The second stop on our recent trip through the southeastern United States was Sarasota, Florida. The primary goal was to see some Spring Training baseball, while getting a look at one of the less-well-known parts of Florida. It was a bit of a revelation.
Sarasota is on Florida’s Gulf coast, a few miles south of the more famous Tampa and St. Petersburg. If you’re coming to the area to see pre-season baseball, Sarasota is centrally located for pretty easy access to multiple stadiums. Sarasota’s own Spring Training facility is Ed Smith Stadium, used by the Baltimore Orioles to prepare for the regular season. Quite a bit of money was spent by the city of Sarasota to upgrade the stadium recently and it shows. It’s one of the nicest small baseball stadiums you’ll find anywhere. Everything about it has a “major league” feel, just smaller.
Adjacent to Sarasota to the north is Bradenton, home of McKechnie Field where the Pittsburgh Pirates have been training for many years. While Ed Smith Stadium is like a miniaturized major league ballpark, McKechnie Field has the look-and-feel of a minor league park with some of the feel of a county fair outside. Not that any of that is a complaint, it’s still a comfortable place to watch a game.
Our base while in Sarasota was the Hampton Inn and Suites Sarasota-Bradenton Airport. Externally, the hotel looks like a mid-20th-century work of cubist art. Internally, everything was modern and comfortable. Our only complaint is that the furnishings are a little on the sparse side. An additional comfortable chair would be nice and it’s surprising to find hotel rooms without a mini-fridge these days. But the location just outside the airport on University Parkway made it easy to find places to eat and get to any of our destinations in the region.
One of the biggest attractions in Sarasota (and practically within walking distance of the Hampton Inn and Suites) is the Ringling Museum of Art, created by circus guy John Ringling. More than just a single museum, it’s a collection of attractions that includes a couple of circus-related museums, the art museum, the awe-inspiring Ca’ d’Zan Mansion (with more art), beautiful gardens and the Asolo Theater – which originally opened in Italy in 1798 and was transported to Sarasota by Mr. Ringling in the 1940’s. Obviously the Ringling Museum is a place where you can spend an entire day or more.
The mainland cities of Sarasota and Bradenton are separated from the Gulf of Mexico by a series of barrier islands. Travel across the John Ringling Causeway (his name is everywhere) west from downtown Sarasota and you’ll arrive at Lido Key, home of the popular St. Armand’s Circle shopping and restaurant area. Go north from there and you’ll be traveling along the narrow Longboat Key toward Bradenton. A separate bridge on the south side of town takes you to Siesta Key, considered one of the nicest beaches in the country.
