Sunset Royale Breeze

I have not kept up with my publishing on the Breeze and it is not because of a lack material. Like all things in life worth doing, some discipline is necessary to keep feeling the love. This past September we had two open dates for our Siesta Key vacation rental in 2009 and decided we needed to create a special that would fill our rental calendar until the end of April 2010. In December we had a total of 12 days available and thought if we offered a free day with a one-week stay we could possible entice former rental guests to consider a trip to Siesta Key before the Christmas and New Year holiday season arrived.

Once I completed the layout for our special page and before I published it, the reality that with a one-week minimum rental at Sunset Royale it would not matter if I offered one free day or five free days, once it was rented even for just 7 days, I would not have availability for another rental so I changed the offer to up to five free additional contiguous days if you rented within the open dates for condo 408 in December. With the publishing of this special on our website I also sent this special to previous rental guests and awoke the following morning to a request from a previous inquiry, who was not mailed the special offer, requesting to book a week in December during the available period and also taking advantage of one of the special dates available at no additional charge. With a smile on my face the dates were booked. Over the next two days I received inquiries from former rental guests who had received our special offer who were also interested in our special offer.

Oh, oh I needed a plan and quickly looked at the only other available week in 2009, which was seven days in the beginning of November. This time I had no free dates to give away and It is easy to merely provide a discount, but I wanted to again do something different, this time offering a “gourmet” meal cooked by the landlord, delivered and served on the open balcony of condo 408 and with no shame suggested the rental guest invite Nann and I to join them for dinner, but this of course was not mandatory. I responded to our inquiries from former renters who had inquired on the no longer available first offer published this special dinner. Within a few days we received an inquiry from a mother who wanted to know if her daughter would be able to smoke on the outdoor open balcony. I responded positively and made her aware of my dinner offer. We soon received a confirmation with the comment, “You making us dinner ’seals the deal’, what women would not enjoy that”!

Aerial Photo of Elysian Resort in British Columbia

What followed was a truly pleasurable visit by Gail and her daughter Harmony who manages a fishing resort in British Columbia, Canada called Elysia Resort at Quesnel Lake, which I will publish a follow up blog page on in 2010 before the resort opens for the season. Harmony gave us the unique history of Elysia along with some great stories about the fishing and events that are held at Elysia Resort. For those who have a desire for unique fishing experiences in a relaxing remote area away from the freeways, phones and daily routines that seem to overwhelm our lives, Elysia sounds like the Siesta Key of the North Country. Stay tuned for more on Elysia Resort and Quesnel Lake, but for now back to the dinner with Gail and Harmony.

My first thought was that a fresh seafood dinner would be out of the question, but nothing could have been further from the truth. Although Harmony is involved in running the fishing resort she has little time during the busy summer season to do her own fishing and many guest practice catch and release. Both Gail and Harmony felt fresh Florida fish sounded great to them. I had also promised fresh key lime pie, but had to reconsider when I could not find fresh key limes before they arrived. We chose the date and time and we were graciously welcomed to the dinner, which was to be served on the balcony at 4:00 PM.

Broken Sunset Royale Grill

At 3:15 PM I ventured down to the gas grill at Sunset Royale to prepare the heat for the fish when a problem occurred. I was attempting to light the grill with no success. A long time owner named Bob who also had planned on using the grill came out to assist when he saw me struggling with the grill. We both worked at attempting to start the grill for about 15 minutes including changing propane tanks, but with no success. Bob suggested I make a trip into the village of Siesta Key to purchase another propane tank in case one was empty and the other perhaps defective, which I did with no success. Unfortunately this was the second time in the past month that our association grill was letting me down. In October I had attempted to use it only to find a very neglected interior with peeling paint and rust, which did not make an inviting cooking source for our dinner that night.  Following my complaint the association took notice by having the grill cleaned and painted. We do have charcoal grills across the street at the park, but the weather was unusually windy and cool that day making the chances of successfully grilling a six pound mackerel on an open grill very doubtful. The fish was too large to broil in our oven and I was unwilling to fillet and lose the affect of serving a large whole fish on the balcony with steamed summer squash, fresh green beans, miniature potatoes and grilled egg plant on a platter. I know the importance that a meal is prepared properly and taste good, but presentation was heavy on my mind.

Grilled King Mackerel with steamed vegetables and grilled egg plant

I called Leslie from the Beach Place who owns the popular old Florida garden cottages next to our building and she graciously let me use their grill to prepare the over 30 inch long mackerel. I also plied her sister Pam with a good drinking bottle of red that I had been saving for a special time. I sent Nann over to Gail and Harmony’s condo with a magnum of chilled 2003 Mer SoLeil Chardonnay that was ready to drink and to inform them of the later dinner time and to share some smoked mullet dip with crackers before dinner. With the help of the Beach Place’s grill, dinner was served before long and received accolades from Gail, Harmony and Nann. My epicurean reputation intact I was able to finally relax with a glass of wine and enjoy wonderful company with our Canadian friends from British Columbia. I broke the news about no key lime pie, but served authentic fresh tiramisu, which I had picked up that morning from Paisano’s Italian bakery.

Harmony, Gail and Nann dinner served on balcony Sunset Royale condo #408

Although the dinner was late, the company was exceptional and in the wee hours of the morning Nann and I worked our way back to our condo leaving no dishes to be cleaned or kitchen to clean up for our guests. Undoubtedly the best part of owning and operating a vacation rental is the meeting of so many very nice people from all over the world. Nann and I have never experienced a renter who we would not graciously welcome back, but living vicariously in the lives of rental guests can only be outdone by sharing meals with them and sharing our life experiences and stories. Needless to say all of our guest are amazed at life on Siesta Key and looking forward to the time in their lives where they too can be living in their own paradise. Until then their visits to Siesta Key give them the realization that life on the beach is certainly in everyone’s reach and Nann and I readily admit that it’s not too shabby.

Sunset Royale from the Gulf of Mexico

Living on Siesta Key is truly like living a dream. I remember as a little kid the anticipation and excitement of going on vacation. The memories of those vacations bring nothing but the thoughts of good times and fun without a care in the world. When Nann and I first moved to Siesta Key I could not get out of mind that I was not on vacation, but actually living here full time. This is like living a dream. I can’t honestly say that we don’t have a care in the world, but to quote from Dudley Moore in the movie Arthur, “It doesn’t suck!” Even when we might have a day that was trying or  exhausting, looking out on the beach or better yet, taking a walk down the beach and watching the sunset is so very restful and you can feel the stress of the day leaving your body and the calm igniting your soul.

A comment from many of our rental guests as they prepare to leave for home and return to the daily routine of their lives is to please let them know if we ever here about a “good deal” on a condo in our building or if we ever were to sell, please call them. In many instances we find Realtor listing information and business cards that our guest left behind. We have had many rental guests who have purchased property in Sarasota and now live here or have their real estate purchase rented out until they can someday move to Florida themselves.

