at Turtle Pub (bar food, but good) at south end of SK, Dacquairi Deck (huge selection of frozen libations) in village area, Columbia (at St. Armands Cirle - always good), Beach House(Anna Marie Island- a family favorite-they have great bread, with hints of pineapple and coconut in it, and excellent ahi tuna, not too mention a beautiful view of the gulf), and Ref's (a sports bar nearby in Sarasota)- we were intrigued by the sports theme-huge bats as pillars, the outside painted in black and white stripes. Turned out to be owned by someone from buffalo-our hometown, and they had local favorites-chicken wings, beef on weck, Weber's mustard).
Travelling with all males has become an auditory challenge. They talk sports 24/7. At times I felt like i was on vacation with ESPN. There's Mike and Mike in the morning, and for me, theres DS1 and DS2 all day long!
Thanks for help planning!

sunbabe

Nice report, Rachel. Siesta Key is my favorite beach in Florida.

Autoeng

No drum circle or Lobster Pot? Please tell me you at least got Olaf's ice cream.

hugglynn

Thanks for a reminiscent post for me. We were frequent travelers to SK a few years ago, but have changed from beach vacations to western (mountainous) ones. We also stayed once at the El Presidente. The condo we rented needed a little updating, if memory serves, but good building, nice pool, good location. Great beach to walk. We also loved Columbia @ St. Armands and enjoyed the Daquari Deck. The only difference for us was we were going at Thanksgiving and Christmas, so things were really quiet.

Rachel

Sorry auto--no Olaf's. with two big sons we've discovered simply buying them each a pint of ice cream at the grocery store is much more affordable than going out for ice cream. I cant believe we missed the drum circle. around 9 oclock on sunday night I remembered we were supposed to go there.
Hugg-we noticed a sign for a condo at El Presidente for sale now at $998K! Don't know how worn it was. The one we rented was pretty nice. Not extravagent, but very comfortable and clean. In our hometown, where real estate is pretty reasonable, an equiv. condo would sell for @ $80K. Location, location, location.

hugglynn

WOW--the last time we stayed in the building, they had a bulletin board that showed condo(s) for sale in the $400-500K range...what an investment that would have been, eh?

Autoeng

Condo prices have really fallen though in the past year on Siesta Key. Without seeing the place, but knowing EP I would either say that they are oceanfront or asking too much. There are many that are selling in the 4-500K range now.

hugglynn

In the EP building, there are a couple of direct oceanfront condos at the back (oceanside) of the building that overlooked the pool that had full picture windows for the oceanview. Perhaps it was those condos....

KathyK

Rachel, Glad to hear that you had a good trip. We went to Ref's the night of the first Sabres Stanley Cup playoff game against the Islanders. You wouldn't believe the scene, all televisions were set to the Sabres game and there were about 500-600 Sabre fans watching the game. Everyone was sporting Sabres attire. It was a great Buffalo sports experience.

Rachel

#2 son just bought #1 son a new Bills jersey (puluzsney--sorry @ spelling) as a going away gift b4 #1 leaves for college in Orlando. #1 is already planning on going to all Sabres games in Tampa! He'll have to find a place in Orlando to watch his home teams. #2 now stands to go to all Bills and Sabres games since #1 will be in FL and #2 will be @ UB. Let's Go Buffalo!

KathyK

I had the same situation with my sons. The older one went to school in Cleveland, and the younger one goes to Niagara Univ. Although he dorms, the younger one manages to find his way home for all of the Bills games and some of the Sabres games. The one in Cleveland was able to watch all the Bills games and some of the Sabres games at sports bars (Buffalo Wild Wings - not sure if they have them in Orlando). If your son is a big Buffalo fan, he'll no doubt find some place in Orlando to watch the games! I hear J.P. Losman is looking great in camp. Go Bills!