April 5-9, 2006 :: Sarasota, FL

Gulf Coast Family Fun
My younger brother, David, moved to Sarasota, FL back in Feb (2006) for an FMP rotation with GE (yes we all work for GE... :).  Although he found it challenging to get people to come visit him when he lived in Louisville, KY, the family jumped at the chance to come down to Florida...I wonder why... ;-)  Before he even moved, Mom, Bill, and I all planned to meet up down there the weekend before Easter for our now annual spring family vacation.  Ready for the warmth, ocean vista, and change of scenery for a few days, I hopped in the car on Wed (4/5/06) afternoon and away I went!

4/5 :: A Long Drive Well Worth It
Having lived right off of one of the exits for I-75 for the past two years, I've come to appreciate how many places this interstate highway is connected to!  I can drive just over 400 miles to the north and end up at a friend's apartment in Cincinnati, OH, or I can drive just over 500 miles to the south and end up at David's front door in Florida.  The way I see it, one morning or afternoon in the car will deliver me to one of the extremities of the United States of America!  Not bad when you think about it!  I started my trip just before 1:00pm destined to arrive around 8:00pm.  Mom and Bill arrived not too much earlier in the afternoon, and David didn't get out of work until 6:00pm anyway, so I wasn't too late for the party.  When I did arrive, Dave had a glass of port, my favorite wine!, waiting for me to relax with.  It was all hugs and kisses hello, happy faces, a toss or two of the bottle, and out the door for some dinner.  We didn't do anything too over the top that night, though, because Dave and I were going to work at the GE - Security office the next morning (PS...one wonderful thing about working for GE that I've found is the ability to visit friends or family almost anywhere and still go into work the next day in a GE office without anybody knowing the wiser (or caring for that matter!)...it's a great way to avoid using vacation time!).

4/7 :: A Day in the Sun
Dave and I had a pretty uneventful day at work on Thurs (4/6) with the exceptions of a site-wide power outage Thurs morning and going to meet Mom and Bill for lunch that afternoon.  On Fri (4/7), though, I had the day off to spend with Mom and Bill.  We all but drove Dave up the wall in order to get at least a half day off from work (during quarter closing no less!).  While he was at work, though, we took the time to get up late, Mom made a nice breakfast, and we all went out to the pool to read and splash around.  Soon enough it was 1:00pm, we were back inside, and Dave was home and ready to go to the beach!

Siesta Key, FL is the beach that is nearest to Dave's apartment in Sarasota.  A couple of minutes, and some interesting neighborhoods later we were laying our blankets down on the white sands taking in the view of the Gulf of Mexico.  Mom (seen in picture with me on the left) had to document almost every moment of it with her camera (she's quite the shutterbug!), but in no time at all I was reading "Wicked" (Maguire, 1995) and getting a sweet tan!

My friend Liz (in picture on right) just so happened to be at her parent's house in Ft. Myers, FL that week.  We've been friends since nursery school and grew up together so it was very exciting to be able to see her here, 1000 miles away from "home"!  She drove up to Sarasota and met us at Dave's place that evening.  A couple "pre-game" drinks later and we were off to what Dave and his roommate, Sudeer, referred to as "downtown Sarasota"...which really is just a strip of stores and bars :)  They took us to a place called the Gator Club which is a pretty cool two-story bar.  They had a great band playing downstairs and a lot of standing room and some pool tables upstairs.  We had a great time, actually, before playing with the statues in this little park next to where we parked the car and eventually heading home.

(Picture on left is at Gator Club. From top left to right is Sudeer, Bill, Dave and then it's me and Mom on bottom)

4/8 :: A Relaxing Day in the Sunshine State
Now for anyone who's spent some time in Florida, you quickly realize why it's referred to as the Sunshine State.  The sun is just about always shining there (except for at night ;-)!  I was glad that we spent almost all day Fri in it, but as you can see in the pictures above, Mom, Bill and I got a little cooked, so I was also grateful that it was a bit cloudy on Sat and that we spent some time inside just vegging!  Mom and I took a long walk around Dave's complex (which is really pretty!) before we ventured off to find some good Italian food in the area.  We happened upon a little place called Marie's Kitchen.  This restaurant is amazing!  A must do if you're in the area!  Marie, the owner, greeted us and walked us through the menu and wine list.  She and Dave discussed the wines in great length and she even brought over several samples to help us make a decision.  It was nice to be treated so special!  We didn't end up going out again after dinner that night.  I mostly just wanted to rest up and get ready for my long drive again the next day.  Sarasota is not known for it's wild night life anyway, so nobody really objected to following suit on that one.

4/9 :: Return to the ATL
On Sunday we got up, went to brunch at this cool little diner on the beach back at Siesta Key, and returned to Dave's place in time for me to gather my things and head out.  Thanks to the seemingly never ending road work on I-75 north, the trip took a whole extra hour longer than it should have.  As the Atlanta sky line came into view, however, a huge grin came over my face.  I was home again...another adventure down...and best of all I got 5 days with my family!  Three cheers for good times!

M@