Sunset Royale after construction

I would be remiss if I did not make our previous rental guests and friends aware of some opportunities that presently exist. Let me also state that I am not in the business of selling real estate and I would receive no compensation in anyway if one of the following properties were purchased because of my publishing this page on the Breeze. In 2006 the Sunset Royale owners in a near unanimous decision approved and completed a building renovation at Sunset Royale of over $2,800,000 dollars. All of the plumbing and water supply in our building was completely replaced and brought up to current code requirements. All of the window and doors in our building were replaced with windows and doors that meet the building code requirement of our area of 143 MPH wind born debris. All railings and balcony surfaces were replaced, the roof was redesigned and engineered to add a mansard and dramatically change the look of our building. Structural issues were discovered and remedied during the reconstruction. The building was repainted and new landscaping planted throughout the property. Many who were familiar with Sunset Royale in the past actually thought we tore it down and rebuilt a new building, not realizing that a metamorphose actually took place with the help of willing owners.

Now comes the opportunity. For different personal reasons three members of our Sunset Royale community have found themselves in a situation where they need to sell their property. 2009 is not the greatest real estate market and Sarasota is one of those areas of the country that was hit the hardest on falling real estate values. Any one of the following properties would have sold for much more in 2005 or even 2006. When you consider that each of the owners paid an $80,000 assessment for the building improvements of 2007, I believe you will find the asking price of these condos to be of exceptional value that should prove to be an astute investment in coming years. Sunset Royale is a beachfront property and we are not creating more beachfront in the United States. Nann and I, along with other Sunset Royale owners consider this paradise, we think you will also. When purchasing real estate the three most important items to consider after the price are location, location, location. Nann and I are saddened that all three of these owners find themselves in a situation where they must sell their piece of paradise and look forward to meeting the three new owners who will join our small and unique community. The present owners of these three properties had no indication that I was writing or publishing this article until I published this blog page and sent it to all.

Condo #118 is a two bedroom fully furnished condo that faces the side street of Avenida del Mare. The Sunset Royale condo association has created a patio area in front of each first floor condo and this patio area has the additional feature of fronting on the quiet and very low traffic side street with a great view of the Gulf of Mexico. The asking price for this fully furnished condo is $399,750.00 and this is the multi-list link for this 1st floor Sunset Royale property.

Condo #318 is a third floor two bedroom condo that faces the side street of Avenida del Mare and has Gulf of Mexico views from the lanai and master bedroom of this condo. This condo has been owned by the same family over 30 years and is well maintained and fully furnished. The asking price for this fully furnished condo is $399,999 and this is the multi-list link for this 3rd floor Sunset Royale property.

Condo #314 is a third floor two bedroom beachfront condo with stunning views of Siesta Key Public Beach and the Gulf of Mexico. This newly redecorated condo has all new furnishings and decor and is turnkey ready to go. The asking price for this fully furnished turnkey condo is $575,000 and this is the multi-list link for this beachfront 3rd floor Sunset Royale property.

Sunset Royale Condo Association maintains a rental office for owners who wish to use their condo as a vacation rental. This valuable service is an extremely convenient, on-site office operated by Sunset Royale Association for the exclusive use of Sunset Royale owners. The ability to own a piece of paradise and to also create income from your property that will make paying for your property easier is of value. To be able to turn over the rental of your condominium to the Sunset Royale Association–priceless.

Siesta Key Competition

Don’t know about you, but I have always enjoyed a game of volleyball. I’m talking about participating and trying to win. Pure amateur participation and I’m talking company picnics, family get togethers or just an occasion at the park or beach. I am now 66 years old, overweight and under exercised. Have not always been 66, but for the most part, have always been overweight. Living at Siesta Key Public Beach has allowed me to entertain myself by watching amateur and professional volleyball competition that is “competition”. Lot’s of teams, sponsor supported and fun to watch in what is literally my front yard.

Recently I was handed a copy of a publication called “SpikeKey Beach“. My first thought was, ‘what is SpikeKey?’ and once I browsed through the magazine it was obvious they were talking beach volleyball, my front yard beach events that will probably completely replace my fascination with the Siesta Key Drum Circle every Sunday late afternoon and evening on Siesta Key Public Beach. Once I drilled much deeper into the publication and discovered that a much better question would have been ‘who is SpikeKey?’, even though what is SpikeKey is a proper question at this time because who is SpikeKey has made it more than them. Hope you followed this.

Megan Wallin and Kristen Batt are SpikeKey. Megan, 26 year old 6′ 3″ graduate of Cardinal Mooney High School in Sarasota and lettering in 3 sports and Michigan State University graduate on a sports scholarship  along with Kristen, 26 year old 6″ 1 ” Venice High School and University of Kentucky graduate on a sports scholarship are SpikeKey. A beach volleyball team of two young athletes who compete in AVP (Association of Volleyball Professionals) and have focused on representing the United States of America in Beach Volleyball in the 2012 Olympics. I am not sure what we can do to help SpikeKey achieve this goal for them, Siesta Key, Sarasota, Florida and the USA, but this blog page is my start.

Megan Wallin is the sister of Brett Wallin who is Sarasota Florida’s best fish monger and owner of Walt’s seafood restaurant. I would give you their website in a link, but it is still being developed and have been told that it is going to be great and I will be one of the first to know when it is ready for prime time. In the meantime you can check out Walt’s on the Sunset Royale website on our “foodie” page.  Megan gives private volleyball lessons on Siesta Key. Between their busy schedules these athletes train, practice and compete in a sport that will hopefully bring then a gold medal.

Megan giving volleyball lessons on Siesta Key

Megan and Kristen are in training and very focused on a lofty goal. Their volleyball coach is Bob Parker.  Bob has trained many AVP athletes and was selected to the United States Senior Olympics games. He has over 30 years of experience and is nationally known for his knowledge of volleyball. Their Siesta Key trainer is Vern Gambetta. Vern is recognized internationally as an expert in training and conditioning. He has worked with world-class athletes and teams across the country. Vern was the former Director of Conditioning for the Chicago White Sox and Director of Athletic Development for the New York Mets. He was also the strength & condition coach to the US Men’s World Cup team in 1998. You now know about SpikeKey and how to source more information, additionally you have been told once more on this site of Walt’s and last, but not least become a SpikeKey supporter by obtaining a free SpikeKey membership for more beach volleyball information and Siesta Key competition dates along with more SpikeKey updates. What could be better than to watch a volleyball competion with our own SpikeKey the next time you stay in favorite Siesta Key Beachfront Condo?

In June of 2008 Nann and I started to market and rent our Beachfront Penthouse Condo at Sunset Royale on Siesta Key through our own efforts. We had rented our condo through the Sunset Royale office and found it necessary to take over the marketing and rental of our special condo on our own and to no longer leave this up to others. We realized in making this decision we were now putting ourselves on the front line of obtaining inquiries, monitoring our advertising and meeting and greeting our guests. The maintaining and upkeep of our very special vacation rental was always our responsibility, but now everything became our responsibility. Advertising vacation rentals online becomes expensive and time consuming. If you do a good job in marketing and advertising you will receive numerous responses and making sure your vacation rental stands out from the many vacation rentals available on Siesta Key, Florida, not to mention the numerous other Florida Gulf Coast communities and other locations and cities in sunny Florida is an education in itself.

