3rd Annual Festa Italia in Sarasota…read more Live Entertainment Carnival Rides Specialty Foods Games Fun ....fun... It was certainly a beautiful warm sunny day to celebrate my heritage! I had my typical sausage and onions sandwich. Italian Ices, Peroni beer, linguine with clam sauce, and for desert zeppole and cappuccino.. and much more other food items I had to try, but then walked away bloating by eve.. (joke) Food was good and the entertainment was fun. The famous Flying Wellendas were doing their awesome acrobats on the high wire throughout the day! My son enjoyed the carni rides and fun houses... I enjoyed all the Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney and more of that genre type of parody singers! Nice to have a taste of Italy near your home!

What a nice festival. What a great park for a festival…read more The food was excellent. The arancini (rice balls) were yum and baked ziti was delicious as well as Italian Ice. They had a lot of good looking food not just carnival junk. The Italian music was excellent. The Wallendas were amazing. The fireworks were awesome. I sure hope they have this festival next year!

Be prepared for a pleasant surprise at the museum. It is truly magnificent. And as they say a…read morepicture says 1000 words this certainly does. There's so much to see and do here and you don't have to be bothered with the tour guide you simply walk through and see what you want at your own pace. Several parts you can get into for free but we often pay the $25 to have full access to the museum. Was money well spent. The grounds of this museum as well as its interior is splendid. Plan to spend several hours here so you can absorb everything.

Surpringly expansion collection of art, both classic and modern. We took advantage of their free…read morecurated tour of the classic pieces and then did a self guided tour of their modern collection. The modern exhibit included work of Yayoi Kusama and Lichtenstein.

Our family had a great time at the Venice Shark Tooth Festival!…read more We found this event last minute on Sunday and decided to drive out to the Shark tooth Capital to see what it would be like. It was very busy and a little tough to find parking but once we did we couldn't believe our eyes seeing so many shark teeth! Big and small from all types of sharks and there were some beautiful wall art made with shark teeth some dipped in resin with beautiful colors it was amazing to see how celebrated these teeth were. The live music was great people were dancing having a good time. I didn't see very many food vendors maybe because venices strip has restaurants up and down but they definitely had drinks non alcoholic and alcohol. I got myself a really cool branded coconut from surfing coconut that they crack open and you can drink fresh coconut water that was cold and refreshing. And the Kids Zone was great my kids got to find their own shark teeth offered by the Venice Lions Club which they got two minutes to find as many shark as they could and when they were done they had about 10/20 shark teeth each! This was a great festival filled with very talented vendors and amazing fossils and Shark teeth I will definitely be attending next year's event!

Parking was easy. You can tell how much live and work went into this festival-everyone very…read morefriendly and wishing to share details of the their heritage. The food was authentic and tasty!! Will be going again next year!!

We had a great time at the Hungarian Festival in Sarasota state Fairgrounds! The Hungarian festival…read morefeatures Tons of big named musicians flown in from Hungary! My favorite was Animal Canibals, the Hungarian rap group! The festival featured about 4 rows of venders under tents offering a wide range of Hungarian foods and various other Hungarian products. The festival had a huge tent where all the musicians performed with plenty of seating in the shade with fans. The lines were not bad at all to get food, drinks, or go to the bathroom. They had a ton of cool games including this hamster ball through a maze, bubble boy on water, ride the shark, tree house slide, trampoline super jump, an inflatable maze, archery, and some lego games for the kids. I was To drink, I was A little disappointed there was no Hungarian beer but there was plenty of German and Czechoslovakian beer. I really liked the shirts the festival workers had on featuring a large Hungarian crest but I was disappointed they didn't sell it in black. To eat, We had chicken paprikas, beef stew, mashed potatoes, szekey kaposzta, Langos, cremes torta, raspberry tekercs. All of them tasted great, authentic, and just like grandma makes! This festival is the closest I've gotten to Hungary since 2009 so it was nice ! I look forward to visiting next year!

Fantastic evening at the Field club in the Grill room with friends! This is a private members only…read moreclub on the Sarasota waterfront with tennis facilities, pool and multiple dining areas and well worth the visit if you get an invite from a member! The building is historic with many great touches, and the food and service did not disappoint! Salmon and fillet were both outstanding as were the tuna and shrimp appetizers. Desserts were also absolutely delicious and large portions easy to share. If you're in the mood for something sweet, cold and delicious after dinner, try the Whisper! Thanks for a fantastic evening!

