Thanks so much susieq, and everyone else for all the great advice. I sometimes wonder what I would do without this forum.

I heard back from our friends, but since they are still in Spain, they can't tell us details about where they will be and when until they get back home.

I've heard the same about Mexico, but our friends live in what is suppose to be one of the few safe cities. I'd love to do Florida (gulf coast), but it would definitely be more work for me in terms of finding food and lodging. Also, there are no direct flights from here to Florida whereas we could do Mexico in one flight.

Where ever we end up, I hope to goodness it is warm at the end of March. It is so cold here, I really need the hope of some warmth to get me through the next few months :-)

If you decide to forego Sarasota you could always fly into Miami and go south to the Keys. You would be there in no time. It's a pretty laid back area and there is a wide variety of price ranges of water front gulf side house and duplex rentals.
There is much to do...Nature Conservatory's, Dolphin Research Center's, Maritime museums, State parks and beaches; I could go on and on. To be honest though, when we would take our kids we would mostly just chill on the beach. When the kids were young we were budget conscious but always splurged on a wave runner tour or boat rides. I always say that to get a true feel of Florida you must either do a boat tour or a wave runner tour. There is something about being on the water when the sun is shining. Our favorite was always the wave runner tours. Those are so much fun especially if you get a tour guide that takes you to areas of historical interest. If we went out to eat we always asked where the locals go. I wish I could remember the name of that ramshackle restaurant on the water that had a big pig in a pen in the outdoor dining room. My boys got the biggest kick out of that.
Personally I'm not big on Key West with Kids and much prefer the beginning and mid Keys.Not to say there is not a lot to do in Key West I just think of it being more of an adult party area.
Sorry if I threw an unwanted spanner in the works but if you are thinking of coming you may as well get all the ideas.

Another vote for our area, Clearwater/Tarpon Springs. Beautiful Gulf beaches, lots to do. Include a day at Busch Gardens - great for kids of all ages. Kayak down the Weeki Wachee River and see lots of wildlife, and create wonderful family memories. Boat trips from Clearwater and Tarpon Springs.
30 mins from Tampa airport.

Mexico is a big country, and yes, there are dangerous areas, but mostly those are not the resort districts. I wouldn't be put off by that, unless you know for sure that your friends live in a dangerous area or that you would need to pass through one to reach your destination.

Beagles, I am going to be in Clearwater/st Pete's for the second two weeks in April for a regatta.
I would love to have some recommendations for where to eat! (if it doesn't hijack the thread too much!) I'd also love to know about the air / water temperature since I will need to buy some sailing gear if it is still chilly.

kiki_thinking
air should be warm, water not real warm yet.
Here are our four favorite restaurants:
Island Way (Clearwater)- $12.50 happy hour (crab bisque, choice of many entres and desert- delicious!) http://www.islandwaygrill.com
Mystic Fish (Clearwater)- also $12.50 happy hour. http://www.3bestchefs.com/mystic/
Gratzzi Grill, (St. Pete)- $12.50 happy hour http://gratzzigrille.com
Frenchies on the Beach (there are a whole bunch of Frenchies locations, but this one has the best view) Casual and beachy, known for their Grouper sandwich.

Hope that helps :)

The Island Way Sunday brunch buffet is the best! There is a huge variety of foods but if you like seafood it really should not be missed!
Kelly's For Just About Anything in Dunedin does a good breakfast. Sit out back in the courtyard for Florida ambience.
There are many other good options depending on your tastes.

As far as temperatures are concerned, it can be variable in January and much warmer in April but FYI we have just returned from a lovely evening walk, it is 8pm and 72F here in North Pinellas.

Great, I appreciate the suggestions very much! Looking forward to our trip!
Thank you sis and beagles!

Thanks for the restaurant suggestions, as well. Our new condo is in Clearwater Beach, and we will definitely try these! We just went to one of the Frenchies, loved it. Also went to Bob Heilman's (had a gift cert.), very nice but old school.