We knew that our website needed to be able to convey to all who visit it the special features and location of Penthouse condo #408 at Sunset Royale, but we knew nothing about setting up a website. The more we thought about what we liked and did not like about the various websites we visited and observed, the more we realized that we not only wanted to be very direct and to the point on the features of our vacation rental, but we also wanted to familiarize the unfamiliar with Siesta Key and Sarasota. This in our minds meant lots of pictures and much information to disperse in some fashion. We still knew nothing about setting up a website and we really needed to find out how to do this.

In researching how to set up your own website, having others set up your website for you and finding websites that were already setup with a template where you just needed to change the name and load your own information, we found we had learned an incredible amount about websites including the knowledge and understanding that we could not produce our own. There were so many obstacles and hurdles to overcome that what originally seemed like a simple task, became a chore and adventure that we spent way too much time on in our attempt to learn how to do this ourselves. Just when we were ready to resign ourselves to purchasing a template website that we knew would be mediocre at best, we discovered this Dayton web design firm and Ian Lawson who removed us from our cyberspace fog and brought much clarity on what was needed for us to have a website that would meet and exceed all of our wishes and allow us to manage the content going forward. Website design is truly for professionals. Not only to make it look good, but even more importantly to make it work well for us and for the visitors. We turned the entire project over to Ian.

The rest is now history and our Beachfront Penthouse Condo on Siesta Key is not only highly recognized by search engines on the Internet, but our rental guests constantly comment on how helpful and informative they find www.sunsetroyale.com to be and how much fun it is to read the “Breeze” and to be able to peek into our world on Siesta Key. Nann and I have always stated how we live vicariously in the lives of our rental guests. Today when we read the comment in our guest book that was left by our departing guest we also realized how much we change and intercede into the lives of others when they happen to pass our way at Sunset Royale on Siesta Key. We are stopped by strangers who are staying at other condos at Sunset Royale who tell us they found this location by visiting our website and even though our condo was not available they were able to obtain another condo in our building and how much they love their new found get-away on Siesta Key.

It is now just over one year since our new website was published on June 16th of 2008 and through a program called Google Analytics that we found out about from our web designer Ian Lawson, we thought we would share these rather astounding numbers with you. You can see how many guests we have had stay at our condo by reading our testimonial page on our Sunset Royale website, but here are the actual numbers of website visitors along with the total number of visits and the countries and cities that have landed on www.sunsetroyale.com. In one year from June 16, 2008 through June 15, 2009 we have had 6,950 unique visitors from 2,278 cities in 70 countries from Anguilla to Vietnam visit our website a total of 9,629 times and viewed 31,066 pages. We’re impressed! Thanks to all of you.

Siesta Key Beach at Sunset Royale

There is no debate that the new wave in beach vacations is to rent a condo, home or beach cabin and to avoid the motel, hotel or rental room. The new sourcing of vacation rentals over the Internet without using a rental agent leaves the neophyte vacationer in a bit of a landmine area when it comes to rental terms that the travel agent of the past would have quickly cut to the quick and plucked from the jungle of options the perfect accommodation for your rental destination of choice. Understanding that you are in unfamiliar territory is your first salvation. Caveat Emptor is undoubtedly the best awareness that you should venture forth with in making your choice of the best accommodation for your piece of sand in paradise to rent for your beach vacation. It is very important that you approach this with no preconceived ideas of where you “have” to be. This will help to remove the landmines.

Now with a clear mind and strong desire to find the absolute best accommodation for your holiday, let’s agree that we need to separate the physical accommodation requirements from the physical location requirements. Trust me on this, it will all come together and make sense when we get to the end of this tutorial. Starting with the physical location of the accommodation let’s take a hard look at the terms that you will need to become familiar with when finding your ideal spot in paradise. Let’s also agree that your preconceived idea, before we agreed to enter this with a clear mind, was to open the door of your accommodation and walk onto the powder white soft sand of the beach and to walk in the surf of the shore line within a  few minutes. Ahhh Paradise! Surely you would have felt this property would then need to be called beachfront. Let’s examine this.

Beachfront

The word itself fully describes what this property will give you, but few would agree on the expectation versus the reality or more importantly, how important this term is to your special place in Paradise. Beachfront very simply defined means that the front of the property gives you a beachfront location, period. The dictionary defines this word as a noun meaning, “A strip of land facing or running along a beach.” The dictionary will also define this word as an adjective meaning, “Situated along or having direct access to a beach: beachfront hotels; beachfront property.” What you are not reading in the above information, but what goes without saying is that beachfront does not mean on the beach nor beach view. Your accommodation could be at the rear of a beachfront property. I am sure you are finding the reality of this interesting, but let’s continue.

Beach side

In this case you are staying in a property that is on the same side of any road or thoroughfare as the beach. Hopefully you have also picked up on the fact that just because you are on the beach side there is no guarantee that you have a beach view or that you will not have to walk a bit to get to the beach. I know all of this is making you  skeptical of even considering a beach vacation, but let’s continue and relish in the reality that we are learning good information that will benefit you on future decisions. I think we all came into this with the concept that we wanted a beach view, so let’s explore that.

Beach view

This means exactly what it says. You will be staying in an accommodation that will have a beach view. Notice that it does not infer how much of a beach view nor does the term tell you from all rooms or one particular room. A classic line in the accommodation industry is, “Yes this is our unit with the beach view. If you just stand over here and look at an angle through this window, you will clearly see the beach, you might have to stoop down a little, but it is there.” Another scenario is that your unit is on the 7th floor of a very nice high rise and when you look out the window you clearly see the beach, which is about 4 blocks from your building. When renting your vacation property on the Internet, you really do want to ask the right questions and to leave no stone unturned. In all three of the above descriptions a mandatory question that you must ask is, “Tell me about the beach view, what room and areas in your accommodation will I be able to see the beach from, is it unobstructed and panoramic and exactly how far is the beach from our accommodation in feet, yards or meters? A second very good question to ask for any property is, “How far is the beach access that I will need to get to in order to get onto the beach?” There are situations for each of the descriptions above where the person will need to tell you that there is no beach access. While in Cabo San Lucas in Mexico, Nann and I stayed at a beautiful water side resort with incredible views and very close proximity to the beach shore line. Unfortunately armed security people were stationed along the beach. Armed to prevent anyone from entering from the water and also there to prevent anyone from the resort from going into the water that was extremely dangerous with strong undertows and whirlpools that would make it very hard for anyone to survive once in the water. The swimming pools were for swimming, not the Pacific Ocean.