The Field Club is a private country club that seems to be pretty exclusive. I attended a wedding…read morethere so I am reviewing that experience. And quite frankly, it was wonderful. The ceremony was located on a beautiful lawn area looking right out into the water. That was followed by cocktail hour which was located at a nearby event room with an outdoor patio. Then we moved into one of the dining rooms for the reception. My meal was salmon and it was fantastic, as were all of the servers and bartenders all evening. It was a great wedding and I'm glad I got to experience this place.

This place is a hidden somewhat run down but still super awesome old school gem that we loved…read more Florida's "Colonial Williamsburg" type living history museum with several buildings o exhibts as wrll as: Some livestock animals. A small garden inckuding sugar cane. Lots of vintage old stuff to explore. We woukd have loved a docent but self discovery was neat too. We really enjoyed our visit. Hoepfully some big money or loving volunteers step up to help support this super cool place. A trip back in time.. I love this place.

Wonderful place to take children. Old Florida at its best. Adjacent to Myakka State Park and easy…read moreto get to.

This is my first opera since moving down here from NYC 11 years ago. In tonight's case, we have…read moretickets for Il Trovatore (Giuseppe Verdi). Even though downtown Sarasota is a total conglomeration of small and poorly laid out streets, it was easy to get here. I lucked out and found a spot on Central Ave right around the corner. Just $2 to park until 8pm, after which it's "free parking," to borrow a phrase from Monopoly. They refurbished this place not so long ago so it's quite nice in the auditorium itself. It kinda has a Spanish colonial feel both inside and outside. When I hear "opera house," I think of the Metropolitan Opera House and Lincoln Center. This place is quite small and more closely resembles a theatre where one would expect to see "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" or "Hello Dolly." I purchased orchestra box seats, which come 4 to a box, two rows per box. No one right near us but two couples front of us in the next box forward. I'm tall enough to have seen over Madame Blue Hair, so I had to switch seats with my dear Queen Bee. Sight lines could be better, IMHO. Meantime, I even received a personalized thank you letter from the Opera House "Powers That Be" upon entering our "box." Two free drinks were ours for the taking..."does not include spirits." Still a nice touch though. Free Diet Pepsi/Coke awaits us in the future! Woo Hoo!! Acoustics seemed okay rather than too loud, too muffled or too tinny. As I said above, sight lines are rather mediocre but at least one isn't totally packed in like a tin of sardines. Both our seats (stand alone moveable chairs) and standard row seating seem comfortable enough.

Stopped into this hundred year-old historic Opera House in the arts district of Sarasota. The…read moreSarasota Opera House is a historic, beautifully renovated 1,119-seat theater in downtown Sarasota, known for hosting opera, ballet, concerts & film festivals. Originally opened in 1926 as the Edwards Theatre, it features a restored auditorium with excellent acoustics and is part of a larger complex that includes a pavilion for events. The venue is on the National Register of Historic Places and offers a variety of performance and event spaces.

I spent 2 1/2 hours with a Veteran guide, Jeff Sherwin, the Gallery Section Captain. Jeff had many…read moredetails, anecdotes and personal experiences to share, it made for a fascinating afternoon. There are many exhibits, well laid out, including artifacts, videos, newspaper clippings, interactive opportunities, and much, much more. It makes discovering facts about our American history a little less overwhelming. Many things I discovered I either never learned in high school or didn't remember. Everyone I encountered who works and volunteers here is friendly and welcoming, with a terrific sense of humor. So many stories, I could go back and spend another few hours and learn even more. I highly recommend a trip to this museum. If you are fortunate enough to have Jeff as your guide, you will learn the 3 things required for victory, common to every war (Hint: W.A.O.). Find out where Kleenex got its start before manufacturing hygiene products and why Lucky Strike changed is packaging from green to white. I am very proud to be an American. The history on display conveys where we came together, where we messed up, how we learned and how we continue to grow as a nation. I learned so much in a short period of time, mostly that history is important for each of us to understand our heritage. "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" --George Santayana. Thank you, Jeff, for your service and for spending your time with us.

We visited often. The volunteer staff are knowledgeable and fun to chat with. School trips are a…read morepriority for these folks. Education is key to remember our history