Wednesday, Mar 6, 2013, "Deep Hole" at Myakka River, FL

It rained early this morning in Myakka State Park, FL, but cleared up by around 7. Went early to register with the Park Rangers for a wilderness pass for today (It's needed to make the trek out to Deep Hole - only 30 passes are issued each day.) Walked the nature path ending at the canopy walk. Since it was still early (and mid-week) we had the trail, canopy walk and observation tower to ourselves.

76 feet up in the tower we were well above the trees and we could really feel the wind. My guess is it was at least 40 mph. The tower swayed but there was a sign that said it was designed to so I guess it was all good.

After breakfast, we walked along the Myakka River. We saw 8 to 10 gators and lots of birds. I might have seen some wild hogs, but not sure. I think Sam got the attention of the gators who thought he might be lunch.

After lunch, we used our wilderness pass to hike to the "Deep Hole". It was a sinkhole connected to the lower Myakka Lake that is a little more than 200 feet deep. Never seen so many alligators in one place along with thousands of white pelicans, herons, egrets and vultures. We walked a total of 9 miles today so maybe we can take it easy tomorrow.  

Found you can zoom in on Deep Hole using Google Earth and actually see the alligators from space! Wrapped up the day listening to rangers and park volunteers telling "Florida" stories at the log pavilion built by the CCC in the 1930s.

Tuesday, Mar 5, 2013, Racoon at E. G. Simmons, Myakka River State Park, FL

As we took one last drive around E. G. Simmons County Park, Tampa, FL, we saw the raccoon who owns the park getting a drink. I thought they were nocturnal, but we saw raccoons a lot during the day here.

What!  No dogs

Something about this trailer really appealed to Joani

These were our neighbors Lu and John from Michigan. They gave us some good tips on places to visit and treated us to an excellent lunch at Popi's in Ruskin, FL.

Said goodbye to E.G. Simmons and moved to Myakka State Park, FL, (51.6 miles/1233.8 mi. total). Excellent site (68) in the new campground. Across from the nicest bathhouse we have ever seen. We have a large pull-through site with full hook-ups. Took a driving tour of the park. We saw a lot here to keep us busy during our stay. Went to the bird walk to watch the sunset. Clear skies meant no drama for the pictures but it was very pretty.

Sunday, Mar 3, 2013, Gasparilla Festival of the Arts, Tampa, FL

Back into Tampa, FL, today for the 43rd annual Gasparilla Festival of the Arts at the Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park. Even though it was cool and breezy there were probably 50,000 people there and more artists than we have ever seen in one place before. Lots of excellent artwork and some very unique stuff. Sam got to walk around and he received a lot of attention.

Friday, Mar 1, 2013, Sarasota and Siesta Beach, FL

Drove around the art colony in Bradenton, FL, but we must have been too early - it was only 10:00 and it appeared nobody was up and open yet. Continued south through Bradenton to Sarasota. When we got to Sarasota we stopped at Centennial Park which did not allow pets - not a good start. Stopped at the information center and were overwhelmed with the possibilities. Decided we would visit St. Armand's circle. It was very nice.  

Shopping around St. Armand's Circle, Sarasota

St. Armand's Circle, Sarasota

This was the floor in one of the shops.

After walking around the shops we stopped at a park that was dog-friendly. It had a nice walkway, interesting trees, fountains and a view of some really big boats.

Looking out at Golden Gate Point from Sarasota Bayfront Park

This poor fellow had the hardest time swallowing this fish.

He had to bring it back up 3 times before he had success.

We watched a Man Versus Food episode that featured a few Sarasota restaurants. We went to Munchies 420 only to find they don't open until 4:20 in the afternoon. We decided we could spend a few hours at Siesta Beach. It was billed as America's #1 beach and we could believe it after seeing it. Even cool and windy on a Friday, there were a lot of people there for the miles of beautiful white sand. The gulls were so used to people they would hover in the wind only a few feet from you. We hiked a few miles and took a few hundred pictures.  

We got back to Munchies at 4:22 to be their first customers for the day. We split a "Fat Sandy." Two cheeseburgers with chicken fingers, onion rings, cheese sticks and fries chopped up on it and then covered with mac-n-cheese. It was a sloppy mess and it was great.