Steps from the beach

This term itself begs for the question, “How many steps?” The answer might be great. Don’t be surprised if you hear about 50 or 100 feet. You can pretty much guarantee that you will not have a view of the beach, but at least you know you are very close to your nirvana. Is a view of the water and beach that important? Your call and only you can answer that question. I can tell you that three items on a vacation trump whatever your expectation may have been when it comes to your view. Water view, scenic view and fireplaces are all very restful and pleasing to the eye if the weather is bad and not what you expected when you planned this trip. Even though mother nature let you down, the first two vistas along with the possibility of gazing into the snapping embers of the fireplace all have a tranquilizing affect over the reality of what is going on outside.

Close to the Beach

The perfect question here is, “How Close?” This is a description of beach proximity that is relative to a perception of the meaning of close. Could be a block away, 10 blocks, a mile or even further. The question that needs to be answered is “exactly how close.” If you have a vehicle and don’t mind driving or taking a long walk to get to the beach, a location with this description might just satisfy your requirements and your budget.

Hopefully you now see some different possibilities for some of the descriptions that are commonly used in vacation rental advertising. You have so many tools with email, the phone, Google satellite maps, website information and photos to help you better understand the beach proximity and geographic location of the vacation rental that has caught your eye. Another very good method of learning about a property is to read or request previous guests testimonials or comments on guests stays at the property.

The most familiar examples of these descriptions would be the vacation properties on Siesta Key where we live and own a vacation rental. The world famous Crescent Beach has a number of condominium buildings that are located along Midnight Pass and Beach Road, which are the two roads that run parallel to the beach. Additionally Siesta Key Public Beach is located on Beach Road. Our beachfront property is located directly across from Siesta Key Public Beach and therefore you obviously need to cross Beach Road to access the beach from our beachfront location.

Along Midnight Pass are a number of high rise condominiums that were built just back from the white sandy beach shoreline of Crescent Beach. Each developer did their absolute best to attempt to give some kind of view from as many condominiums in their building as they possibly could. The first time we came to Siesta Key in 1989 we looked into purchasing a small one-bedroom condo at a very nice property with pool and tennis courts called the Sarasota Surf and Raquet Club. When the salesperson was showing us the condo that was for sale I asked him where the beach view was in this advertised property and he had us follow him into one of the rooms, stand along the wall and look out at an angle through the window to see the beach. When you left your condo to go down to the beach the access was easy and relatively close. We had a copy of an ad from the paper where someone was selling their beach property located at a building we were familiar with from the beach side as we walked Crescent Beach. This very large circular building seemed to have a design that would pretty much guarantee a beach view. Imagine our surprise when we drove into Crystal Sands and discovered that the advertised property was not in the beach high rise, but rather was a small one story unit behind the high rise and was one of many of these type of units that lined the private roads that lead up to the high rise. A beach view was not only out of the question, but you had a bit of hike along the black asphalt road and through the high rise property to get to the beach. We discovered this to be a common design that was used by many developers who maximized the number of units they could build on their properties on Siesta Key.

Mentioned earlier was the importance of what the vacation property itself had to offer on the inside and this is an area where you really do want to pay special attention. You will actually spend much more time in your vacation unit than you will on the beach. If you happen to have a day or two or even more of inclement weather the outside weather dampening can drastically dampen your attitude along with everything else. If you did find a place with a nice beach view you may find that the view even with the rain is soothing and perhaps even cozy making it much easier for you to relax and enjoy your accommodation while you catch up on that book you wanted to read. Next to and behind our building is a family owned resort of five garden apartments called the Beach Place. One of the apartments has a beach view from one room, but for the most part beach view is not going to happen and yet this location is very close to the beach and access is easy and in a couple minute walk you are on the beach and enjoying why you came to Siesta Key in the first place. If this was your desire when looking for a property at the beach, you found a winner.

I cannot begin to tell you how many vacationers have stayed at our property because their usual beach side vacation property had no availability and have continued to return to our beachfront penthouse at Siesta Key Public Beach every since their first stay. The actual location of our condo is certainly helpful in achieving this, but we like to feel it is the ambience and the attitude of owners and management that really make your vacation memorable and cause you to start planning your next trip back to paradise while you are returning home from this one. I hope this information has helped you in choosing your next vacation destination and we welcome you to try ours.

Tropical Wood Carvings

Every year after spring break Siesta Fiesta takes over the village of Siesta Key for a weekend of fun, art, crafts and sidewalk foods. This year Siesta Fiesta was “stridin” with the new look of Siesta Key all around the vendors booths. This is the 31st annual Siesta Fiesta and is the same date as the original Siesta Fiesta. The weather is perfect for this fun weekend and locals, visitors and downtown shop owners are all smiling.

Ocean Blvd. and Beach Rd. were both covered with Siesta Fiesta vendors displaying their talents. The choices were numerous, from prints to paintings, jewelry to clothing, wood carvings to metal sculptures, fresh citrus drinks to sidewalk fair comfort food, Siesta Fiesta has it all.

Siesta Key Oyster Bar

Each vendors area seemed to have lots of lookers and buyers while the restaurants and sidewalk cafes were busy taking care of those who wanted to sit, eat, drink and take in the street scene in the village. The walk from Sunset Royale takes about 15 minutes and protects you from the one problem that Siesta Key has still not solved, parking. As you walk through the streets the visitors who arrive by car are not obvious in their plight of finding a place to park, but they are there, circling the back streets and lots hoping to find a place for their vehicle.

Siesta Fiesta 2009

The recent updating of Ocean Blvd and the sidewalks and landscaping throughout the Village of Siesta Key has added a very nice touch to street shows such as Siesta Fiesta. My guess is that we will see even more street shows in the future that are staged in the nice new street venue in the heart of Siesta Key Village. The removal of overhead power lines, cable and telephone wire along with the unsightly poles that supported them has accented the shops and restaurants along the street. Adding to this the new landscape and unique street lights along with the brick paver sidewalks, cross walks and intersections has added a touch class to the very laid back Siesta Key charm.

Siesta Fiesta on Beach Road

When you turn the corner from Ocean Blvd and continue down Beach Road where the power lines and poles have not been removed the palm trees and new street continue with the upbeat feeling of the tropical Village of Siesta Key and it’s new updated look. One cannot help but wonder if Sarasota County will now realize that not only did Siesta Key Village sharpen their look, but also made it a safer location when our winds develop during a tropical squall or even tropical storm condition. Perhaps the realization that Beach Road is an exit for many during hurricane season to leave the island will cause the county to realize the importance of not having fallen power lines blocking this all too important exit path. Come on County Supervisors the Village has done what they felt they had to do, now it’s your turn. Put Siesta Key utility lines along Beach Road and Midnight Pass under ground.

