Siesta Key 2024 is in the books and I already want to go back! We had a wonderful week soaking up all of the warm sunshine, sand between our toys, soaking in the pool, being active, eating good food and celebrating my dad’s 70thbirthday and the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl win. The girls got some great time in with their grandparents and Uncle Chad who is “so funny” according to Brooke. All around wonderful trip that I have both photos and memories to outlast it.
We all arrived at the Tampa Airport within about 20 minutes of each other and our baggage claim was located next to each other so we were off and running as a group at about 5:30 PM EST. We had to get our giant vehicle for the week and at the request of Reese this had to be the red Jeep Wagoneer. We were on the road and headed for Siesta Key for the week where we had rented a house sandwiched between some condos we’ve stayed before, steps from the beach, and with our own private pool. The house had three bedrooms and four bathrooms and Reese was thrilled with her trundle bed located off the living room and this didn’t end up being a problem at all since she is such a deep sleeper and was crashing hard later in the week. After dropping our bags we decided to stretch our legs on a walk into town, nearly 2 miles each way, to hit the always-hopping Siesta Key Oyster Bar (SKOB). Bryan and Chad had to help a fallen old lady (a whole other story) and met us at the restaurant. At first Reese found the live music a little too loud but by the time the virgin pina colada came out for the girls she was dancing to the beat. We all had great food and then stopped by Olaf’s for ice cream before walking back to the house for the night.
Our first full day there was also Super Bowl Sunday. My parents found time to walk the beach first thing in the morning many days while a lot of us were still sleeping. We had preordered groceries for the house so that we would have things to make for breakfast, lunch and snacks and the 2nd order arrived Sunday morning. After breakfast, Reese wanted to hit the pool immediately. We were pleasantly surprised by the warmth of the pool and on this first day in particular, Reese spent several hours swimming. We were able to coerce her to leave the pool to head to the beach in the afternoon and there both girls enjoyed playing in the sand, throwing the Frisbee and playing piggy in the middle, which Reese could have played all afternoon. We headed back to the house to get ready for the big game. We made double decker nachos and buffalo and BBQ wings for the game and had some rum cocktails and beer to round it all out. Kansas City managed to seal the victory against the 49ers and all in our house were happy with the outcome. My dad definitely celebrated with a bourbon before heading to bed and the rest of us were toast by the end of the game.
Monday was my dad’s 70th birthday and a slightly windy day. Mom brought back mini donuts from the village for us all to try in the morning. I managed a short 3.5 mile run while Bryan and Reese started in the pool and then joined them upon my return. We had plans to take family photos on this night but with the wind it was postponed to Thursday. We had reservations for my dad’s birthday at the Italian restaurant Café Gabbiano in the village so we took the girls via the beach a little early to play at the beach park playground before finishing the walk into town. We had a wonderful meal of seafoods, veal and pastas. Reese loved her pasta while Brooke just loved hugging on and sitting on Grandad’s lap. We sang “happy birthday” and blew out a candle on the dessert platter. When we were ready to leave rain started to come down so we called the free Froghop trolley to come get us and had a fun ride on the trolley home.
Tuesday was the one rather cool day of the trip and although it was especially windy the weather wasn’t bad and the sun came out. However, the major bummer came when Reese got sick to her stomach starting at about 6 am. She got sick a few times over the course of the morning and I felt so bad for her and she had no energy until after she slept all morning and seemed to change course around 1 pm. While Chad and my dad played basketball, Grammy played with Brooke at the park while her sister slept on my lap. Bryan got in a long run down to the south end of Siesta Key and back. I took a very windy walk in the early afternoon and then since Reese was feeling better we took her back down to the playground for a play session with Bryan and I while Brooke finished her nap. We had a little happy hour sesh at home before we left on foot towards the south for dinner at Spearfish Grille. This place was rustic and delicious and had a great acoustic guitar playing and we had a great time here. Two in the party tried the hogback fish dinners and my mom and I each tried the hogback tacos. The girls shared some grouper bites and they were delicious. All of the fish and the flavors were delicious and the poke nachos we started with were massive and amazing as well. I was so relieved that Reese was feeling better and even managing to eat some food. And Reese got very lovey dovey with Uncle Chad which was the funniest.
