A Sarasota Honeymoon from The World's Greatest Honeymoons

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The Tropics, Florida Style

Enjoy a sun-splashed honeymoon in Sarasota, a sophisticated resort town nestled on Florida’s balmy Gulf coast. Between the area’s award-winning beaches, dazzling sunsets, great shopping, fabulous restaurants, and impressive cultural scene, you’ll come home feeling as if you’d escaped to a tropical island—and for a fraction of the price.

This area was first visited by Europeans in 1500, but it wasn’t until the early 20^th century that Sarasota came into its own. Wealthy visitors came for the balmy winter climate and stayed on to build stunning mansions, museums, gardens, and performance venues. The town never became snooty, though, probably because the famed Ringling Circus made Sarasota its winter home starting in 1927.

These days, along with its sunny weather, 35 miles of white-sand beachfront, and gorgeous scenery, Sarasota consistently serves up a giant dollop of exhilarating activities.

Sarasota Honeymoon Ideas

Take an early morning drive along Longboat Key, a luxurious barrier island connected to the mainland and home to the annual Stone Crab, Seafood & Wine Festival. Start at Bean Point Beach, and then head south along the breathtaking waterfront lined with palm trees. In popular Lido Beach, enjoy breakfast at one of the boardwalk cafés offering entertaining glimpses of jugglers, skaters, and other passersby. Afterward, stroll hand-in-hand around nearby Sarasota Baywalk, a protected wetlands site. Or, if you’re both feeling athletic, try a self-guided canoe tour through south Lido’s mangrove habitat.

Also see: Florida Keys | Lee County Coast | Miami | Miami Neighborhoods | Orlando | Palm Beach | Paradise Coast | Space Coast | St. Augustine |

Next up: the exuberant, eclectic Ringling Estate. Expect to spend most of the day at this 66-acre wonderland on Sarasota Bay created by John Ringling, a partner in the legendary circus. The two major offerings here are the John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art and the Circus Museum, which together showcase a nowhere-but-here combo of circus artifacts and world-famous artists. The art museum contains an important collection of giant paintings by the 17^th century artist Peter Paul Rubens, including his 1625 masterpiece, The Triumph of Divine Love. You’ll also find works by Velazquez, Tiepolo, and Hals. Additional collections include Cypriot antiquities, American paintings and sculpture, and Asian art; traveling exhibits take place throughout the year. The Circus Museum displays rare handbills, props, costumes and lots of other fun and fabulous artifacts from the old circus days.

The Estate's second major offering is Ringling’s fabulous waterfront home, Cà d’Zan—a triumph of 1920s architecture and decorative art. After a six-year, $15 million restoration, this terra cotta palazzo—32 rooms and four stories high—re-opened in 2006 to worldwide kudos. Built in the 1920s, it's filled with priceless 17^th and 18^th century tapestries and furniture, and loaded with the kind of lavish touches that make you hunger for the pre-income tax days. BTW, Home & Garden TV produced a special program covering the Cà d’Zan restoration.

Now it’s on to the wildlife. Perhaps you’ll go for the Mote Aquarium, which lets you get safely close to sea critters like sharks, manatees, rays, and sea turtles. Or maybe lushly-landscaped Sarasota Jungle Gardens is more your speed: you’ll see a cockatoo pedaling a miniature unicycle on a hire wire, thousands of shrimp-pink flamingoes, and more than 70 species of animals, birds and reptiles. Or get right into nature at Myakka River State Park, where one of the state's two scenic rivers is surrounded by landscape that's barely changed since Seminoles sheltered 'neath the swaying pines. With its thick woodlands and beautiful wetlands, the 29,000-acre Park is a wildlife haven which you can experience via hiking, biking, kayaking, strolling through the treetops on a 70-foot-high canopy walkway, or on the world's largest airboat.

Then, too, you might prefer visiting the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. As you meander down the paths of this nine-acre paradise, you’ll marvel over the vivid colors of orchids, hibiscus, and other tropical gems. There’s also a tropical fruit garden, a banyan grove, and a display house filled with rare ferns, bromeliads, and heliconia. And check out the on-site Christy Payne Mansion. On the National Register of Historic Places, it hosts a changing series of botanical art and photography exhibits.

For lunch, head south to the seaside town of Venice, built in the 1920s in an Italian Renaissance architectural style. Despite the town's fearsome nickname, "Shark’s Tooth Capital of the World," it’s a friendly place, with a busy, palm-lined Main Street chock full of outdoor cafés, galleries, and shops. A 10-mile trail in Venetian Waterway Park follows the Intracoastal Waterway and allows as much walking, biking, or skating as you'd like. When you're through, head out to Caspersen Beach to enjoy the saltwater marshes and tidal flats while sifting through sand for fossilized shark teeth that are millions of years old.

Maybe you'd prefer pursuing a favorite sport rather than shark's teeth? Every hotel and resort worth its salt has a tennis court, and golf courses abound. For starters, consider the historic, 18-hole Bobby Jones Golf Complex in the City of Sarasota; or Bradenton's Arnold-Palmer designed Legacy at Lakewood Ranch. Those with a yen to fish can arrange for a charter from one of 15 marinas, or just find a cozy beach and cast from the shore.

And let's not forget shopping! True bargain hounds head directly for the astonishing Red Barn Flea Market in Bradenton, just north of Sarasota, with more than 600 booths offering new and used clothing, collectibles, antiques, housewares, furniture, pet supplies, watches, flowers—you name it. ~ Or browse downtown Sarasota's many clothing boutiques, scout out antiques at Herald Square, and check out upscale shops in St. Armand's Circle. At tree-shaded Towles Court in the art district, you'll get to see artists working in century-old bungalows and cottages. While you’re in the neighborhood, grab a basket filled with plump Valencia oranges from nearby Albritton Grove Market.

As the day winds down, travel out to 8-mile long Siesta Key, which has, according to the scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the whitest and finest sand in the entire world (99% pure quartz). It's also gorgeous. Stretch out side-by-side beneath a swaying palm on that inviting powder and watch the Matisse-bright sun melt into the sea. By the way, mystery fans: John D. Macdonald, author of the Travis McGee novels, lived and wrote about 70 books on Siesta Key.

At night, head to the purple, shell-shaped Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall for a symphony or ballet, followed by a memorable meal at one of the city's award-winning restaurants.

The perfect capper to this perfect day: a moon-drenched walk on the beach, with nothing for company but the sound of crashing surf, a gentle breeze...and each other.

More Info: Sarasota Convention & VIsitors Bureau

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All written material ©WGH ~ Photos: Sarasota CVB