Sunny Sarasota: Beautiful beaches, city life, and food options

(SARASOTA, FL.) — In 2020, I was at a crossroads in my career.

In the span of two months, I interviewed for TV anchor and reporter jobs at stations from the Northern U.S., to the Midwest, to sunny Sarasota, Florida.

Let’s go back even another 2 years, to spring 2018. I was a senior in college and finishing up my undergraduate degree in Broadcast Journalism. I was interviewing and applying left and right, getting a lot of “no,” “maybe so,” and “not right now” emails.

If you asked me during that time what my top markets were that I REALLY wanted to work in, here’s how I would have responded:

1: Sarasota, Florida

2: Colorado Springs, Colorado

Two beautiful locations, two different environments to why I wanted to live there.

But I chose to come to the station I interned at in college in Peoria, Illinois. Funny enough, the couple of days after I accepted the Peoria job, both Sarasota and Colorado Springs called wanting to interview me and offer a job. I believe life turned out how it was supposed to.

So now fast forward back to winter 2020, and I’m on a flight down to Sarasota, Florida to interview for a weekend anchor gig. It’s beautiful. It’s warm. It’s perfect. It was also late February, when the first COVID cases were appearing in the United States. The day of my interview? The first COVID case in Sarasota.

So, I did my interview as a recording in the studio that the manager would look at later, and the following day I continued my interview with the General Manager and Assistant News Director.

Three weeks later, I received the official job offer to move to Sarasota, Florida – the market of my dreams. But by then, COVID-19 was spreading quickly and there was uncertainty about lockdowns or “stay at home orders” coming soon. So, I declined.

Present day, I’ve now been in Peoria for six years, have a beautiful wife and kid, two jobs, and life is good! So when Christmas 2023 was coming up and Rachel said she didn’t want any “physical gifts,” but that she wanted to travel, I thought Sarasota would be a good place.

High Quality Beaches:

#1: Siesta Beach

It’s no secret Florida, sunshine and beaches go hand-in-hand. Sarasota is home to one of the consistently top-ranked beaches in all of America, Siesta Beach (also commonly referred to as Siesta Key).

It was the perfect mix of clouds overhead to provide some relief, and sunshine on our first beach day in Sarasota. The sands were pristine, white and soft underneath our feet. The water was chilly, as it was early March, but still fun to go out and get our feet wet.

Bennett loved the bucket of water game, we probably filled his bucket dozens of times and he just kept mixing it with the sand and letting his imagination run wild. He also loved all the seagulls around! He wanted to chase them everywhere.

It was a weekday, but the beach was not too crowded at all and we had plenty of space. Another great thing about Siesta Beach? The huge playground right outside the beach area. Bennett was a little too young to really enjoy it, but that’d be a great, more shaded area to take older kids who are tired of the heat. Plus – there’s a beach bar and grill right above.

#2: North Lido Beach

I may have to give Lido Beach my favorite beach of Sarasota, simply because the walk out to the water at Siesta Beach is pretty long. We didn’t pack too heavy, but a cooler backpack full of snacks and drinks, a beach tent, and a toddler made for a tougher walk. Lido Beach, on the other hand, was a much shorter walk, but still had the amazing soft, white sand. We had another beautiful day of sunshine, blue skies and just a little bit of clouds this time. I took Bennett out into the very shallow water, and he warmed up to it, but he still wasn’t the biggest fan.

#3: Turtle Beach

Say goodbye to the soft, white sands commonly seen across Sarasota, and say hello to the gray sand. While it was still very soft, this sand got everywhere in our tent and bags. We didn’t last long on this beach, sadly, due to an upset stomach from dinner the night before. It was also our last full day in Sarasota, which was a huge bummer!

Before I get to the food (since I just mentioned a bad dinner we had, which FYI I will not be writing about on this blog), let’s talk about Circus Park!

Parents, if you head to Sarasota with your kiddos, you gotta check out Circus Park. These expansive, circus-themed park is free to the public and has plenty of slides, jungle gyms and other activities for your kids to have a blast. Bennett loved roaring at the lion statues, running around, and sliding down the slides. There were a lot of young families there hanging out, so it’s a great place to socialize and meet new friends!

Delicious Food options:

#1: Brick’s Smoked Meats

Are you even surprised I’m starting with BBQ? I’m going to do an entire blog separately on Brick’s, so stay tuned for that! I tell you what, this was some of the best barbecue I’ve ever had. I now had TWO new favorites since coming here. 1: The brisket, and 2: the fried okra.

The ribs were also phenomenal, as were the fries, sausage and brussel sprouts. I got all of this in the “Texas Trio.”

Rachel got the happy hour nachos which were HUGE and delicious. She loved them. Also, Brick’s has an extensive kids’ menu! Which we were very impressed by. The vibe is very modern and we both loved the aesthetic with the “garage door” type windows that you can raise up to include outdoor seating right by Main Street downtown Sarasota. The wait staff was fantastic here and very kind to Bennett who can sometimes drop his crayons on the ground.

2: Cafe L’Europe | St. Armands Circle

This restaurant is magnificent. Beautiful indoor seating areas with wonderful architecture, paintings, chandeliers, statues and much more. In the back there is an additional bar area with tables that would be great for parties or events. The staff was extremely attentive and kind, we felt like royalty! The food was fantastic, too! I went with the walleye & chips, a high-quality version of the classic fish & chips meal I love.

Rachel got a quiche with chips that was delicious. The server brought a bowl of fruit for Bennett, which was very nice of him. I love the building and the area of St. Armands Circle in general. There are so many food, drink and dessert options plus a ton of shopping.

3: Hashtag Cafe

When looking for coffee shops, Rachels #1 question is “Do they have frappes?” While I’m a coffee drinker, she’s more of a, milkshake with a tiny bit of coffee gal. Which is great! I love a good frappe, too. And that’s exactly what we found at the Hashtag Cafe! The couple who own the place were awesome, we ended up talking with them for about 30 minutes after we ordered and they gave us a tour of the place. They’re expanding soon to have a full cafe! I got an iced coffee, Rachel got a frappe, and they made Bennett a tiny cup of whipped whole milk with whipped cream on top.

4: Le Macaron French Pastries

We’re back in St. Armands Circle! After walking around and eyeing the options, we came across Le Macaron. With a great array of chocolates, pastries, and macarons, obviously, we went with the gelato. It was AMAZING. I did a scoop of the Macaron Almond (which was my favorite) and a scoop of the cookie dough. The was a fantastic, light treat to enjoy on a hot day.

When you make it down to Sarasota, make sure to enjoy the beautiful downtown cityscape with plenty of shopping, hotels and restaurants along the way. That’s one of the things that makes Sarasota so beautiful to me.

Honorable mention to Ram’s Barbershop who gave me a great haircut while we were down there. I decided after a day or two the hair was too long for beach life, and made a spontaneous decision to get it snipped. They got me in right away and did a fantastic job.

If you’ve been to Sarasota and have other “favorites,” let me know on social media!