My husband and I are planning to be in Sarasota in January from the 5 through the 9th. I have several questions as we have never been to the area before.
1. Will the traffic be congested at that time of the year?
Should we stay on the mainland or on Siesta Key?
3. Has anyone had any experience with the Tropical Breeze Resort and do you have any reviews of their lodging?
4. We need restaurant suggestions, not expensive ones though, more local places and casual ones.
5. What is the Golden Apple dinner theater like? Has anyone been to the Black Theater groups presentations?

We are in our mid-fifties and anjoy nature, museums, walking, cultural events, and seeing neighborhoods.

I look forward to hearing from you and as always am grateful for all the help I've been given.

Nancy

When visiting Sarasota, we like to fit in a trip to Captain Curt's on Siesta Key.
www.captaincurts.com.

We also enjoyed shopping at St. Armand's Circle and found a visit to the John Ringling property to be interesting, although the circus museum could have used an update when we visited in the Spring of 2003.

Have fun!

PS Have visited the area three times (twice in January and once in March) and found January to be less busy than March in terms of traffic.

I would suggest staying on Longboat Key, just off of Sarasota, and very beautiful. There is a Publix grocery store on the key so you don't have to drive far if you forget anything. It is close to St. Armand's circle, which you will enjoy very much. Plan at least half a day there, probably a whole day with lunch (I highly recommend Tommy Bahama's!). I hear the Ringling exhibit is neat, and I have been twice to the museum for marine life (I forgot the name of it, but it is widely publicized and eay to find). It is worth the visit also. You'll see manatees up close there! Traffic will ALWAYS be congested in the winter in Sarasota. If you are concerned about traffic, don't go till April!

The Marie Selby gardens are absolutely gorgeous! There's a fee, but very well wroth it.

We always enjoy Siesta Key, but whether you stay there is going to depend on how much time you want to spend on the beach vs. other activities. Siesta Key beach has been rated as one of the top beaches in FL and the US for years for it's cool and pretty white sand beaches. If you like walking, you can awaken each morning and walk a loop of the to Turtle Bay and back to the village on the beach for 3-5 miles. If you walk out on Siesta Key Beach where the deeper waters collect on the sandbars and look down into the water and as the waves splash ashore, you will be able to gather sand dollars. Sarasota is then a short drive away for cultural activities. Longboat Key is nice as well, although a little smaller than Siesta, if memory serves but closer to St. Armand's, and agree with others re: visiting St. Armand's circle. When we usually go (Dec.) it is lit up at night with lights in the landscaping, etc. Lots of al fresco dining options, you can walk the whole area just trying to decide where to eat. We had supper one evening at the Columbian restaurant (it might be called Colombo's?)--great sangria . Shopping here is good also. Traffic can sometimes be congested at St. Armand's and 41 through Sarasota can be busy, esp. during rush hour times.

nancdb, thanks for alerting me to something new.
I'm a bit of a theatre nut (understatement of the year) and I've never heard of the Florida West Coast Black Theatre Troupe, but after some googling I see it is a new group as of last year, which seems to be functioning as a branch of the Florida Studio Theatre in Sarasota which is a good group in itself. I'll be checking this out. Odd, since I'm on the Florida Studio Theatre mailing list, I've never heard of this. I see they're doing The Piano Lesson in November, but so far I haven't found out anything beyond that -- back to googling or calling after posting this.

I'm not a big dinner theatre fan and haven't been to the Golden Apple for a couple years now. I've never considered it particularly good -- and it used to be mainly a place for the actress/owner to exhibit herself often horribly miscast in attempts at musicals.

If you are into theatre, don't miss going to a performance at The Asolo, the state theatre of Florida, and one of the top repertory companies in the US. In addition to their main stage repertory shows, during January they will be doing David Mamet's Boston Marriage in the studio theatre. This performance is part of the Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training and I've seen some really wonderful things there.
The choices on main stage during your dates will be West End Horror (a new Sherlock Holmes) and Broadway Bound. It is a kind of "between shows" period for them, so there aren't more choices as usual.

I forgot to mention that we are not interested in shopping, but rather nature sites, boat rips, the Ringling Brothers Museum, the botanical gardens, etc. It sounds as if we might be happier staying on the mainland to avoid the traffic problems. Are there a lot of traffic issues traveling from any of the keys to mainland Sarasota? Are there any places to stay in downtown Sarasota that are nice and centerally located? What is Venice like? We'd like to see some of old Florida. Thank you for your help. Nancy

I recently stayed on Lido Beach just around the bend from St. Armands Circle at the Radisson. It is a new property and is very nice. The beach there is wonderful, very quiet with a mix of older and newer properties, and there is very little traffic because it is a dead end street. I found it to be very convenient, just down the street from both the Asolo and Selby Gardens, and so close to St. Armands which has some nice restaurants with outdoor seating. Myakka River State Park is nearby, be sure to check it out.

I have to recommend Historic Spanish Point, located in Osprey. It is about 10 miles south of Central Sarasota. You will certainly see old FL there. You might want to stop into Oscar Scherer State Park, very close to Spanish Point, and pick up a hike. You could have lunch or an early dinner at Sharkey's in Venice or the Crow's Nest in Venice. Both on the water.

If you can arrange a boat trip to Cabbage Key that is a nice old FL feel. You can get info on both from the internet. I agree that Myaaka State Park is a good choice for you also.

Traffic is really bad, you just have to deal with it. The area between Fruitville and just south of Bee Ridge Road on US 41 is bumper to bumper from about 10:30AM on at that time of year. After 6PM it frees up nicely. I would recommend staying on the mainland in light of your interests.

You have picked some of the best in Sarasota. Have a wonderful birthday.