The published plan for this day was to start towards home and to stop somewhere along the way and finish the trip on the next day. Megan spilled the actual plan the night before. We were going back to Disney for the night to stay at Art of Animation. This was mostly because Emily always wanted to stay at this hotel the opportunity for us to stay here for this night presented itself.
We went out and about via the Skyliner
Our Beach du jour was Anna Maria Island. It is an older established island about 45 North of our location in Sarasota. Very busy to tourists passing through but for those who were staying on the island it looked like it could be a very quaint experience.
The first place that we attempted to find the beach was on the sound side of the island. This was the opposite of the beach we experienced yesterday. it was probably a total of 10 feet in width.
Emily Grace and I decided to spend the morning at the beach. One of Emily's vacation requests was clear water swimming. We tested the promised clear waters at Siesta Key. We arrived at the beach and had no trouble parking and found great facilities.
We were a little surprised to find that when we reached the white sand that we still had a 7 or so minute walk to the water's edge.
I was the youngest child in my family. I have fond memories of those last 3 or 4 vacations where it was just me. I constantly had those memories in my mind with hopes that Emily would hold similar memories for the rest of her life.
Either way, we had us a time this morning. We swam, frolicked, talked, and played. And, as one might expect, we came out of the experience knowing one another better, having shared this time.
I can't speak to the success or failure of providing Emily with memories of a lifetime but I can say with complete certainty that it was a time that I shall never forget. My little girl is becoming a beautiful woman and the days can move quickly - but for this one day, I experienced it to the full. I am thankful to God for Emily Grace and for this day.
Siesta Key is beautiful and we shared the beach with many. We found that the water was clear. You could easily see your feet and many fish we shared our swim with.
This day was made up primarily of the move from Orlando to Sarasota. On the way we stopped to see Megan's "second family." Great friends that she has known since childhood. We stopped near Tampa for a visit with this entire family. We had a great visit for a couple of hours and we forgot to take even one picture of the great meeting.
We checked into the Home 2 in Sarasota. Megan and I were hungry because a power outage had shut down the Chick-fil-a. Emily was able to get a prepared salad from there so she was fine. Out to the Chili's next to our hotel for nice bar food.
After dinner we went to Lido Beach which was recommended by our server. Mostly we walked on the beach and enjoyed the late night breeze. Also, my girls are beautiful.
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Vacation should be designed to give you down time and yet on an off day someone will say (usually me), "So - what do ya'll want to do?" It is just in our nature. That is the way it is. This one one of those days. The girls were certainly going to sleep in and then we made our way out to Disney Springs. Not many photos for this day - Addison and Megan went shopping while Emily and myself went to Toy Story 5.
Continuing to roll with different stages of life, our girls are certainly old enough to be trusted in the parks on their own. So it is that, mostly because of finances, only the two girls would park hop today. Megan and I would resort hop and we would connect at the end of the day.
Side One: The Resorts
Dinner at the Polynesian and sunset on the beach waiting for the boat parade and fireworks
The girls started out in Disney Studios with early entry. I know because I was their Uber