Airfare Watchdog

What took so long? Why did we not know about this earlier? This is really great stuff. Here we are in the middle of air travel mumbo jumbo and up pops an incredible source of flying information that is so, so good. I need to go back to the genesis of this information. Jan, long time Ford Motor “go to office person” and high school friend of my wife Nann, sends an email with some tips on purchasing airline flights and a casual reference to a website called Airfare Watchdog. Oh My God!!! This is not just a site, it is a life line to all of us who fly anywhere. The more you read on their site the smarter you get, the more money you save on travel and the more you travel. Talk about win, win, it does not get better than this. (Hey Ford Motor, how are you going to survive? Jan retired.)

After using Airfare Watchdog personally for some flights Nann and I needed to make, I started to think about writing a page on our blog to inform more of our Siesta Key beachfront vacation rental visitors of this great flight site. I realized that by conveying to our rental guests an easier way to find flights to Siesta Key would convert to more rentals and less need to advertise our beachfront Siesta Key penthouse condo. While in the thought process on how to write this blog today I received an update on pending flights, which I have already booked because of Airfare Watchdog, but chose not to cancel their updates to see how much more I could have saved if I had chosen to wait longer before purchasing. This is very similar to playing the stock market. The stock premise is very simple buy at the low and sell at the high. The question is always, “How do you know?” Purchasing your airline tickets is pretty much the same. You know when you want to travel in most cases and where you want to go. Now it is us to you to purchase your tickets at the best time to receive the lowest price and best value. Sounds simple, but in reality it comes back to the same damn question, “How do you know?”

Today I was intent on trying to publish something to all of you on Airfare Watchdog when I received another update email from Airfare Watchdog, which I took a moment to review. The email mentioned the Airfare Watchdog “widget”. I read further and was in disbelief on what I read. It said I could custom build the widget and put it on my website. Once I did this it would constantly update all of my visitors on what cheap airfares were available to fly to Florida on the airports I chose. I can do a lot of things on the www.Sunsetroyale.com website because of how our Ohio web design firm built and delivered the website to me, but I don’t know code. I mean I am not a programmer and using Java Scrip to add to my HTML website is like speaking a foreign language, but I continued to read because the article used a very sophisticated software terminology called “copy and paste”, which I have become fairly proficient at implementing. I’m not ready to go out and get a job as a computer programmer or software wizard, but this I can handle. I finished the widget paragraph, did what they said then copy and pasted the results to the www.sunsetroyale website. Now on our Penthouse at Sunset Royale home page we have a constantly updating display of the best fares from many cities to Sarasota/Bradenton Airport and on our Sunset Royale transportation page we have a second Airfare Watchdog widget, which give a constant update on the five closest airports to Siesta Key for the cheapest airfares. In minutes I was able to add one of the greatest, neatest tools to our website to help all of you find the cheapest airfares to Siesta Key. While looking at the five airport summary, across the screen came a $21 round trip airfare from a Detroit to Tampa, which I was going to book just to say I did it!

Airfare Watchdog takes tracking airlines flight fares to an art form. They tell you what days are best to fly  and how to increase your odds at getting the lowest fare available. They send you to the airline, aggregator travel sites or wherever you have to go to obtain the fare that is being offered and telling you about any strings attached upfront and before going any further. A recent Airfare Watchdog blog article mentioned the higher cost of flying on a Friday or a Sunday, the importance of being flexible, if possible, on your arrival and departure dates along with many other words of wisdom. Many of us have found ourselves in the situation of having to fly unexpectedly at very short notice to a specific city. We always knew we were gong to pay dearly for this flight. Airfare Watchdog had this informative tip, “5. Use Priceline, especially if you don’t have a sufficient advance purchase window. The cheapest fares often require a 7, 14, 21, or even a 28-day advance purchase. What if you need to leave tomorrow or on short notice?  That’s where Priceline’s “Name your own price” bidding process can help. Typically, savings reach 40-60%, sometimes more.  The site has added a page showing a daily list of discounts on the top 50 routes, revealing how much other users have saved by bidding on fares. Click on the route and you’ll see actual bids vs. the lowest retail price.” What is so interesting is that Airfare Watchdog will not book any of your flights, but rather just tell you where to go to book them yourself. Even more amazing was the reality that I was able that I was able to accomplish this without contacting our Ohio web design firm to help install the widget.

Check this out.

Your boss is driving you crazy. The weather has been awful. Your partner needs relief and a change of scenery. The stress level is going through the ceiling and you just need to get away from it all. You need a break, ideally a tropical island with warm off shore breezes, white powder sugar sand, sun tan lotion, a good book and NO stress. You might want to add a few no’s to the list. Perhaps no phones, no computers, no newspaper, no television, no kids or maybe not. The reality is you need to custom design the perfect vacation that will give you a holiday away from those daily pressures and stresses that have brought you to the mental condition you presently find yourself experiencing. You need an escape and some time to regenerate, veg out and heal your mind & body so they are back in your usual form to fight the battles and conquer the issues of the day. What you are going through is normal and the cure is really pretty easy. You just need to commit to do it.

Now that you have identified the problem and determined the cure all that is left is to finalize the plan. Like all things in life the plan needs to be well researched and developed to achieve a perfect 10 on the “I found the perfect get-away” scale. In order to achieve perfection in planning and execution we will start with the Dave Letterman style “Top Ten List” to have a perfect vacation. Unlike David’s typical list, we would like you to go to the bottom and read #1 before you work your way down the list from #10. You will find this peek ahead exercise useful as you plan your trip.

#10 When are we going to go? To insure success, perfect planning requires time to execute the plan, so you need to determine your departure and return dates. Choosing tonight or tomorrow as your departure date is not going to work! Remember, you want to get away and relax and this means not coming back to the same situation that you are leaving. So get with your significant other or whoever and determine the dates that will work best for all who will be going. If you’re going solo, then you at least need to put sanity into first things first when choosing your dates. Keep in mind that a well planned and executed vacation experience is truly cathartic and this is why you are planning your needed break. When choosing the time period that you will be gone, keep this in mind;

1. A weekend get-away is like a shower, pretty soon you need one again.
2. A one-week get-away is definitely a needed break, but on the fourth day you feel your departure day looking over your shoulder.
3. A two-week or fortnight holiday break is certainly restful and though you will regret that it is over on the night before you depart to return home you will be refreshed.
4. If you can do it, a three-week absence from regular routine will truly be restful and you will find yourself planning in the third week what you are going to do when you return home. You are actually looking forward to this and your time away has been very therapeutic. You have a new outlook on life.

#9 How am I going to get out of here? Now that you have chosen the dates you need to plan your exit. Look at all of your work chores and all of your home chores and obligations and put into place a plan on how you will have both of these covered in your absence. Now is not the time to take on more responsibility or assignments. Volunteer for nothing between now and departure and figure out how you can wrap up as much as possible before the great escape. You are in a furious complete, pend, assign, delegate or trash it mode.

• Take care of clearing the time away with the powers that be at work.
• Arranging for care and watching for the kids or planning their school work while they are with you if they need the break also.
• Someone will need to water your plants, mow the lawn and other home chores.
• You will need to stop the mail and newspapers, no sense in advertising to everyone that you are not at home.
• In most cases if you have pets you will want to make arrangements for them in your absence. The last thing you need is a pet emergency in the middle of your vacation because you brought Fido along.