Wednesday was Valentine’s Day and the day that my parents had planned to take the girls to Busch Gardens (their main Christmas gift). I thought it was very ambitious of my parents to do this but also knew the girls were going to have so much fun. Reese woke up excited and with renewed energy and none of the rest of us ended up getting whatever Reese had. We got the girls dressed, fed, and in the car around 9 am where they had a little over an hour drive to Busch Garden’s. Meanwhile, Bryan and I had the day to ourselves to do something fun for V Day. We decided to pick up rental bikes near the bridge and set out for the 18 mile trip south to Venice, FL. Per recommendations of the bike rental company we were given direction to get on the well-known Legacy Trail (a Rails to Trails path), 5 miles from Siesta Key, that led us straight into Venice. We locked up our bikes to explore Venice but didn’t find any place noteworthy to stop out so walked down to the beach along the Esplanade and back to get our bikes and continued our ride about 1.5 miles north to Nokomo’s Sunset Hut for lunch. This place was hoping and the double-decker hut only had room at the bar but being sans-kids we gladly took those seats. There was a live band outside and downstairs that we could hear and we each had a great meal which we needed to fuel our ride back.
We set back out on our bikes, this time to ride through Casey Key. We didn’t know anything about Casey Key but after biking on it for all of five minutes we made the resounding conclusion that this is where the money is. It was a scenic, peaceful, and easy ride through Casey Key. We tried to connect to Siesta Key via the manmade land bridge called Midnight Pass but private property signs deterred us so we rerouted around via the Tamiami Trail (highway) that was the worst part of the trip but we made quick speed for the last 8 miles to the house. We got back in time for Bryan to cool off in the pool, get showers in, and prep a salad while we waited for the girls, my parents, and the collection of Sarah from the Tampa airport to arrive back home with pizza’s from a place called Lucille in downtown Sarasota. The car arrived just before 7 pm and Reese caught us all up on the day, we chowed down on pizzas, sipped wine, and gave the girls their Valentine’s candy. This was a really wonderful day and treat to be able to spend as a couple.
Our last two days were wonderful days, mostly filled with swimming in the pool, playing on the beach, breaking out the paddleboard, finishing the beverages we bought, taking walks on the beach, and soaking up the last of the sunshine. Reese made so much progress in her swimming ability while we were staying at the house. Bryan enjoyed a few long paddles, one on the gulf coast and one through the canal on the south end of Casey Key. We got the bikes loaded up in the car so that my parents could enjoy the 7 mile bike road through Casey Key while I played with the girls at the playground on the Key and Bryan paddled. Chad and Sarah did some workouts, laid out, walked on the beach, and generally R&Red as best they could. We took family photos on Thursday night which was the most beautiful sunset of the whole trip.
We had another dinner out at the Island House Taproom where I had some really unique but delicious calamari and Bryan lobster tacos. Reese fell asleep throughout the entire dinner and Bryan and I got to walk back to the house via the beach, amidst the protest of a sleepy, confused Reese. We finally got to play pickleball on Friday afternoon and I can see why people enjoy it so much. After this we threw the LED light up football we got for my dad on the beach as the sun was setting and the girls were really into this as well. And then we made our last dinner at the house of grilled steak and veggies before playing some games about 1954 and the birthday boy.
Saturday was checkout day and none of us were thrilled about it. We spent the morning packing up, returning bikes, chucking the little remaining food we had, and were packed up and out of the house by 10 am. We drove into the village to shop at some of the stores and get brunch at the Another Broken Egg. We had a good brunch, though not what we remember about the original Broken Egg restaurant we used to come to all of the time decades ago. Reese was really into the shopping and by the time we were ready to head to Tampa and the airport a fog had rolled in and it started raining on our way to Tampa. We had no issues returning the car and checking in for our flight. We dropped Chad and Sarah off on the way as they were staying one more night in Tampa. We said our goodbyes to my parents in the main terminal before we went through security, got a couple of pizzas and candies to fuel us for the 6 hour flight home. Flight was smooth, Reese played games the entire time and Brooke was awake for the first half and then slept for the second half. We made it home around 10 pm, the girls needed a snack before we settled into our own beds again.
And this week is an unusual week with Reese off of school but we are finally settling into routine again but really will next week when school is back in session. It was such a wonderful trip and I do feel renewed and recharged to get through the last bit of winter!
—
Chelsea
