A fun way to travel and meet local people who share your interests is through MeetUp.com. With Meet Up you quite simply go to MeetUp.com and look for groups that match your interests close to home or where you want to travel, look for meet up times that fit your schedule, and meet some new people! It’s simple and fun. It’s a great way to make new friends anywhere, as well as to find out what local people recommend as the best things to see, and the best places to eat and shop, etc. in the local area.

Since thinking about starting this blog one of the local attractions that I knew I should get back to, to write about is Sarasota Jungle Gardens. It is one of the must do’s for people visiting this area. Seeing that a local digital photography MeetUp was getting together there, I saw a great opportunity. I got to meet several new friends and revisit this wonderful place to get some photos to share with you. Many of these folks are far more experienced with cameras than I but I felt very welcome with them and had a great day. I also got lots of great photos a few of which I’ll share here.

Sarasota Jungle Gardens bills itself as a Tropical Adventure, and indeed it is. Here you can wonder down lush jungle paths,

be amazed by tropical birds,

and have close encounters lakeside with bright pink flamingos.

The Jungle Gardens are stunning, not only did our photo group have camera’s most everyone I saw there did. When you get there you’ll know why you absolutely want to bring a camera! The gardens are fun too with bird and reptile shows and lots of other animals to see. There is also a children’s play area, a gift shop and café by a koi pond.

If you are visiting the Sarasota area this is a must do. The Sarasota Jungle Gardens can be enjoyed by all ages, a visit here is assured to create wonderful memories of your Florida gulf coast vacation that will be treasured for years to come.

May all your life’s travels be blessed.

Explorer Dave

Book you travel now to this or any other destination worldwide at Explorer Dave’s Travel.

Do you love festivals and fairs? Well if you’re looking for a real old fashioned county fair I have one to highly recommend here in Florida. It’s the Manatee County Fair in Palmetto. It seems that many fairs recently have become little more than midways, this one however is the real McCoy.

I almost missed it. A friend asked if I was going and I didn’t even realize it was on, so thank you Carolyn, although it was a bit on the cold side (for Florida) I had a great time. This is a smaller fair, but it has all the elements of a true county fair and a beautiful setting to boot. As you enter the fairgrounds main gate you come into a large courtyard filled with majestic oaks dripping with moss and hanging flower baskets, absolutely wonderful!

To the left of the entrance is an exhibit building with commercial and community exhibits many of which did a great job of promoting this years theme of “What’s cookin’ at the 2008 Manatee County Fair”. I’d seen grange and 4H exhibits follow fair themes before, but haven’t often seen commercial and community exhibits do such a good job of it too. Of course they had a lot of competition from 4H exhibits in a nearby building.

A real treat for me was something that I hadn’t seen at a county fair since moving to Florida, farm animals! From roosters, to cute rabbits, cows, horses, and even a dog show, this is an important part what county fairs should be. The cute little rabbit pictured here is appropriately named Thumper. While taking some photos I got to talking with Thumper’s owner. She was a bit concerned as Thumper is a house rabbit and it was a bit cold. I hope that Thumper is adjusted well as I’m sure glad they this delightful rabbit to the fair to share him with others.

At Cattleman’s just outside the Arts and Crafts building I had the best hamburger that I’ve had since moving to Florida. Well, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration as the atmosphere of the fair certainly contributed to my enjoyment, regardless it was very good, as was the peach dumpling I had later while watching pig races.

Arts and crafts have always been one of my favorite parts of county fairs. This may not all be the “museum quality” art of professional artists. It doesn’t need to be, it is the expression of passion, creativity, and joy of peoples hobbies that I enjoy, and I feel that some of it is “museum quality”. You can always find some amazing talent at the arts and crafts section of county fairs. I also really liked how hanging quilts from the ceiling added to the festive atmosphere of this space.

While I delight to see fairs that are more than midways, it just wouldn’t be a county fair without one. Here again the folks in Manatee County have done an exceptional job. The midway has a great selection of rides for both the timid and daring, it is clean with a very nice paved walkway that has channels for electric cables to run under so that you aren’t tripping on them, and shade areas for people to get out of the sun. Very classy, better than some amusement parks!

This fair has some big name entertainment as well, I didn’t see any of that this year, but I very much enjoyed much of the other entertainment they have in many locations, including concert and bluegrass bands, a barbershop quartet, a high dive show and much more including a puppet show for kids. My personal favorite was Ed & Geraldine with their Old-Time Music. Ed & Geraldine absolutely got my toes tappin, hands clappin, and put a big grin on my face.

