sandiegojoe

Hi, we're staying in siesta key for a week and have NOTHING planned. We have a rental car so can drive anywhere in the vicinity. Any good restaurants, outdoor activities, hangouts would be appreciated.

birder

Definitely St. Armands Circle - enjoy window shopping and have dinner at Columbia's - their 1905 Salad (I believe that is what it is called) is to die for, as is their bread pudding.

Marie Selby Botanical Gardens is beautiful (in Sarasota), it's $10 or more per ticket but well worth it.

If it were me, I would not drive up to Tampa. But I don't like driving on my vacations. Tampa is going to be 90-120 minutes away.

Sarasota has wonderful cultural treasures -- art museum, the Ringling Estate that you can tour, theater. I'd highly recommend at least a visit to the estate.

koi

The Channelside area in Tampa is nice.There are shops and restaurants and the cruise terminal is right there. They have the Florida Aquarium nearby-interesting place. Also, Ybor City is lots of fun- very historic.......the Columbia Restaurant is great and there are other good restaurants in Ybor.....Busch Gardens is fun if you're into amusement parks.

jillann39

There is enough to do on Siesta Key and Sarasota. The Village is full of touristy shops and restaurants. Lots of fun. Off the Key check out Southside Village for "finer" dining and shopping - very nice little shops and outdoor eating establishments. St. Armand's Circle is a great day trip and you could continue south and drive scenic Longboat Key. Anna Maria is another beautiful island which has maintained "old Florida" style. P.S. Don't know where you're coming from or when, but the weather right now is beautiful! Enjoy.

Katura

you really need to go to Myakka State Park - still in Sarasota County but a 30 mile drive east from Siesta - it is Florida's largest state park & truly a wonder. Another wonder is the Ringling Museum complex - including the newly restores Cad'Zan - John Ringling's spectacular mansion on Sarasota Bay - also includes fantastic art collection and the circus museum. It is also fun to get on the water - number of outfitters on Siesta Key who can help you out

birder

I want to second the vote for Myakka State Park. It is fantastic, and they have both a boat tour and a tram tour. We really enjoyed it and it is chock full of wildlife. You will be very glad you went.

cdt

We also enjoyed Myakka (a nice "inland" break from all the beach time) and took a couple of daysails, one from Sarasota and one from Cortez. Can't recall the names offhand but they can be found with web searches.

It was also fun to eat fresh seafood at the waterfront places in Cortez - Starfish and Cortez Kitchen, I believe.

I agree that Tampa is a long drive. We did it anyway because we wanted to see a Yankee spring training game, and discovered that Ybor City is dead as a doornail before dark.

hugglynn

Definitely agree with the poster re: St. Armand's Circle and Colombia's restaurant--also try the Sangria, they serve it by the pitcher, enuf to share (if you want)

When we go to Siesta, we do different things and have driven to Longboat Key, Anna Maria, Sarasota. Venice is a short drive away, cute little downtown for shopping, but the best beach bet is Siesta. If you are beach people, you can easily tie up a big part of the morning (or afternoon) walking on the beautiful crescent beach picking up shells and sand dollars--venture out to the sand bars and look down, they'll float right by your feet. Venture over to the Turtle Beach side for shell collecting. Depending where you stay, you can also take a walk into the village for an afternoon.

If you're really adventurous (as we are, we're never afraid to just take off anywhere), we actually trekked up to Orlando to see the new Animal Kingdom as it was one part of the park we had missed before.

My favorite thing to do on Siesta is go for a morning run on the beach, come back, shower and enjoy a glass of wine with some cheese and crackers while I veg out on our balcony overlooking the gulf. What more could you ask for?

Tandoori_Girl

If you get onto I-75 and go about 20 miles north to the Ellenton exit, the Gamble Mansion St. Park is just a couple of blocks away. The large 2-story former home is colonial in style, looks like a smaller Tara. The grounds are not particularly notable but there is a huge bamboo stand that makes a lot of clatter when it's windy. Most interesting are the separated kitchen building in the back, and the thick tabby exterior walls throughout the building. This is also the exit for a large rambling name-brand mall (I think it's the Ellenton Mall) if you feel like shopping.