We used to visit Clearwater Beach every year when my FIL was alive and lived in Dunedin. We explored a lot of the small towns on the gulf.
Caledesi Island is a must see. A State Park Island ,acessible only by boat, either the ferry run by the Park or your own, it is pristine and undeveloped with the only building being the park head quarters.It is a beautiful beach, and your kids may have fun finding living sand dollars and living conch shells. ( Since it's a park they must be returned to the water)
Honeymoon Island is also a park but bring your beach shoes, and a chair the beach is very, very rocky.My FIL loved it but we found it hard to go swimming there.
Our favorite beach anywhere( including our own Ocean City Maryland) is Clearwater Beach. Pure white sand, crystal clear water,Palm trees. Jet skis,parasailing,( I would do both on the inter coastal waterway rather than the Ocean its safer), great restaurants, you name it. As a parent I also appreciated that cars stop when you are on the curb of the cross walk. State law requires that cars stop for pedestrians and it is very well enforced and respected.
I would like to go back someday.

I'm very grateful for this information. I will be in Kessimmee for eight nights. St Petersburg is on my list for a day trip. Maybe even an overnight. Sounds like an area I would love to see. We will be so close.

Plus I'd love to visit Joe and Son's store in Tampa. Lol

Honeymoon Island is a great place to go for seashells. They also have a lovely dog beach, my favorite of the ones we've ever been to. Clearwater Beach I would definitely agree is the nicest of all the beaches for general purposes though (much nicer than St. Pete Beach IMHO).

sis3 I'm glad to hear the Island Way brunch is good. We did their christmas deal where you buy $100 of gift cards and get a free brunch so we are going to be trying the brunch soon. I'm excited for it!

Beagles, I believe the brunch is about $22 before tip and tax. It begins with your choice of champagne or mimosa. Don't miss the desserts, bananas Foster etc and coffee (or you can order regular coffee at your table) in a separate room from the rest of the brunch.
Lucky you!!

Headed to Clearwater in the morning in our rental car. Right now, it is evident my body is still of California time. I am going to pay big, early in the morning when Sandy comes calling to my room.

I'll be checking this thread for some good eats tomorrow. Glad I returned tonight to re read this thread.

Another vote for Anna Maria Island. We have been there many times (with and without our then teen kids). This island is wonderful!!!

Sarasota is quite a big city and busy!!! Two other suggestions would be Siesta Key (again, nice, small quaint area or Venice.

And while we LOVE the gulf side of Florida, we are staying this spring on Pompano Beach (near Fort Lauderdale) for 5 nights, after a cruise.

Have FUN and enjoy the FL sunshine ;)

jody

Thanks again everyone and I'm glad this thread has been helpful for others, as well.

It looks like we are going to fly into Miami and drive to Naples and either have my dd go stay with them in Miami for a couple of days or have their dd come to us.

My big problem now is figuring out how to rent a car and drive from/through Miami. Please tell me the airport is on the west side so I don't have to drive through traffic. I'm no spring chicken, but I've never rented a car in my life and hate driving in strange cities.

Any advice on where to stay in or around Naples?

Daisy, if you have an iphone, I hope you have SIRI activated. If not, you can download the voice activated GPS app for free on an ipad, or a phone not equipped with SIRI, like the standard iphone. Hopefully it will help keep you on track. I would be lost if I didn't have SIRI on my iphone.

Whoops, also want to thank everyone for the tips. I'll be taking my 3 DD's(adult kids)on a trip the first week of March, but still haven't decided *where* in FL we want to go. You may have helped. ;o)

>Please tell me the airport is on the west side so I don't have to drive through traffic.

It's more west than east and you're on the expressway right away, but I'm afraid you will have to deal with traffic. The expressways are always pretty busy down around there.

You can choose which route to take across the state. Highway 41 is more 'up close ' to the everglades. Air boat rides, Alligator farms, old type Florida attractions.

I-75 (Alligator Alley) is a straight shot across the state. few places to stop.

Hopefully, your flight is early enough that you will make either drive in daylight and before the setting sun is in your eyes.....

Fort Myers Beach (north of Naples) might have more affordable beachfront accommadations then Naples.

ML

Yes, but either way you've got some in-town expressway time at the start, at least. If I were going over the Tamiami trail (SW 8 st/highway 41), I'd take the turnpike down to 8th st. You really won't like driving on 8th further east.

I was thinking of taking my girls to Palm Beach to do a little window shopping.

When my youngest DD lived in Beverly Hills before moving to Austin, I used to tell her Rodeo Drive 'couldn't hold a candle' to Palm Beach, but it's been 35 years since my last visit, and maybe I was just young and impressionable seeing all those Rolls Royces parked at the curb.