There is so much more going on at the Manatee County Fair that I missed You just can’t see it all in one visit, I had a great time and I highly recommend it. The fair is located in Palmetto FL and happens every Jan. So check their web site for specific dates and events and make a great day or two at a great fair. While in town I also recommend a few other things to do. I would not consider Palmetto to be a vacation destination, but if you like nature, history, and old houses, it is absolutely worth a side trip if you are vacationing nearby, such as on Anna Maria Island.

Emerson Point abounds with nature trails and some of the oldest human history on Florida‘s Gulf Coast. Located between the mouth of the Manatee River and Tampa Bay Emerson Point is a wonderful place to explore. Miles of trails and wooded walkways lead to the largest remaining Indian Mound on Florida’s west coast, a lookout with views of the Sunshine Skyway bridge, Anna Maria Island, and Tampa, plus mangroves along the waters edge with little hidden beaches. Bring water, food, family and friends, or do a solo excursion to take a breather and reconnect with yourself.

The Palmetto Historical Park is a delightful collection of historic area buildings and the old barn houses a very modern and nice agricultural museum. Manatee County has done a very nice job of preserving some of it’s history here and in a few other locations that I’ll cover in later posts.

The river front and marina in Palmetto is also very nice, with an events pavilion out on the water and great views of the river. Palmetto is a small town of around 12,000 residents that is in a prime growth location between Sarasota and Tampa Bay. City leaders are working hard to preserve and enhance it’s charm and character as the next big growth boom approaches. I wish them well in that effort as Palmetto is well worth preserving and visiting.

May your life’s travels be blessed.
Explorer Dave

Sarasota, Florida – my home, is a great travel and vacation destination for people around the world. Along with world class culture, attractions, dining, shopping, and resorts are miles of wonderful sandy beaches, some of the world’s best.

My explorations are local and regional as well as far and wide. Thus I look forward to sharing with you some of the best that Sarasota and central Florida has to offer.

There are literally hundreds of resorts along central Florida’s sunny gulf coast, I don’t know if I will get to them all, but I will share many with you here. I hope that you’ll choose one and come for a visit and that my postings here will help you enjoy this bit of vacation paradise.

May all your life’s travels be blessed.

Explorer Dave

Park at 5 Points, originally uploaded by Explorer Dave.

Yesterday I wrote about the new 5 Points mixed use development downtown with a small park across the street as well as the library and other amenities. Here is the park and the public library beyond it. The building in yesterday’s photo is just outside this photo to the right. This area could be called the heart of downtown with many events taking place here. It is a very nice area now that has redevelopment plans to make it even nicer and more functional for events.

You may notice that this park is triangular. This is where the name 5 points comes from. The intersection right behind where I shot this photo is a typical 4 way intersection, except for this angled street just to the left of the photo coming into it as well, making it a 5 way or 5 point intersection.

City in Progress, originally uploaded by Explorer Dave.

This is a recently finished development downtown. It is also part of a trend that I really like, mixed use buildings. Such buildings often have retail, dinning, parking, work, entertainment, and living spaces all in the same building. In most large cities downtowns used to become virtual ghost towns after all the office workers went home, this included Sarasota.

Now thanks to mixed use developments such as this city centers are staying vibrant, active, and inviting all day and evening. It’s a great trend that I hope continues to expand, making cities far more livable and enjoyable. The Five Points area in particular is very enjoyable with a small park, the Library, Opera house, and many eateries, such as this, providing very inviting outdoor dinning adding to the ambiance and convenience of city living.

Perfect in Pink, originally uploaded by Explorer Dave.

Have you ever lived in a place where most everything is bear and gray part of the year? Or brown, dusty, and rocky all year? One of the things that I really enjoy about Florida is that the vegetation is lush, rich, green and colorful all year long. If it was a dry, arid climate here, I would NOT be here, thankfully it is a place of bountiful and abundant plant life such as this delightful orchid.

Bay View, originally uploaded by Explorer Dave.

Close to shore, south of the entrance to Island park many smaller boats drop anchor in the open water or maybe land at the beach for a drink at the Tiki lounge.

Morton’s Market, originally uploaded by Explorer Dave.

Sarasota’s Southside Village area is a local hot spot for restaurants and trendy stores. It is anchored by Morton’s Gourmet Market. The market is an absolutely wonderful place with a wide verity of top of the line groceries including gourmet heat-and-serve entrees, and a bakery that will get anyone’s mouth watering!

Rain Ripples, originally uploaded by Explorer Dave.

As much as I enjoy Florida‘s abundant sunshine I know that the lush, rich tropical vegetation that I so love needs rain. We have been a bit lacking in that recently, so it was nice to see some today. The ripples from rain drops also make nice patterns in the pool.

Going Up?, originally uploaded by Explorer Dave.

Never thought I would be taking photographs of elevator lights, let alone posting it for all to see. What can I say, I like the lights, reflection, and patterns, so here it is! It’s interesting what can catch the eye in the most unexpected places.