Ultimate Insider's Guide

Best beaches, restaurants, art, kids' stuff and more. Best beaches, restaurants, art, kids' stuff and more.

In this issue:

Arts & Entertainment

The Artists' Way

The Artists Who Made Sarasota Famous

For decades, visual artists have lived, worked and dreamed in Sarasota. The legacy they’ve left us is irreplaceable.

12/02/2019 By Kay Kipling

Cat Fight

The Story of the Florida Panther Is Worth Telling

Journalist and author Craig Pittman writes about the big cat's survival in his new book.

12/02/2019

Chukka, Chukka

You Can Watch the Ponies and Stomp the Divots at the Sarasota Polo Club

James Wrigley Miller has put more than $2 million in improvements into the club so far.

12/02/2019 By Susan Burns

Horse Whisperers

These Three Pros Help Horses Perform Their Best

Yes, even horses need therapists.

12/02/2019 By Hannah Wallace, Kay Kipling, and Cooper Levey-Baker

Pony Up

It Takes a Pile of Money to Compete in High-Level Equestrianism

Equestrian pursuits are known as the “sport of kings” for a reason.

12/02/2019 By Hanna Powers

A New Day for the Arts

Sarasota Art Museum Opens Its Doors to the Public

The Sarasota Art Museum opens its doors to the future in buildings reimagined from the past.

12/02/2019 By Kay Kipling

Freeze Frame

Feld Entertainment Brings Jurassic Park to a New Live Show

Feld created an original script, then assembled 300 workers to create dinosaurs and sets.

12/02/2019 By Susan Burns

Best of Sarasota

Insider's Guide

The Ultimate Guide to What to Eat, See, Do and Enjoy in Sarasota and Beyond

There’s always something new for you to experience. Let us be your guide to the fun.

12/04/2019 By Ilene Denton

Horse Power

Sarasota-Manatee Is Becoming a Destination for the Equestrian Set

Florida is big horse country.

12/02/2019 By Susan Burns, Hanna Powers, Hannah Wallace, Cooper Levey-Baker, and Kay Kipling

Eat & Drink

Coffee Klatch

What's Brewing at Burns Court's Project Coffee?

The new café has embarked on a social experiment.

12/02/2019 By Isaac Eger

Fashion & Shopping

The Great Outdoors

Update Your Outdoor Living Area With These Chic Finds

December is one of the best months to be outside in Florida.

12/02/2019 By Megan McDonald

Home & Real Estate

What Your Money Can Buy

What $2.7 Million Will Buy You on Holmes Beach

A home with a kitchen Martha Stewart loved; plus, other homes in Indian Beach Sapphire Shores and Palmer Ranch.

12/02/2019 By Ilene Denton

Botanical Gems

Unusual Trees and Plants are The Ringling’s Other Works of Art

Workshops and guided garden tours throughout the season give museum-goers a greater understanding of the botanical gems in the collection.

12/02/2019 By Ilene Denton

Beach Style

How to Get the Coastal Cottage Look

Tips from the designer who literally wrote the book.

12/02/2019 Photography by Ilene Denton

News & City Life

Mr. Chatterbox

Mr. Chatterbox, Influencer for the Elderly

You've got to see it to believe it.

12/06/2019 By Robert Plunket

How High Can You Jump?

Debbie Stephens Can Jump Higher Than Any Other Female Horse Rider

For the last 37 years, Stephens, now 69, has held onto the outdoor Ladies’ High Jump record.

12/02/2019 By Hanna Powers

Gossip Girls

The Life and Times of a Sarasota Mermaid

It turns out that Sarasota, like the rest of Florida, has a thriving “mermaiding” culture.

12/02/2019 By Sarafina Murphy-Gibson

Müv-ing Up

A Retired Lakewood Ranch Executive Is a Major Player in the Smoking-Hot Cannabis Industry

“We’re real pioneers,” Michael Smullen says, “but we’re just scratching the surface of what this could really look like.”

12/02/2019 By Cooper Levey-Baker

Flashback

Flashback: Fishermen at The Bay Island Hotel

The three-story, 65-room hotel on the north end of Siesta Key welcomed visitors from 1912 all the way up to the early 1950s.

12/02/2019 By Ilene Denton

Horse Power

Fox Lea Farm Is Bringing in Riders, Horses and Dollars

The 46-acre farm hosts 42 events every year.

12/02/2019 By Susan Burns

What a Ball

Competitive 'Joggler' Barak Hirschowitz Juggles and Runs, Mostly for Joy

"I like to feel like I’m getting people in a better mood,” he says. “I’m just having fun.”

12/02/2019 By Susan Burns

From the Editor

From the Editor: A Very Good Year

We know there are plenty of reasons to feel despondent, anxious and irritated. But you’re in a place that people all over the country admire and aspire to.

12/02/2019 By Susan Burns

Travel & Outdoors

Shade-y Spot

Only in Sarasota: The Shrine to Lost Sunglasses

A rusty chain-link barrier held a row of sunglasses—perhaps washed ashore by the waves and assembled by an artistic beachgoer

12/03/2019 Illustrations by John Pirman

Plant This

A Venice Beautification Project Helps Fight Climate Change

When completed, the new Venice Urban Forest will cover nearly 1.8 miles and provide shelter for insects, birds and other animals.

12/02/2019 By Cooper Levey-Baker

Fine Feathered Friends

The Sarasota Audubon Society Prepares For Its Annual Christmas Bird Count

Sarasota is known for some of the best bird watching in Florida.

12/02/2019 By Sarafina Murphy-Gibson