Keep in mind you are only planning a window of time that has an escape date and a return date. This is not a, “How are they going to get along without me forever?” assignment.

#8 Where are you going to go? This can be a tough one and you certainly want to make sure that your vacation destination does not add to your existing stress level and in fact the location, properly vetted, should do much to reduce and help eliminate your accumulated stress. Perhaps a retreat to a south sea island in a foreign land, or a remote mountain top where the nearest communication or phone signal is miles away. Maybe it is that cabin in the woods that your friend told you about or that piece of beach in Florida that is to die for. I know, at this point they are all sounding pretty good, but maybe you need to make your own list of places to go and think deeply on what the goal is. Ask yourself some pretty important questions. Is traveling to a foreign land going to be a hassle and give you any stress? If the answer is yes, scratch it. If the answer is no go to the next choice. If you get to that south sea island, remote mountain top or solitude in the deep woods and you are hit with torrential rains, unrelenting weather, or some other natural or unnatural condition will this give you stress. If the answer is yes, scratch it. Don’t despair! I am not recommending that you scratch everything, I am just making sure that events beyond your control do not ruin your plans for a peaceful and relaxing break in your busy life. You will notice that the #1 item on this list is a contingency plan ( you did do as instructed and read #1 first before starting down this list did you not?). Hopefully you will not need it, but if you do it is your safety net and you will be so happy that you planned accordingly. My sister traveled to Madagascar in 2008. Just imagine if she had planned this life long desire to make this trip in January of 2009 when the government was overthrown and rioting taking place in the streets. What would the contingency plan be on an island in the middle of the Indian Ocean? Don’t plan a trip that boxes you in with no alternative location when your major goal is to get away and relax. You wanted a relaxing south sea island and chose South Padres Island off of the coast of Texas. A few weeks before departure you realize that a brewing hurricane appears to have this area in its path and you don’t need the stress of having to evacuate. You have made your reservations with the recommended caveats listed below and you now exercise your ability to redirect your south sea vacation to Siesta Key off of the Gulf coast of Florida in that fabulous penthouse condo. You did good!

#7 How do you find the best place to stay? Finding your perfect vacation destination should actually be pretty easy. You have many sources to reference and people to ask who can give you guidance. Only you can decide the ultimate location after reviewing all of the options. Paramount on making your choice should be the vacation goals that you originally agreed upon. You have now picked your destination and your actual place to stay is patiently waiting for you, but you need to find it. Friends who have vacationed at your targeted destination will be helpful as will travel books that review this area. You have the option of a hotel, motel, rental home, condo, cottage, cabin or tent. Each of these have their own pro and cons. Hotels can get expensive and sometimes not real friendly with many people coming and going. Motels can be similar but usually on a smaller scale. Tents are for a certain person and if you are that kind of person and are going with your friend, PLEASE make sure they are that kind of person also! Don’t create your own brand of stress. Cottages and cabins can be just what the doctor ordered and vacation rental homes and condos are becoming extremely popular with travelers all over the world. They provide the convenience and privacy of home without the expense of ownership. In the case of all of the above please keep in mind the 3 following important rules, location, location, location. Don’t choose your favorite destination only to find you are off of the beaten track and every venture out is truly a venture. You are on vacation and convenience is so important. Use the Internet and find a vacation rental that fills your bill. If you want to be at the beach, don’t be lured by wording like “steps to the beach” or an absence of photos showing you what you will see when you look out of your window. Many have fallen for on the beach locations only to find that the building is on the beach, but their condo, room or whatever has a great view of a parking lot or major highway. Remember you want no stress, find out ahead of time everything you can about the place. Read reviews, talk to the owner or manager ask for access to testimonials. Google “vacation rentals in paradise or location of your choice“. Fully understand all of the amenities that come with your choice. If you are planning a beach location, you should not have to take your own chairs, umbrella or towels, just suntan lotion. If you have a day of rain will your view still be soothing and relaxing from inside your hotel, house or condo? Do your homework now and make sure that the location allows you to cancel your reservations because of unforeseen events like a hurricane, airline strike or other event that would prevent your arrival or hinder your enjoyment. Consider trip insurance to cover possible sickness.

#6 How are you going to get there? This should be the easiest of all your decisions. To take a line from the old John Candy movie, “Trains, Planes and Automobiles. That really is about it by doing your planning in advance airfare and train fares should be easy to obtain at good rates. If by automobile you will need to plot your course on map quest or Google and decide where to stay overnight when required. Again I will mention the importance of trip insurance and understanding what is covered if your travel destination and transportation are significant in cost. By making travel arrangements early you will not only save money, but you will also have received the best seats available and the best location to stay as most people plan close to their departure and sacrifice the ability of getting first choices. Don’t think you are the only people going to your destination or flying on your flight. Book Early!

#5 What do we take with us? As little as possible! Remember you are going to relax so don’t plan on being on a travelogue. Hopefully your destination accommodations have come with a washer and dryer inside or at least in your building. Paying for cleaning and trekking off to the laundromat is not why you are on this trip.  Taking many changes of clothes is a pain and now you will pay extra on the plane or cram the car full of things you could have left behind if you had made sure there was an easy way to wash and dry your cloths. Remember again the reason you are making this trip. Stress free and this also means wearing your most comfortable clothes everyday and not needing a camel to carry your luggage. A properly located vacation home or condo with a washer and dryer is oh so convenient. You may want to bring a camera, ipod and perhaps your cell phone. If you don’t wish to let people know you have your cell phone, don’t answer it and don’t call them on it while on vacation. A cell phone can be a convenient item in many vacation areas. You need to take your pills, medical devices and vitamins and if you want a laptop to use if your accommodations has broadband, but remember that you did pre-plan this trip and the laptop brings email and do you really want to go there? Oh yes, bring all of your printed paper research and reservation information and itinerary. Bring some money and credit cards. Golf bag and tennis racquet’s if appropriate and comfortable shoes.

#4 How much money am I going to need? Hopefully not a lot, but again your pre-planning would have dictated the answer to this question along with your budget. Understanding that credit cards and cash are both money a simple list of what you have obligated yourself to pay for transportation and accommodations that is not prepaid are obviously part of what you will need on your trip. Any special plans or side trip that you plan on doing on this trip will need to be covered along with any local transportation that you have arranged to have while at your destination if necessary. Again you need to keep in mind that the more you travel and roam once you have arrived at your destination the more potential for stress and loss of R & R. If you feel you must shop and purchase clothes and gifts on this trip then you will be spending more money, on the other hand if you can cross this off of your list only the local merchants will complain and you don’t even know them. No stress. You are going to want to eat while away and again some preplanning and finding an accommodation with full cooking facilities can be a great way to keep your meal cost at a minimum and your stress level low. Just think of not waiting for a reservation, waitperson or standing in line to eat. On the other hand if cooking is stressful than perhaps all of the above are not a problem, but an enjoyment. Ideally a mix of both self catering, home delivery and going out to eat can take care of your nourishment needs and help your pocketbook and again your stress level.