So how has it changed today? Is it worth a visit?

Oh yes, it's still worth a visit. Worth Ave has a few shops geared more to tourists now, but still has plenty of places like Graff Diamonds. And the Church Mouse is still going strong.

But I'm not sure about how you plan to get there. It's certainly not comfortably on the way to or from Miami or the west coast. I live just north of PB county and it takes me a good four hours minimum across the state.

EDIT It's not at all like the quick scoot over to Naples from Miami/Ft Lauderdale.

This post was edited by writersblock on Tue, Jan 22, 13 at 17:08

So, another change of plans ( I think I'd better just get this thing booked already). We are going to fly into Fort Myers and try to get somewhere to stay there. Naples is proving to be very expensive. It is hard to find anywhere that is not already fully booked or super expensive (our budget is about $200 a night or $1500 for the week) even in Fort Myers or area. Many of the VRBO's in the are will only rent by the month.

Anyone have anywhere nice (and cheap) to stay in the Fort Myers area?

Daisychain, I hope i'm not interfering too much, but i'm looking for the same info, but w/older 'kids'. You've been given a lot of info.

Anyone else think Palm Beach is worth a visit for myself and 3 adult daughters? We're looking for a place that's warm for about 4 days, not counting flying time.

Any other suggestions?

Ah, sorry, patty_cakes, I was thinking you were going to the west coast and I couldn't understand how you planned to fit palm beach in. I would say that I don't think the town of Palm Beach has four days worth of stuff to do, but there's plenty around that area. Antiquing on Dixie Highway, Jupiter Island (where the big money lives now), Jupiter lighthouse and Loxahatchee river to Trapper John's, stuff like that.

Fort Myers Beach has The Pink Shell Resort, call quick, it might be booked for Spring Break.

Palm Beach also has a MacKenzie Childs (end of Worth Ave).

ML

Hi maddielee, the pink shell looked lovely, but all their rooms in our price range are sold out - the rooms we could get were way over our budget. Getting desperate, but I have found some great places to book earlier if we go back next year.

Hi maddielee, the pink shell looked lovely, but all their rooms in our price range are sold out - the rooms we could get were way over our budget. Getting desperate, but I have found some great places to book earlier if we go back next year.

Yippee! Booked flight to Fort Myers and a condo in Manasota Key. I think it will be lovely. This week has been -22 Fahrenheit and much colder with the windchill. Can't wait to be warm.

I'm just hoping that there will be enough to keep the girls busy, but it sounds like there are lots of things to do within an hours drive. Myself, I could just lie on the beach for 7 days.

Thanks to everyone for all the suggestions.

Have a wonderful vacation!

Have a wonderful vacation!

Manasota Key is a great choice! There's a nice Publix (grocery) just over the bridge in Englewood.

ML

Thanks sis3 and maddielee. Good to hear about the grocery. Because Manasota Key is a less well known destination, I'm finding it harder to get up to date info on the area. For example, we're thinking it would be nice to rent bikes for the kids, but other than a brief mention in an older review I can't seem to find any info on this. All good though - I prefer the quieter pace that it seems is found on Manasota Key.

Daisy, I'm so glad your plans are coming together. I wanted to say that I bet your girls will have a perfect time. Every summer I travel to that area with my daughter and her BFF. We've done it for 7 years now, starting when the girls were 14 and 11 YO and they LOVE going! Have never had them express boredom in any way. They: sleep, lounge, play on their computers, sleep, ride their bikes to some destination that usually includes food, shop, sleep, take a dip in the ocean or pool, watch sunsets, sleep, stroll the beach, enjoy dinners at whatever restaurants they insist we try, oh and did I mention sleep?

Anyway I hope you all have a fantastic visit, especially coming from the deep freeze to our beautifully warm and sunny Florida :).

Ann

That's so good to hear, runninginplace. We are very excited and the friend from Sarasota is going to stay with us for 2 nights, so that will give us something to look forward to, as well. Still not sure if we will actually be able to meet up with the friends from Miami, but I know we will have a good time regardless. Sleep is definitely in the cards!

I also wanted to mention that we found the condo through VRBO. We didn't have any luck sending emails to the places we were interested in, but once I started phoning and spoke to actual people who managed more than one rental, we found a few options. Just thought I'd throw that out there for others who may be looking and finding the same problem with availability that I did.

