November 26th Monday : Nana found the entrance this morning to the Legacy Trail which was a much nicer walk. The Trail is a smooth paved 10.5 miles starting at the Historic Venice Train Depot and ending at the southern outshirts of Sarasota. It is the perfect bike / walk path right along the ICW. The tracks were once used by the Ringling Bros. and P T Barnum ( Conor’s new hero - one of our very cute grandsons ) & Bailey Circus from 1967 to 1991 where they transported all the animals and spent the winters in Sarasota. Ireland’s Eye left Venice at 11am for the 20 mile cruise to the Sarasota Yacht Club.
Along the way we cruise the Blackburn Bay and Little Sarasota Bay passing wonderful homes and many little islands where the birds camouflage perfectly among the vegetation. A perfect day for driving IE from the top deck with the magnificent view of Casey Key, Siesta Key, Lido Key to our final destination Bird Key.
The Sarasota Yacht Club is our second yacht club stopover using our reciprocal ( Newport Yacht Club RI ) through Yachting Club of America. We will stay until Thursday. We arrived the day the club is being decorated for Christmas so officially the club is closed but we were provided with our keys which gave us access to the pool area, the gym and shower facilities. It is a beautiful club right inside the Big Pass which takes you into the city of Sarasota one way and all along Longboat Key right up to Anna Marie Island. It has 110 slips, a magnificent dining room ( which we hope to make a reservation for tomorrow night). A wonderful stroll into St Armand Circle followed by Dinner onboard while listening to the heavy rainfall and watching the boats that are already decorated for the Christmas parade that will take place December 1st.
November 27th Tuesday morning and the weather is a little colder so we wrap up and take a stroll across the bridge and onto Bird Key. Now as mentioned previously Nana and Nandad are on a mission this time round to find a home base for IE so naturally we go check out Bird Key Yacht Club. We were introduced to the Vice Commodore,Curt , who very graciously introduced us to Alyssa - the club was closed as a whole group of very busy volunteers were putting up decorations. We made a reservation for IE to stay for the weekend so we can celebrate the Christmas Parade of lights right there at Bird Key Yacht Club which accepts our Yachting Club of America - so that will be our third club.
Afternoon bike ride to Lido Beach which is this very long stretch of beautiful white sand. Posted as you come onto the beach is the sign explaining the Florida Red tide which has sadly had a terrible effect on Florida’s fish, Manatee,Dolphin and tourist industry. Nandad is well wrapped up due to the wind but a wonderful stroll was well worth it. Lunch at Cafe L’ Europe was simply delicious which is another historical building related to the Ringling family. The picture beside it is taken from the causeway leading from Lido Key to Longboat Key looking over at Sarasota. This is really a very beautiful area. Nana is trying to keep up with Nandad who by the way rides an electric bike!!
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