#3 Who do we tell where we are? NOBODY OR VERY FEW!

#2 What do we plan to do when we get there? As little as possible! I am not being facetious just trying to help. If you make this a busy time while you are on vacation you are probably not going to become unstressed. If you can try to unwind and relax you will be so much better off. If you planned a relaxing vacation in a cabin near a mountain stream to fish and read, I guess that says it all. If you planned that south sea island to bathe in the sun on sand, easy does it, but stick as close to this plan as reasonably makes sense. If in either of the above their is an intriguing town or tropical village where you can casually mingle with the locals and enjoy life in a very slowed down atmosphere than by all means have at it. Now if you planned your getaway on Manhattan in New York and don’t want to miss all of the goings on of this busy metropolis I think you need to go back up to #10 and re-read the important items in deciding where to go to getaway from it all and take as much of the stress out of your life as possible.

#1 What is the contingency plan? This is the most important item that you can do in planning your trip. We started by finding a getaway that would allow you to relax and get back your sanity, remove stress and repair your attitude. The worst thing we could do is to let you turn this well deserved trip that you so diligently planned to go down in flames for unforeseen events that you would have no way of knowing were going to occur. Sure a trip can always be canceled because of an illness or personal event that just did not allow you to leave as plan or scheduled, but even that is part of your contingency plan. If you do have to cancel the trip and have obligated yourself to airline tickets and accommodations reservations a low cost trip insurance policy could make this nothing more than a  disappointment instead of another financial burden with no reward. If you and your partner or family are already to depart and unforeseen weather, local conditions at your destination or natural disaster have made this destination impossible or undesirable your contingency plans can now be brought into action. Hopefully all of your items that you planned on taking and the R & R you planned on getting will occur at your second choice. Because you planned this shadow trip in place of the trip you planned on making you have little to arrange to make it a reality. You already had some accommodations sites and possibilities and the same is true for your transportation. Now just take a big gulp, smile and let everyone know you planned for this in advance and hand them the proposed itinerary you have already scoped out. They will look at your brilliance as truly amazing and you just got rid of one hell of a lot of stress on everyone including yourself. At the completion of this trip you will here from everyone forever on how you saved the day and planned the second or maybe even the best vacation ever taken. You’re a hero. How do you feel? Now go forth and enjoy.

Sandcastle from July 2004

The Siesta Key sand, as mentioned in previous posts, is ideal for making into forms and characters. Since Nann and I moved to Siesta Key and have been able to view the beach everyday and walk it regularly (not regularly enough) and we often see where someone has taken the time to form this incredible sand into a sandcastle, figure or character. Some of these are very simple and obviously built and designed by a young person, perhaps with some help from a parent, sibling or friend. Others are more detailed and show the efforts of someone who was having fun in forming the sand. Every now and then you will come across those incredible sand formations where someone went out and showed their talents in creating sand figures that stop the beach walkers and bring out the cameras of those fortuitous enough to have brought theirs along such as this sandcastle that I shot about 4 or 5 years ago before Sunset Royale in the background was completely redesigned and remodeled. Today was one of those days and I will share with you my findings of March 8th, 2009 on my walk on the beach. This is truly a busy time of the year and the beach parking lot is generally closed by noon with no room for more cars. The area of the public beach itself was also loaded with people enjoying the beach, surf and even the 62 degree water. I smile every time I think of myself finding this water temperature to be cold, when this was about as warm as it got back in Michigan where I lived for most of my life. We new it was summer when the water reached 60 degrees.

On this particular morning as I walked toward the shoreline I noticed a familiar scene. Our location on the north end of Siesta Key Public Beach gives Sunset Royale a rather unique view of life at the beach. The areas on Siesta Key Public beach that are in front of the concession stand and beach facilities along with the area between the four life guard stations are the most popular beach area for visitors to claim as “their piece of sand” for their day at the beach. This is where we look from the balcony of our 4th floor penthouse when we want to determine how busy the beach is today. Because we are past the last life guard station on Siesta Key Public Beach the sand in front of Sunset Royale is not as populated with beach goers and this is also the designated location for all Siesta Key beach weddings. In spirit, Nann and I probably attend more weddings each year than what would ever believe possible unless you were a person of the cloth or a wedding coordinator.  This is also the location where you will sometime find a very serious sand castle builder and today was one of those days.

Sandcastle building 101

I walked over to the building site of today’s sandcastle and introduced myself. I recognized the tools of the trade along with the location of construction to be that of a person I had occasionally seen busily at work in the past, but had not stopped to talk or interrupt as he went about creating his magic in the sand. When I would later return, he was always gone, but left on the sand a show stopper that would cause even the most ardent fast pace beach walkers and runners to stop and admire his work. Today was different, I introduced myself to Jeff Bierman, castle builder. Jeff came to the beach prepared for a day of work. He brought buckets for water to form the sand, shovels to get the sand for the project and a generally good attitude. I have to believe that Jeff carries the good attitude with him where ever he goes. I asked Jeff what motivates him to come to the beach and build in the sand. He gave me an impish grin and said, “laying around the house today seemed too easy and un-fulfilling”. He needed some exercise and thought he would go to the beach and get his workout. The chore is challenging, the sand and water are heavy and of course the task, build a quality castle in one-day, does put some pressure on you. Jeff and I exchanged some more pleasantries and exchanged cards, I took a picture and continued on along the shore to catch up with Nann and her high school friend Jan who had stayed with us for the weekend. While walking to catch up I kept my eyes open for other interesting things on the beach. Finally I caught up with the girls and we walked into the Village and noted some of the changes that had taken place, walked through the Siesta Key Farmers Market, checked out the wait at the Broken Egg and decided to eat at the Cafe Continental Patisserie where we had a good brunch, met the new owners and started on our walk back to the condo. I took the beach to check out the progress on the sandcastle while Jan and Nann took Beach Road so they could stop in a couple of open houses.

When I returned to Jeff’s sandcastle building site I found he had made some pretty good progress and a number of friends and family had gathered at his building site to see what the white sands would form for Jeff today. In the digging of the sand around the already started castle Jeff had found a dragon buried in the sand. The dragon had a certain similarity to “Puff the Magic Dragon” who we all know lived by the sea, but then again that might just had been wishful thinking on my part. I took another picture and continued across the street to Sunset Royale to finish Sunday’s paper. Jan and Nann appeared at the same time I returned and we discussed Jeff’s progress. Jan packed up for her return to Orlando, we said our goodbye’s and I finished the paper. I then picked up my camera and headed back across the street at about 4:00 PM to see the how the Sandcastle turned out. Jeff and his friends were all relaxing and I took some more pictures. Jeff mentioned he was just wiped out from the hard day of work and could never had completed it without his friend Darrel from Minnesota. You can judge for yourself Jeff’s ability and ironically you can find out for yourself about Jeff’s talents. Jeff would gladly build you a sandcastle on your beach and more importantly Jeff has his own Handy Man and Repair business. He does pressure cleaning, repair & paint, carpentry, custom woodworking, A/C & Appliances, maintenance, minor electric and minor plumbing. Jeff lives between Venice and Sarasota and obviously can be found on Siesta Key, his favorite beach, whenever needed mind and body exercise demand a workout. You can call Jeff at 941-928-9920. I can’t speak for Jeff’s handy work, but I can say this, “the concept of hiring a handy man who understands the importance of completing a task the day you start it is a pretty rare find”, just ask any wife who attempts to have her husband take care of a task that has been hanging around too long without being resolved. Jeff starts and finishes all of his castles in one day.

