By Theresa Derr
My family and I recently spent two weeks in Sarasota, Florida visiting my “Mammaw,” who is my grandmother and my mother’s mom. One of the coolest things about my grandparents is that they move frequently by renting homes near different beaches.
This trip was so fun. My parents, four siblings, and I drove about 16 hours (it was a really long drive) but my family broke up the drive to parts of three days.
The first day of travel we stopped at Mount Airy, a city in North Carolina. We explored as much as we could when we got there. The town was beautiful, and we enjoyed eating snacks and relaxing in the hotel prior to resuming our trip.
Our second travel day took us to Brunswick, Georgia. We walked around Brunswick, which was celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. I was surprised to learn Georgia celebrates St. Patrick’s Day similarly to Pittsburgh. There were many festivals and shops that were celebrating.
On the third day, we finally made it to Florida. We drove directly to my grandparents’ house, where we would spend the rest of the vacation. It was hot but not humid like Pittsburgh weather. It was sunny, breezy, and fun to be outside. We used my grandparents’ pool, which is an inground pool on their patio. A lot of Florida residents have pools behind their homes due to the gorgeous weather, even if they live near a beach.
The same day we arrived, we went to one of the nicest beaches in the country: Florida’s Siesta Key beach. The beach was amazing. The water was a crystal clear blue and the sand felt like flour on my feet. It was nicer than any beach in the United States, and I’ve been to the beaches in the Carolinas and other Florida beaches.
A trip to Florida normally means a lot of beach time, and my family spent most of the week at different beaches within driving distance to my grandparents’ house. We went to beaches in Lido and Venice. Both were amazing. Venice Beach is known for its shark teeth. We found a bunch in between rocks and in the ocean along the beach.
Venice Beach also had a pier that was attached to a beachfront restaurant. We ate there after our beach day. We repeated the pattern each day. We enjoyed the beach during the day and stayed until sunset. The way the sun makes the sky and water look is something that is indescribable. The bright colors, the smell of salt, the soft breeze are sights and feelings I will never forget.
Our second week of vacation was all about exploring. We walked to a local park that had a really fun bike trail that was very scenic. My sisters and I went on the bike trail for about an hour before we stopped at a lake where we saw turtles, lizards, and a bunch of fish.
In addition to the beaches and parks, we ate at so many amazing restaurants. A vacation requires good food, and we had meal after meal of deliciousness. All of the food was high quality. We had seafood such as crab, shrimp, clams, and scallops. Seafood tastes better when it is fresh.
One day, we went to the Boardwalk at John’s Pass, in Madeira Beach.
There were so many fun beach shops where we looked at really cool shark teeth that divers found. We also looked at businesses that make different styles of art and decor. While we were there, we stopped at a taffy shop that had over 100 flavors of taffy on the wall. I came home with a banana, cotton candy, bubblegum, strawberry and more.
All good things must come to an end, and we had to leave to return home to Pittsburgh. As much as I loved Florida, I missed my dog, and was excited to come home.
We returned home with memories that will last a lifetime (or until I can return to make more.)
