Friday Favorites: Sarasota Highlights

Friday Favorites is extra special this week because today is our official move to Florida date. There were many uncertainties, but with one van load and one truck load we drove about 8 hours to our house closing! Though nothing felt real, we loaded back up with keys to our new home in hand. Awaiting our arrival was a sweet welcome in the form of a stocked fridge, a hot meal and a made up air mattress for Glen and I.

Those first few months were a blur. A lot of tears were shed, but God faithfully provided comfort, direction and blessings along the way. So all that being said, I want to highlight some of our Sarasota favorites to celebrate. Again this is in no way a comprehensive list! I plan to write a travel style post for this gorgeous town. In the meantime I invite you to share in on some of family favorites to visit and bring our out of town guests to!

Sarasota BayFront

We love strolling around the marina. Only minutes from our home, we occasionally frequent the marina in the evenings to catch the sunset.

The Beaches

 There's a lot of nearby beaches lining the Gulf of Mexico to choose from! In fact, we still have more to explore but at this point our favorites are Shark Tooth Beach, South Lido and the North Jetty beach which is in Nokomis.

Beautiful Sunsets

Kids at Play

 Fishing - South Lido

 Swimming - The North Jetty

Downtown & The Markets
There's a lot of markets in and around Sarasota. Every Saturday is the Sarasota Farmer's Market, which is in the middle of downtown.  There's produce, potted plants, handcrafted jewelry, the "best guacamole in the world" and the list goes on! Winter is tourist season here so there's more vendors, but I say any weekend is fabulous!

Sarasota Jungle Gardens
Here you find birds, reptiles, gardens (of course!) and more. Walking around this attraction makes you feel like you're in a movie or in the jungle - ha! Our favorite spot is where you feed the flamingos and ibis birds!

Selby Gardens
If you love beautiful landscapes, Selby is a must do. The banyan trees are incredible there, giving you an other worldly experience. The children's imagination are free to run wild while adults are free to unwind.

Mote Marine Aquarium 
We bought a year membership to Mote in the first few weeks because our whole family enjoys seeing wildlife and sea life. The aquarium has manatees, sea turtles and even sharks. Of course there's lots of other species of fish and there's even some gators and otters to observe. The only dolphins I saw are painted on in the gorgeous mural!

The Mangrove Tunnels
We've added this to our date adventures and is a must for the outdoor explorer!

State Parks
During the late fall and winter months, we leave the beaches and head to the parks. There's certainly plenty to choose from!

Alright my friends, I hope I've tempted you to visit this small but interesting town! Until then, I close with a big THANK YOU and some giveaway fun!  Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your support over the last year.

The Final Giveaways!

In leading up to this special day, I've hosted a few giveaways with Simply Earth Essential Oils and Smile Brilliant. Now this week on the blog and on Instagram I'm hosting a giveaway for a beautiful Jord Watch e-card and a few of my favorite brands!

JORD Watch: Enter for a $100 gift credit towards any purchase in their shop!

Enter HERE

Instagram Giveaway: SUPERSEED Life, Happy Healthy Co & Wild Little Lemon. Hop on over to Instagram to enter this amazing giveaway!

Enter HERE