There's a convenience store on the NE corner of the main intercession on the island. They at one time had bikes for rent. Businesses change so often, I can not guarantee they still have the bikes.

Lots of restaurants in Old Englewood. Quaint area not far from the beach. A day trip up to Venice might be fun if you want to browse shops.

We spend many vacations on Manasota Key (el Galeon condos). Bring plenty of sunscreen...

ML

Our sailing group is headed to st Petersburg in April. I had found a nice hotel for my small family, but in a change of plans, the whole group (10 adults) has decided to rent a 5 bedroom beach house together. What areas are within 20 minutes drive downtown st Pete's? I've checked vrbo, not so many 5 bedrooms on there. Anybody know of other websites similar to vrbo? Or other sources to shop rentals?

Thanks so much, lots of great info in this thread!

kiki, I found our rental by calling (not emailing) one of the rental agents I found on another vrbo listing. She had a whole list of rentals in the area I wanted.

Houses right on the beach are getting harder and harder to find. When searching, add 'Pass a Grille' and 'Teira Verde' to your locations. (Waterfront might be available in Teira Verde, but a car is necessary to get to the beach).

I did a quick search, the following link was the first to come up. Not too far from beach access. Getting to the St. Pete Pier area shouldn't take too much time, depending on Bayway traffic.

ML

Here is a link that might be useful: Triplex in Pass a Grille

Thank you for the leads!

I found a place near the yacht club for our sailing group thanks to the suggestion to phone the vrbo agents and see what they have available. I am now hunting down a place for my own family for a week after the races.

I was wondering what the area around manasota key is like? Restaurants, atmosphere? Rowdy or calm? Places to eat?

If youâÂÂre looking for something like VRBO, you might try HomeAway.com

Here is a link that might be useful: HomeAway

kiki, we aren't going for another few weeks, but my research shows it to be a quiet area with no hotels only condo and home rentals. The restaurants on the island seem to be pretty small and only a few of them, but the town of Englewood sounds like a nice place with restaurants and a farmer's market and an older character district with music on the street and that sort of thing. There seems to be a park at one end of island for hiking and wildlife watching. The beaches are suppose to be good, but the seashell picking is not as good as on other islands. It is known for the shark teeth that are found in the sand.

Thank you both for the suggestions. I really appreciate them!

Daisy we aren't going until mid April, so I'd love to hear about your trip when you get back!

Kiki, we spend a lot of time on Manasota Key. A LOT of vacations. (we stay at the El Galeon Condos (bayside) so we can keep our boat right outside our rental. Getting to the beach is as simple as crossing the street.)

Fishing in the area is wonderful!!

Daisy has given you correct information, the area is more laid back and quiet then some other beach areas, great place for relaxing.

ML

maddielee, if you're still following, do you know about mosquitos this time of year? I'm wondering if we should bring bug dope with us. Might actually be cheaper to wait and buy it there since it's out of season here.

Also wondering about fishing licences if the kids want to fish off the docks? Is that allowed?

No problem if you don't know, I'm sure we can find out easily enough when we arrive. Thanks.

If your kids are under 16 they don't need a fishing license. (I don't think you need a license either if fishing from the shoreline, unless you use a boat to get to an island).

Be sure to watch for Tarpon rolling along the beach. Although you may be a few weeks early. You're sure to see Snook under the dock lights at night. If lucky, catch and release - please. :)

Every grocery or drug store carries mosquito stuff, easier to buy it here. Chances are you won't need it.

Hope you have a wonderful time!

ML

Thank you! We are booked and I am so excited! St Petersburg for 6 days in a big house with my sailing friends and their families and then 6 days on Anna Maria island with just my immediate family. I would have reserved the Manasota Key one, I really liked it, but the rental agent was a bad communicator.

On a funny note, we have decided to bring our cat. He is so tragically sad when we are away overnight that it would be comic, if it weren't so very tragically sad. He's not destructive or mad, just goes off his food and is lethargic and sometimes wails til he is hoarse. So we are driving 16 hours to Florida with our kitty in the car. When he's with us he's a perfectly content little guy. But we are going to start taking practice drives in the car.
It was surprisingly easy to find a rental that would permit him.