Bye Bye Sarasota and Ocean Blues

We're kind of sad to be leaving Sun 'n' Fun...It WAS really, really fun! We heard more great entertainment poolside in two and a half weeks than we have heard all year. The singing, guitar and vocals that were provided were, for the most part, top notch entertainment. Sparky exercised almost daily swimming laps at the fabulous indoor pool....

Eldo  was on bikini patrol at the outdoor pool--lucky for him it was spring break spread out for about three weeks this month! We rode our bikes all over the park daily.....You can ride miles inside the park and not have to worry about going outside and getting into traffic or riding those scary bike lanes that are right smack in the middle of vehicular traffic. We played a little pickleball, whetting our appetite for more games in the future and more involvement in the sport. We each have tricky things we have to watch--Eldo has knees that complain now and then, Sparky has an Achilles heel that acts up without proper stretching and care. Sparky is starting to have to admit that you can injure yourself VERY easily without hardly doing anything as she gets older. She is currently nursing a very painful shoulder after tugging and pulling on a very heavy kayak bag in the car out of her reach. Must have pulled a muscle or something...it really hurts.

We found a great little farmstand right down the road, less than half a mile where they have fresh squeezed orange juice, grapefruit juice and grapefruits and loads of other fruits and veggies for very reasonable prices. We stocked up and froze some fresh squeezed o.j. for later down the road.....

Sparky found a great place to get a haircut, very reasonably priced...at the Supercuts studio, on Lockridge Road in Sarasota. Then, for a special treat, she got a deluxe facial at the spa inside the park from Melanie Russin, grew up in South Bend, IN, Sparky's old hometown!...They offer massages and all kinds of facials and skin care there. What a small world it is, even though we travel all over the country!

The park has cleared out, and we're clearing out, too, first thing in the morning...But first, one more trip to Ocean Blues, where we got our mojo on, our last night in town. David Smash, a terrific young guitarist, has got a regular gig on Monday nights there. The kid is a whiz guitarist, he is something else! We were hoping to see Steve Arvey play with David, Steve has kind of taken David under his wing and is mentoring him, we understand. Steve was off recording a new song he wrote to be played at the Tampa Bay Rays ball game on the Jumbotron the next night. Steve helped David get some backup players for a band tonight. The guys had never played with David, so it was interesting to see them all interact and communicate with each other, having never practiced before tonight. They did a fantastic job and once again, David rocked Ocean Blues. We ate pizza there tonight at the Club, and it was terrific! What a great place....If you are in Sarasota, check out the entertainment at Ocean Blues and have some great food while you are at it!

It's time to say goodbye to everything here that we love so much--the terrific beaches, Woody's River Roo bar and grill, the great music and activities at Sun 'n' Fun and the great blues bar Ocean Blues in downtown Sarasota. We're coming back next December to spend more time here....It's a whole lotta fun!