Lakewood Ranch Country Club

I had the pleasure of playing at the Lakewood Ranch Country Club yesterday in a scramble for the Out of Door Academy. The course was in great condition and with a strong breeze it really wasn't that hot.

The Country Club consists of 36 holes of golf designed by the Palmer Course Design Co., a practice range, chipping area and putting greens. The clubhouse has about 45,000 square feet featuring a formal dining room, grille and lounge, banquet facilities, private dining rooms, men's and ladies' lounges and card rooms, golf pro shop, locker rooms and cart storage.

Saturday and Sunday dinners

Saturday night I went to Caragiulos in downtown Sarasota with my family and the inlaws. This is a great non chain Italian resturant. I had the lasagna dish and it was very tasty. The atmosphere is very unique and interesting with all of the movie posters and memorabilia. As far as the food goes I have to say I like Carrabbas and Johnny Carino's just a little better.

Tonight my wife and I had a baby sitter and went to Sam Sneads in the southside village. I had the chicken marsala which was great and my wife ate the tenderloin which she enjoyed. If you eat there ask to sit in Sweet Joey Mills section.

Lovely weather today

I took the family for a bike ride this morning. The weather is great today. There is a strong breeze and it is not too hot or humid. I just looked at weather.com and the humidity is only 37% and the temperature is currently 84 degrees.

I frequently hear people complain about the heat in Florida. I was in Scottsdale 2 weeks ago for the Sotheby's International Realty convention. The heat in Florida is nothing compared to Arizona. Dry heat or not it was hot! I actually prefer a little humidity. The high temperature in Phoenix today is 98 degrees. I did enjoy my visit to Scottsdale. Just like the winters up north I don't think it is the high humidity and temperatures but the duration that bother people. By the time September rolls around the heat has definitely worn out its welcome.

Demolishing the Quay

The wrecking ball started working on The Quay yesterday to make way for the new billion dollar development of retail and residential space. I am happy to see that they will finally be taking down the derelict building.

The first of three planned residential towers, slated to contain roughly 700 units, could be done in late 2010 or 2011. I am surprised to see so many residential units in the plans. In all of 2006 roughly 150 condos sold in the downtown area and that number includes all of the sales in 100 Central which were made in 2004.

We have plenty of downtown condos for sale now. There is demand for property in this area but they have to be priced well. I think the developer, Irish American Management Services Ltd., will need to a good number of units in the "middle of the road" price range in order to sell 700 of them.

I think it will eventually be a great destination place with all of the planned shopping, restuarants and entertainment.

I wonder why they have not planned any convention space in the project. More meeting space would support more hotel rooms, jobs, travel, etc.

The painted clowns were auctioned off

Do you remember seeing the clowns around downtown Sarasota? Evidently, 29 of the 26 clowns were auctioned off last Saturday night. Each clown averaged a $4,000 sales price with the minimum price $3,500. TideWell Hospice and Palliative Care has made nearly $120,000 off a public art display. There is still an opportunity to buy one. 20 clowns are available in an online auction until Friday.

"Homer the Reds Clown," designed by Skip Dyrda with help from local celebrity artist Jerry Springer, is headed to Dayton, Ohio. The clown "Dazzle and Hip-Hop" is bound for New York City. They sold for $3,500 each.

Eating lunch at El Greco's

For lunch I ate at El Greco today in downtown Sarasota. I eat there frequently and highly recommend it to anyone who likes Greek food. Today's lunch was the gyro salad and it was very tasty as usual. I think the salad cost me around $8.00. El Greco is located on the south east corner of main street and orange avenue.

Nordstrom coming to Sarasota?

Nordstrom shoppers should be happy to hear about the retailers letter of intent to open a store at the University Town Center.

The high end retailers plans on opening at the 276 acre shopping center at University Parkway and I-75. The two-level Nordstrom will be 138,000 square feet and will open by late 2010.

When completed the University Town Center will be the largest retail space in Sarasota. The developers are also planning on office buildings, hotels, a movie theater, its own trolley system, parks, a grocer, outdoor dining until 3 a.m. and sculling on an adjacent lake.

In the first phase, a SuperTarget is now open and Benderson expects to sign Best Buy, ULTA cosmetics, Cost Plus World Market and Dick's Sporting Goods. Traffic is already very heavy in the Lakewood Ranch/I-75 area.

With such a large project planned the county will have to add and/or widen roads to alleviate congestion.

Changing this blog

I am going to change this blog to a general information source about life in Sarasota, Florida. I plan to have information about any and every topic, useful or useless, about living in Sarasota. Feel free to write comments.