Temperatures are coming down for a few days...The local TV station says "winter is returning this weekend." Temperatures will be in the low sixties...Br-r-r-r-r...HA! That will be a little reprieve for Sparky from the heat. (Oh, good grief, woman! She's never happy with the weather. Either it's too hot or too sunny or too humid! says an exasperated Eldy.)
What did we do today? Eldy explored a little bit this afternoon. He checked out downtown Sarasota, and from his explorations and a tip from a gal in the park, we headed back there for an early bird supper at Barnacle Bill's Seafood Restaurant in downtown Sarasota. Don't you just love the names of Florida restaurants? Barnacle Bill's has been voted the #1 seafood restaurant TWELVE YEARS IN A ROW for Sarasota. What did we have? Steaks! They have an early bird special from 4:00 PM to 5:15, a choice from a BUNCH of entrees plus soup OR a salad for 11.99. Their steaks were 8 ounce New York strips.. with the most delicious mashed potatoes and plenty of them.
The salad was the beautiful spring greens and argula. Everything was delicious! Even though it's not on the water, it's a wonderful place to eat, and you can watch the passersby out the windows. After supper, we walked around a bit and looked at the cute shops...And Sparky looked at the cool things on the ground... Since Sparky's horoscope sign is the CRAB, she loves this.....
Little boutiques, little restaurants with outdoor cafes, lots of art around town, lots to look at....
Sparky loved the Tube Dude and the story behind him.....Scott Gerber, a former yacht builder who got hit hard in the recession of 2008, decided to build a smiley stick guy out of metal tubing and installed it on his dock. People started getting out of their cars to have their photo taken with the "stick man". He made a few more with little signs on them like "SMILE" and "BE NICE" and placed them around his hometown of Sarasota. Sparky has seen a few of these in other southern states in her travels and darned if the gallery isn't right here in downtown Sarasota!
Tube Dudes are whimsical, handcrafted metal art sculptures made to order, are 6 feet tall, and made with quality marine grade aluminum and powder coated twice. They even have UV protection on them! You can get anything you want--cowboys, hairdressers, dancers, mailboxes, pets..you name it, they'll make it. They weigh about 20 pounds. You can choose your colors and they come with a 10 year guarantee on the coating, and a lifetime guarantee on the tubing. This place makes you smile!
Until next time.....
We saw tube dudes in Saco,Maine at the KOA....how neat to find out how and where the originated!
ReplyDeleteHave a great week-end.
Just more and more to see in Sarasota, interesting sights, thanks for the tour.
ReplyDeleteYou are making me want to spend some time in Sarasota.
ReplyDeleteThose cottages are darling. But $12 a piece doesn't sound much like what I call an early bird special. Sounds like you enjoyed it and that's what counts.
ReplyDelete“Let’s go to a Seafood Restaurant!”
ReplyDelete“Okay, what do you want to eat?”
“Steaks!”
Made me chuckle a bit. :P
The Tube Dude looks awesome. I wonder if they’re open to making neon tube versions of it. It might look good as a restaurant sign at night.
Danny Riddell