The Best Historic Getaways

Stay and play in Florida's Old World hotels. Stay and play in Florida's Old World hotels. Plus, this year's Top Doctors and more.

In this issue:

Arts & Entertainment

Essential Intelligence

USRowing Nationals Returns to Sarasota

Fifteen hundred elite high school rowers from across the country will descend on Nathan Benderson Park this month.

05/30/2019 By Ilene Denton

Mic Check

How Siesta Key's Brandon Gomes Turned a MTV Reality Show Into a Smart Business Move

“I’ve been doing music since before the show came my way,” says Gomes. “Once MTV realized people were interested in my music career, the transition was natural.”

05/30/2019 By Giulia Heyward

Sounds of Summer

There’s Something New at This Year’s Long-Running Sarasota Music Festival

The 55th annual festival runs June 6-22, with a kickoff concert on June 1.

05/22/2019 By Kay Kipling

Best of Sarasota

Grand Getaways

Grand Florida Hotels

Indulge at Florida's finest historic hotels.

05/27/2019

Eat & Drink

Review

Umbrellas 1296 Delivers Affordable Eats in a Fashionable Downtown Space

The restaurant's menu covers the globe.

05/30/2019 By Cooper Levey-Baker

Hot Chicken

Daily Bird Specializes in Ultra-Crunchy Fried Poultry

The restaurant serves sandwiches with either grilled or fried chicken; three- and five-piece fried baskets; a salad and even poutine.

05/30/2019 By Cooper Levey-Baker

One of a Kind

Here's What Makes the Piada, an Italian Street Food, So Special

Chef Sara Valeri and her husband, Ken Doyle, opened Piada Mania in a small south Sarasota space last year.

05/30/2019 By Cooper Levey-Baker

Fashion & Shopping

Travel Time

Planning a Vacation? Let These Pieces Do the Heavy Lifting

These four finds will take you from plane to pool—and beyond.

05/30/2019 By Megan McDonald

Home & Real Estate

What Your Money Can Buy

What $580,000 Can Buy in Bradenton

Plus, homes in Venice and Oyster Bay.

05/30/2019

Dig In

Plant Some Seeds at One of Sarasota’s Eight Community Gardens

Community gardening is a lesson in both people and plants.

05/30/2019 By Giulia Heyward

Going Modern

How to Rescue an Out-of-Date Home

Sarasota has a glut of over-embellished, vaguely Tuscan-style homes from the building boom that took place before the Great Recession.

05/27/2019 By Robert Plunket

News & City Life

Only in Sarasota

Only in Sarasota: Unconditional Surrender

Rather than tourists posing in front of the enormous couple kissing, this seagull decided to take in the sights for a change.

05/30/2019 Illustrations by John Pirman

Mr. Chatterbox

Mr. Chatterbox Reports on the End of the World

Is Mr. C the only one who is seriously getting worried that the world might end, like real soon?

05/30/2019 By Robert Plunket

What I've Learned

Malcolm Lazin’s Varied Career Is Grounded in Social Justice

Lazin, 75, remains active, including as president of Siesta Key’s Gulf & Bay Club condo association, where he lives part of the year.

05/30/2019 By David Hackett

Bright Spot

Florida Power & Light Is Building the World’s Largest Solar-Powered Battery in Manatee County

What does that mean for consumers?

05/30/2019 By Cooper Levey-Baker

History

Flashback: Sarasota's Sun Debs

Starting in 1949, young, single women in Sarasota (14-24) could be selected to pose for photographs the city used to tout its beaches, both locally and nationally.

05/30/2019 By Kay Kipling

Travel & Outdoors

Lost World

Remnants of Ancient Civilizations Are Still Around Us, But They’re Vanishing Fast

There are 319 officially recognized archaeological sites in Sarasota County, and 66 of them are likely to contain human remains.

05/30/2019 By Brad Edmonson

Summertime and the Living is Easy

Five Reasons to Love Sarasota Summers

Yes, it's hot—but the crowds have waned, too.

05/30/2019 By Staff

And They're Off!

Free One-Mile Beach Runs Begin This Month

Hundreds of families turn out for the free weekly one-mile fun runs.

05/30/2019 By Ilene Denton

Grand Hotels

The Don CeSar Recalls a Romantic Era

The "Pink Palace" is a wedding cake of a resort hotel that has towered over St. Petersburg Beach since 1928.

05/27/2019 By Ilene Denton

Grand Hotels

The Breakers Is a Gilded Age Retreat

Real estate tycoon Henry Flagler named the hotel The Breakers because his hotel guests kept requesting rooms “by the breakers”—the place where the Atlantic breaks on the shoreline.

05/27/2019 By Megan McDonald

Grand Hotels

Luxury and History Collide at Boca Raton Resort & Club

The hotel’s architecture was inspired by a Spanish convent built in the 11th century.

05/27/2019 By Cooper Levey-Baker

Grand Hotels

Step Back in Time for a Luxurious Stay in America’s Oldest City

At five stories, 138 rooms and 14 suites, Casa Monica is beautiful.

05/27/2019 By Susan Burns

Grand Hotels

The Biltmore Offers Historic Mediterranean Flavor and Renovated Luxury

The historic hotel was built in a mix of Italian, Moorish and Spanish styles by developer and Coral Gables founder George Merrick in 1926.

05/27/2019 By Kay Kipling