Today, we chose to head to Lido Beach to check it out before leaving the Sarasota area. We stuck to our game plan of getting to the beach early mid-morning. This once again worked in our favor since parking was easy. We went to the public access location at 400 Ben Franklin Dr. This location was wonderful since it had plenty of public restrooms, a pavilion with a large selection of food, and some nicer options (like lobster rolls) at the Island Grill, as well as a pool. (https://www.letsplaysarasota.com).
We were pleasantly surprised by how quiet it was here. Clearly, most of the crowds tend to be in Siesta Key. The beach itself was smaller which was fine. However, the challenge came if you enjoy beach walking (which we do). At this public location, there is a steep slope greatly limiting “easy walking” near the water in addition to dodging the crushed shells that are everywhere along the shoreline. Pro tip: If you do plan to visit this beach, I would bring water shoes which would make walking way more enjoyable and comfortable.
It was a nice leisurely morning at the beach (and we were lamenting about how we wish we had planned to stay in Sarasota longer) but we had a late lunch date planned with Jerry’s Realtor to discuss what we had seen so far, where to go next to check out properties, and if driving about an hour further south to the Port Charlotte area over the next day or two would be worth it.
After our meeting, it was time to make our way to Downtown St. Petersburg to check in at our Inn on Third Street (https://www.theinnonthird.com).
This sweet Inn is a gem in Downtown St. Petersburg. It is highly rated on various travel sites for being budget friendly, in a walkable location, including a continental breakfast and happy hour as well as having the most charming innkeeper, Brian. Brian was definitely a huge selling point as to why we would recommend this Inn. He was fun, funny, and completely a joy to be around. Jerry hung out with him in the lobby seating area one evening after I had gone to bed. We never had the pleasure of meeting his wife but I am sure she is as delightful and helpful as he is.
I wish I knew the story of the Inn. You can tell the building is historic. It had a dorm-like feel to it. I believe I read that there are 18 (small) rooms and they each include a private bathroom. The room is meant to be a place to rest and recharge, not really a place to hang out, hence the inviting downstairs lobby that hosts an evening happy hour.
Brian gave us the easy walking directions to the new pier in St. Petersburg (https://stpetepier.org) that the locals are very proud of (We were told about it a few times when we were at St. Pete Beach last July but never made it to their Downtown to see it).
It is certainly impressive. It is a 26 acre park/pier that has a playground, public art displayed, trolley, restaurants, gift shop, seating areas, and a wonderful walking experience. There were many families, couples, and exercise go-ers enjoying the pier that evening.
One unfortunate occurrence for us that tainted how we felt about St. Petersburg and its vibe was that we found many of the people working in the service industry in this area unfriendly and downright rude on occasion. (We had the opposite experience in July at the beach area). The trolley worker on the pier decided it was acceptable to notify people in the trolley’s path in the most condescending and off-putting way by embarrassing the pedestrians loudly over the microphone. He seemed to be a disgruntled and mean wannabe comedian who thought he was hilarious. No one else did. We were honestly shocked that he could get away with treating people so callously. Not sure if the city is aware of how terribly he mocks people along the route or if he is truly trying to get fired and just hasn’t yet.
We walked around the waterfront area which was very nice. There were plenty of restaurants with outdoor seating to enjoy the scenery. None of the restaurants were catching our eye for dinner so we Googled other restaurants within several blocks and discovered that Ford’s Garage (https://www.fordsgarageusa.com/locations/st-pete) was within nearby walking distance.
Jerry has worked at Ford for nearly 30 years and had heard about the restaurant. He knew it had great Ford memorabilia and even better food so we thought that would be a good place to try.
The amount of thoughtful touches that went into the restaurant with its homage to everything Ford was impressive. They repurposed everything from tires that became sinks, gas nozzles that are door handles, mechanic’s rags for the napkins, truck tailgate is now a bench, vintage photos everywhere, as well as the menu giving a notable nod to Ford novelty items that Jerry appreciated.
Our food was incredibly good. We were both happy with our order, the ambiance, and overall experience. Louisville has 2 Ford plants and shockingly no Ford’s Garage Restaurant! If they ever open one in Louisville, Jerry and I will definitely be going there again.
We had a nice walk back to our Inn after our meal. We knew some stormy weather was heading our way that night so we wanted to be back before that arrived. As always, Brian, the Innkeeper spotted us from the sidewalk and headed to the door to greet us inside. He always seemed to be in the right place at the time and always with a giant smile on his face.
He asked about our evening outing. We shared with him where we walked and that we had dinner at Ford’s Garage. His first thought was to ask us if we had gone into the bathrooms! When we said YES! We all started laughing about how tricky turning on the faucet was. He then sheepishly asked Jerry about the clever urinals. Jerry agreed that they were indeed clever and remarked that he “might have” gotten a photo of them since no one was around. Brian loved that!
As I noted before, I turned in and Jerry visited with Brian and a few other guests that night while the storms blew through.
Jerry and I agreed that if the storms cleared out for the next day, we would run down to the Port Charlotte area and check out the land, homes, and area in general based on the recommendation of his Realtor.
Lucky for us, that is exactly what happened – more on that in my final installment.
Thoughtful Travels 