After taking my last pictures of the finished sandcastle I walked further down the public beach and entertained myself observing the many different people who were covering  Siesta Key Public Beach. In the midst of a mass of people I spotted a rather large elephant being sculpted by Jim Unger who is not a  young republican, but is one heck of a sculpter. It was lumbering over everyone around it in that area of the beach. I pulled out my trustee Sony Cybershot and walked over to get a better look and some pictures. You never really know when someone decides it is time to get exercise and come down to the beach to concentrate on their workout for the day. I take that back, there is one day you can guarantee this will happen. It is usually the first Saturday in May when Siesta Key Beach hosts the Siesta Key Sand Sculpture Contest which is May 9th this year. Come on down or better yet, enter your name for the contest and do your exercising on the beach for all of the others to see and admire. If you are out of town, don’t you think you owe yourself and family a beach vacation? Click here for reservations at the Sunset Royale Penthouse on Siesta Key vacation and holiday beachfront condo rental.

First time visitors to Siesta Key Public Beach on Crescent Beach on Siesta Key in Sarasota, Florida are in disbelief when they first step on our powder sugar white sand beach. If it happens to be in July or August and they are barefoot the amazement is reflected in their face and the questionable look that is radiated back to everyone around them. How can this beach be so white, so soft and yet firm and so cool? It’s not magic, but it sure is cool and unusual.

The sand is like confectioners sugar to touch or squeeze between your fingers and yet fluffy but stable to walk on and when you are walking along the beach it is solid and firm enough to allow bike riders to peddle along the beach with no concern of sinking into the sand. Another oddity about Siesta Key Beach is watching sun bathers choose to lay in the sand with no blanket or mat to absorb the sun rays, but then turn over when they are getting warm to have the powder sugar sand that adheres to their bodies reflect the sun and allow them to tolerate more beach time without the sun heating them up at the same intensity when their skin had no protection.

The white powder sugar sand of Siesta Key is known world wide and, in fact, Siesta Key Beach won the 1987 Great International White Sand Beach Challenge beating out 30 other entries and bringing to an end any future challenges for the title. Unlike running, racing or even judging a fine wine, It became pretty obvious a whiter and softer white sand beach was not going to be found on this planet. Janice Martin of the St. Petersburg Times reported in 1987 that sand was brought from contestant beaches from around the world, including entries from such far-flung spots as Ireland, Waikiki, Bermuda and East Lyme, Conn. David G. Aubrey, PhD., director of the Coastal Research Center at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution at Cape Cod, Massachusetts judged the sand from all 31 competing beaches from around the world and announced that Siesta Key in Sarasota Florida was the obvious winner.

Siesta Key sand really is in a class by itself. It is clean and very white, dazzling white and it squeaks when you compress it in your hand or walk on it like confectioners sugar or even corn starch. Siesta Key’s sand is unparalleled and for good reason as this sand is like no other. The sand is quartz and a study by Harvard University’s geology department found that the sand was 99 percent pure quartz crystal, ultimately derived from the southern Appalachian Mountains. Over millenniums, the quartz sand crystals were carried by rivers into the Gulf and down Florida’s coast. Those quartz crystals are very fine, without any coral or shell fragments, which results in sand with a soft, flour-like texture.

Quartz sand comes from igneous rock, the kind of rock that once was molten. Quartz is a very hard substance, graded at 7 on a hardness scale of 10. Diamonds are rated 10 on this scale. Minerals of hardness 7 cannot be scratched with the point of a steel knife. The most common such substance is granite. Because quartz is a crystal it actually dissipates the heat of the sun and leaves our beach cool on the hottest days. On most beaches sunbathers are laying on blankets, towels or mats for some insulation from the hot sand on those plus 90 or even 80 Fahrenheit degree days that is being baked by the solar waves of the sun. They will also do their walking in sandals or along the shore, but not on Siesta Key where bare footing on the sand is not ever a problem. To inquire for more information on how to personally experience Siesta Key Beach yourself just use this link for further information

Nobody can calculate how many eons of time have passed since Siesta Key sand first appeared from fragmented rock, but Siesta Key sand is quite old. We know this not only because of the very fine grains, but also because other components of the original rock, such as feldspar, mica and other minerals, have almost completely disappeared, leaving only the extremely hard quartz.

The fine sand has passed through one of more “eolian cycles”, as the geologists put it. Those are periods when it was blown about by the wind. Such cycles tend to knock the sharp corners of the quartz crystals grains and help bring about the somewhat angular nature of our sand.

Sand is pretty shifty stuff. No beach is static, all sand moves up and down the coastline because of wind, storms and ocean currents. The shifting dune is a common phenomenon in sandy areas. If the sand is eroding in one place, it’s building up somewhere else. Prevailing winds roll the surface sand from the bottom of the windward side of the dune over the top and down the leeward side, so that in time, the entire dune may be rolled for miles. The owners of condos at Sunset Royale are happy that at this point in time the sands of Siesta Key Public Beach happen to be sitting in front of their condos and expect to be able to continue to enjoy their daily walks on this beach in front of their condos for the next few hundred years. Perhaps this might be a good time for you to make a reservation at the penthouse condo with open balcony that overlooks this incredible beach.

Siesta Key’s beaches have been recognized for cleanliness, water quality and safety by one of the world,s top experts, Dr. Stephen Leatherman (AKA “Dr. Beach”) of the National Healthy Beaches Campaign, and qualifies as a Blue Wave Beach by the Clean Beaches Council. The Travel Channel ranks Siesta as one of Florida’s and America’s Top Ten Beaches. David McRee, Florida’s own BeachHunter has named Siesta Key Beach as his favorite beach. This would be akin to a world class chef letting you know the name and location of their own personal favorite restaurant.

Sand sculptors love the sand on Siesta Key Public Beach because of the angular grains of quartz sand compared to the silica and shell sand found on other beaches. This unique feature along with very white color of Siesta Key Beach sand makes for great sand castles, characters and makes the annual Siesta Key Sand Sculpture Contest which is usually the second Saturday in May each year on Siesta Key Beach. This is a well attended event for both participants and the crowds of sand gazers who come to see what the sand artists are offering up for this fun contest on the beach that is free for all come to watch and admire.