My first day in Sarasota Dad took me to a small beach called Indian Beach that is 1/3 of a mile from our comfy Airbnb. He brought the Lacrosse stick and tennis ball and I had fun.
Philip lives in Sarasota now in a nice assisted living facility. He like
s the beautiful weather and being near his ex wife Renata. Mike, Dad's brother, coordinated a visit to see Philip with a visit to see us. After sitting outside our Airbnb with an Italian soda, Mom suggested a vegan restaurant for lunch with outdoor seating for me. She was very happy that all the meat eaters said it was delicious.
Laying on the rug at Aunt Bobbi & Uncle Murray's Siesta Key condo was almost as good as laying on the couch at Elliott & Vinni's apartment. I was comfy, Dad gave me a suv and everyone noticed that I blended with the colors. We enjoyed Shabbat blessings and a delicious salmon dinner prepared by Bobbi. Mom gave me a piece of salmon that I gobbled up quickly. We all enjoyed our visit.
For our next fun visit with Lisa and Joel, Saturday morning we walked through the Sarasota farmers market at least the size of Burlington's market, maybe bigger and on closed off city streets. Mom spent a long time at the looseleaf Japanese tea stand and waited in line for sourdough bread that turned out to not be as flavorful as Yitzi's. Uncle Joel and Aunt Lisa brought us to their favorite farm stand where we bought local corn, blueberries and tomatoes in February. After the farmers market we all took a long walk in Bayfront Park where Joel goes for a sunrise walk every morning. The photos show a statue that memorializes the end of WWII. Some people object to the sailor jubilantly grabbing a nurse, but I think they both look happy about the war ending. The statue was modeled from a real life photo in the New York Times, 1945. After the walk, I sat under an outdoor cafe table while the humans ate sandwiches made inside tubes of bread made to order from the raw dough. Aunt Lisa held my leash to walk past the doorman of their condo because there is a rule that only owners may bring dogs inside the building. Joel and Lisa gave us a tour of their lovely condo overlooking the bay, but we did not stay long enough for me to explore and find a cozy rug.