1-17-07 Florida's SW coast-Gulf of Mexico

We spent today driving up the west coast of Florida, from our Walmart near Naples (on the west side of the Everglades) up the coast to Sarasota. From Sarasota we went out Longboat Key, across Tampa Bay, and up the coast some more. Laura is navigating so I can get caught up on the blog. Sorry to be so slow but we’ve been really busy. We only got to have Hank for 4 days so we couldn’t sit around at all! I’ll get this all written while we drive and post it as soon as we are online again. I swam at the most beautiful beach we’ve seen—Anna Maria Beach at the tip of Longboat Key (just a bit north and west of Sarasota). The sand was white and very fine, the water was warm, the sun was shining. It was a quick stop but the dip felt wonderful. I’m thinking about all of you in the snow and ice…sorry you aren’t all here! LJ and Gene passed on the swim. We checked out another beach on the north side of Tampa called North Beach. It was voted the Best Beach in the country in 2005. It was beautiful and went for miles—but I think Anna Maria Beach was better. We’re headed east now, over to Orlando. LJ wants to take us to Disney World tomorrow. I’m not at all sure when I’ll get to post this…sorry!