Not Mar-a Lago (and that’s a GOOD THING!)
I have posted pics of our Long Boat Key, Fla vacation rental and its surroundings but now that I am no longer there (alas!), I guess I can disclose the actual location, which is the Sea Club 1, 4141 Gulf of Mexico Drive. Be forewarned that I am going to shamelessly RAVE about this place! Brother Jim C and The Beautiful Becky discovered it and, as I have written previously, the Sea Club managers also have a place at our own Houghton Lake and know some of our neighbors there! The sign is below. I am at one end of the parking lot facing north. The “entering Sarasota County” sign is at the other end of the parking lot.
Our room is on the bottom floor, second from the left end of the building, right by the umbrella on the left. This was perfect for me. The second floor would probably have provided a better view of the beach and gulf but being on the first floor meant I could go in and out as often as I wanted.
This is the main area of our room, bed and living area. The bathroom is to the left right, out of sight. We had a studio apartment. One and two bedroom units are also available if you have a larger crew. Ours was perfect for us. Spotlessly clean!
I texted the beach urchins the next pic and they said something like, “He’s doing what he does everywhere.” As you can see, Turnstile, Softy Beanbag, and Froooooggggy came along for the ride.
Aaaannndd… Kitchen! We cooked breakfast here most mornings and some of the fixings for a filet mignon dinner one night. The stove is actually smaller than the stove at the moomincabin. It was perfect for our needs.
We cooked the steaks and some corn on the grill. Note the Lake Superior t-shirt. He also made it a point to ask for Bell’s Two-Hearted beer *every* blasted time we went out to eat! I think we have encountered exactly one restaurant that had it. Publix did but it has everything.
There are plenty of beach-type chairs that you can drag down to the beach. Of course there is a rule that you have to haul them back up to the bank when you are finished with them. I know all about that rule, having grown up on The Big Lake They Call Gitchee Gumee. Neglecting it during a period of low water came back to bite me a few summers ago when we had a huge storm and our beach chairs (and a few kayaks, etc.) scattered to the winds.
Ssshhhh… Don’t tell anyone but here’s a rule that “we” did break. There is no glass allowed in the pool area. For good reason. But the GG is an interesting character and he found a way to disguise his beer bottle.
This is the last photo I took at the Sea Club, this morning before we left.
I don’t know exactly how many miles our journey was today but it was epic and I was pretty dern punchy by the end of it. We cruised across central south Florida (past Lake Okeechobee, although we didn’t go and take a look) down to what turned out to be the Southern Trumpisphere. Our lunch destination was the Sailfish Marina in West Palm Beach or something. Why? So that our lovely niece Suley Hay could serve us lunch! It was fun seeing her, the youngest of the Gumper’s 19 grandchildren and lunch was great, and I wasn’t connected with the fact that we were somewhere near Southern Trumplandia until she told us that whenever the Orange Oligarch comes to town, they close some of the roads she uses to get to work.
From there, we cruised up I95 and over toward Mouselandia and have now stopped for the night (at long last) somewhere north of Mouselandia. There is NO WAY we will be visiting Mouselandia but I will campaign for Mickey for prez the next time around 🐽
April 17th, 2017 at 8:00 pm
I love the Pringles can with the beer bottle! My late husband would have done the same damned thing. 🙂 It looks like a very nice place and almost makes me want to go back to Florida. (except that it’s such a LONG trip from here, and I much prefer Hawaii) I will have to see if I can get that beer here anywhere.
April 18th, 2017 at 8:54 pm
This is fantastic. Great.