Say what you will about Florida. It is a fun state. We found ourselves during the first week of November needing one more week of short-sleeve weather after our fabulously rare, sunny Seattle October — and, well, we had other reasons to visit the Sunshine State besides the sun.
For instance, we wanted to see if it really was possible to vote for our presidential choice four or five times during our stay in the state of “chads.” Sadly, we were unable to ever find out, because all of the lines at Florida’s polling sites were too long. Apparently, Florida is unfamiliar with mail-in ballots.
A second agenda that I had was wearing my “aging expert” hat. I wanted to see what life would be like in 15 years as the rest of the nation catches up from its 14 percent of the population over age 65 to Florida’s 20-plus percent over 65. More on that later.
Our itinerary was unusual. I would gladly recommend it to anyone; the travel plan is really what this story is about.
We didn’t fly to Orlando to do the Disney thing. Neither did we head down to Miami to check out the art deco scene or to explore the Keys. We didn’t head over to the Space Coast to watch a shuttle take off, or drive to Daytona for some Southern fried NASCAR races.
Instead, we went to the inside, to the quieter Gulf side, from Pensacola on the Alabama border around the curve to Tampa-St. Petersburg, ending up in the stylistic, sophisticated art town of Sarasota, an hour south of Tampa Bay.
Pensacola is the spiritual capital of the ill-named “Redneck Riviera.” If beautiful white, sandy beaches were the measure of rating “rivieras,” then Pensacola’s shames those of France and Italy. In fact, for warm water, miles of wide and quiet — often uninhabited — sandy beaches, Pensacola and the new communities to the east are the best in America. These “Panhandle” beaches are hopping in the summer, as vacationers from the Southern states flock to cool off in the ocean breezes.
Pensacola claims to be the oldest city in North America, and its architecture reminded me of New Orleans — lots of wrought-iron balconies that owe their origins to early Spanish and French colonists. There are several good B&Bs in town. We particularly enjoyed our stay at the Pensacola Victorian B&B, built in 1890 and run by chef Barbee Major. It has wood floors, stained glass and antiques everywhere.
Downtown Pensacola is alive with new cafes, restaurants and night spots that cater to the wave of retirees who are flocking to this corner of Florida. We enjoyed meals at The Fish House (seafood is everywhere in this part of Florida) and the upscale Global Grill.
If flight is your fancy, a must-see is Pensacola’s National Naval Aviation Museum. The Blue Angels are based here, and air shows and practices are constant. The Aviation Museum, with its 150 vintage aircraft, rates in everyone’s Top Five lists of museums of flight.
My next visit to this area will be in February, and here is my plan: Fly into New Orleans and get a taste or two of Mardi Gras, Louisiana-style. Then drive four hours east, across Mobile Bay, to get a second and different sample of “Fat Tuesday” in Pensacola. I am told that while the costumes, beads and moonpies are as good as anybody’s, the lack of crushing crowds, public drunkenness and street crime will convince you that Pensacola is a better mid-winter break.
After several days in Pensacola, we hopped into our Hertz rental car, feeling extremely self-righteous in our hybrid Prius (over 45 miles per gallon), and drove Route 98 east to the new “second-half” communities of Destin, Santa Rosa Beach, Panama City, Mexico Beach and on to the “jewel” of the Riviera, the historic oyster-town of Apalachicola.
While it is true that major developers have been pouring millions into these Gulf-side communities of tiny yards, fresh paint, wide and safe streets, it is also true that one could hardly see the beaches for all the “For Sale” signs. Like Las Vegas and Phoenix, the economy is hitting this scenario for retirement extremely hard. My other observation was that “McCain-Palin” signs competed with the “For Sale” signs, one-to-one. Obama-who?
Apalachicola is the antithesis of all the new instant communities along the Riviera. It has been raking the bottoms of its bays for 300 years for oysters, and little of the oysterman lifestyle has changed. How many oysters? Let’s just say that if you eat an oyster east of the Mississippi River, it came from Apalachicola. If you get a chance, visit this place. The town is a real-life museum to another way of life — a slowed-way-down, pleasant one.
Between Apalachicola and just north of Tampa, State Route 98 moves inland from the Gulf Coast, and the occasional towns en route have little to offer.
In Tampa, I wanted to treat Judy to several great tourist experiences that she had missed when I visited 20 years ago — Busch Gardens and the Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg.
The Busch Gardens Tampa Bay Park, on an almost-but-not-quite Disney scale, is an all-day experience that is as fun and fantastic for people over age 50 as it is for people under 20. We caught three different shows in our time there. One called “Ka-Tonga” was a Broadway musical, with costuming and stagecraft on par with “The Lion King.” Another show, “Critter Castaways,” included flying parrots, a giant condor, a skunk and kangaroos — some 80 animals in all. A third show featured a capella singing from a group that did the best of Mo-town — very smooth. Judy’s favorite part of Busch Gardens was the brilliant way that the zoo was incorporated into the park, with tropical animals virtually everywhere; gorillas, orangutans, oryx, giraffes, lions and tigers, including two rare white tigers. And the rides, of course, including all of the latest roller coasters; lots of them.
An hour south of Tampa Bay lies the town of Sarasota. This is a town where I could live. It felt like California’s La Jolla, but with a lot more beachfront and culture. Florida’s coastline is rimmed with no-bank islands, peninsulas and beaches. Sarasota’s Longboat Key, Siesta Key and Lido Key each have white sandy beaches and are great for bird-watching, sea-shelling, biking, hiking and even camping at the state park.
The biggest draw in Sarasota is the John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art. The Ringling estate is a full day of exploring, first the museum of art with its world-class collection of Rubens; the Ca’ d Zan Mansion, where Mr. and Mrs. Ringling lived (not unlike The Hearst Castle of California); the Circus Museum; and the Historic Asolo Theatre.
Performing arts are everywhere in Sarasota, with the Mertz and Cook theaters, Florida West Coast Symphony, Florida Studio Theater, Sarasota Ballet and many more. I can’t think of a city this size in America that boasts half the art of Sarasota.
In keeping with the “Carmel” atmosphere of arts, crafts and a very pleasant nature, Sarasota has a rich collection of pastel bungalow homes built in the 1920s and 1930s. Many have been converted into art galleries, restaurants, cafes, garden shops and guest houses. We stayed at a converted apartment house, now the Hotel Ranola, which is located several blocks from the center of the downtown gallery and restaurant core. Its amenities include full kitchens, wall-hung plasma TVs, iPod docking stations, premium cable, free parking and favorable pricing with extended stays.
IF YOU GO:
• Pensacola Bay Area Convention and Visitors Bureau can send information to you.
800-874-1234
www.visitpensacola.com
• Pensacola Victorian Bed and Breakfast
800-370-8354
www.pensacolavictorian.com
If you want to experience Pensacola by staying on the beach and next to the longest American pier in the Gulf of Mexico, I recommend the Hilton Pensacola Beach Gulf Front Hotel at www.pensacolabeachgulffronthilton.com or toll-free 866-916-2999, and yes, they serve Starbucks.
For information about the Sarasota area, call the Sarasota Visitors Information Center (www.sarasotafl.org) at (800) 522-9799.
Our hotel in Sarasota: Hotel Ranola, 866-951-0111, www.hotelranola.com
How to get to Florida: If you are gathering Alaska Air Miles, Alaska does fly into Orlando, where you can rent a car and tour the Gulf Coast. Even better, spend some of your miles on this trip and make it a freebie.
Bill Morton can be reached at www.secondhalf.net.
