Sarasota Easter Weekend

You won’t hear us complaining about mini vacations to see family at the beach in Florida, that’s for sure! Now that the boys are older and travel is a little easier, trips to Sarasota for Easter have become somewhat of a tradition for our crew. While the timing of our trip (aka spring break) means Sarasota is quite busy, our main goal is to spend time with Les and Diane, so we don’t feel overly obligated to see and do all the things while we’re there. (We’ve done a lot over the years though and do have some solid Sarasota family-friendly recommendations if you’d like to check them out here: Sarasota with Kids.) Thursday Friday: Peachey’s, Payne Park, Mote Aquarium Crescent Beach Our first full day in Sarasota was Thursday and started on the highest of high notes with a trip to Peachey’s, a local family-owned bakeshop in the area. OH MY GOSH, you guys. Our family loves scouting out local doughnut gems when we travel (mainly because we’re awake so early and they’re often the only places open before 8 a.m. — but also because we love doughnuts) and when Diane raved about Peachey’s, we knew we had to give it a try. We ordered one of each doughnut (they have four flavors every day) and on a whim threw in a soft pretzel because it looked so good. When I tell you this was the best soft pretzel I’ve ever had in my life, I mean it. The pretzel was doughy and buttery with the perfect subtle sweetness and saltiness that had our entire family singing its praises. The doughnuts were incredible, too! Fueled by dough and sugar, we made our way to a Payne Park where the boys enjoyed climbing all over the circus-themed playground. The rest of our Thursday passed by in a blur of swimming, a stop in downtown Sarasota for ice cream and relaxing on the swing in Les and Diane’s backyard. Friday morning we walked around the trails at Urfer Park before setting out to visit the new Mote Science Education Aquarium. The previous seaside Mote aquarium was a favorite of our family’s for years so we were all really looking forward to visiting the new facility. It was beautiful and a great stop for our family. We spent a little over two hours at the aquarium and the otters, penguins, touch tanks and large tanks filled with sharks were highlights for our crew. And I couldn...