This article is about our three-night stay in Sarasota. The last time we saw Sarasota was at least six years ago. Back then it was a lovely quiet place with most of the action taking place on Armand Circle, a cluster of ?better? shops and restaurants and at the variety of fine museums and attractions there.

Sarasota has come a long way in a few years. Not only was there Armand Circle, but there's also a lovely downtown area about three times the size of Las Olas with tree shaded streets, a mega Whole Foods and an excellent mix of shops and cafes. The downtown shops were made for entertainment shopping, from an excellent used book store, funky higher end candles and home accessories to boutique clothing stores with clothes one would actually wear to the beach or dinner.

Fine-but-not-gourmet dining in Sarasota is excellent. Four of us enjoyed a good selection of dinner entrees and wine at the local downtown Greek restaurant for an average cost of about $20 each. We avoided the pricey Colombian restaurant on Armand Circle (Colombian friends said the prices didn't match the cuisine quality) and instead had a blast at the Caribbean themed Jamaica Jams. Good drinks, great music and enjoyable food for the more health conscious diner.

There's apparently now a strong Midwest presence in Sarasota that has livened up the place. People there actually are polite and talk with visitors without getting annoyed. There's now a cheap family style Amish restaurant, German restaurants and even an authentic Wisconsin Cheese store that has a strong following (I finally found Usinger's Bratwurst).

What about hotel value? We found it definitely better than in Key West or Naples. We wanted this to be a modest adventure so we chose an older hotel on Siesta Key. Talk about value! For about $165 a night we had a large cheerful 2-bedroom unit with a full kitchen, TV-DVD player, several pools and chairs, umbrellas and body boards we could take to the beach right across the street.

The beach was lovely, of course. The sand in that part of Florida is made of pure quartz, not coral, so it's white, soft and great for walking on. Most of the sea shells end up on Sanibel or other close keys, but the water is beautiful.

Sarasota has a beautiful bayfront part with a walking path under large shady trees and a charming Tiki-type bar plus restaurant. The Margarita's were excellent but then after two or three of them everything seemed great. An added plus were the swings and seating areas throughout the park. And we never knew this was there!

We also visited the local sailing club with friends. This is a club for real people. No super yachts or Fantasy Island sailing craft, just nice sail boats and nice people. The d'cor was similar to the downstairs of the 15th Street Fisheries, wood nautical, not fancy but a nice place to hang out with friends. Ownership of a Sunfish is enough to qualify one for membership.

Finally, we explored the residential areas. There are enough ultra-affluent residents to make scenic drives a wonderful experience. Homes there are not cookie cutter ?Flatalian? (Italy in Florida) and the architectural variety was truly visual entertainment. But Sarasota has grown. There are now neighborhoods of nice average homes as well as the more exotic beach homes. We could learn a less from the way Sarasota laid out the lovely high rise condos in the city center. Public art is peppered through the area, even along ordinary sidewalk areas. The trees and green areas definitely gave us ?green envy.? If only Fort Lauderdale would give such small but important things consideration in its rush for high rise development! The opportunities for teaching English (ESL or ESOL) over in Sarasota are growing more abundant with the rising population from Central America.

The drive to Sarasota is four hours. Be forewarned this could easily take longer if you hit either edge of rush hour. Rapid growth has exceeded the highway capacity and at 3:30 on a Thursday afternoon I75 was a parking lot from Naples on. We actually turned off to Highway 41 to make better time.

But for a lovely affordable weekend adventure, without weeks of preplanning, we definitely recommend Sarasota.

JK McCrea

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