For me, though, summer is definitely over. Last week was my first official work trip of the 2017-2018 school year.
That's right, folks, an entirely new group of children are entering that awkward, tough, and not-at-all glamorous part of their lives known as "school age". Want to feel old? This year's high school freshmen were all born in 2002-2003. These kids haven't even heard of The Matrix! If you tell them Tobey Maguire is the real Spiderman THEY WON'T BELIEVE YOU. Disgusting!
My journey took me to the town of Sarasota. Sarasota calls itself a city, but I have been all around it and it is definitely a town. It is not one that I had ever given much thought to before spending a week there. While I was traveling for work and not, strictly for pleasure, I still took the time to check out some of the sights.
The two biggest highlights were easily Siesta Key Beach and Owen's Fish Camp.
Much to my disappointment, Owen's Fish Camp is a restaurant, and not a place for groupers to spend their adolescent summers. Nonetheless, the atmosphere was enjoyable and the food was phenomenal. Sure they had plenty of traditional fried fish fancies, but I actually was really taken aback by some of their more creative offerings. Like this BLT with a WHOLE DARN CRAB on it.
(That Diet Pepsi was mine, but I don't want you to think of me as some kind of Diet Pepsi drinker. I had exhausted all of my other viable drink options. Trust me. QUIT JUDGING)
It was actually so enjoyable that I went two nights in a row, which is something that I never do.
Siesta Key's Beach is apparently world famous. I know this because there were signs all over the island telling me that it was world famous. As a matter of fact, every single street sign on the island had an additional brown sign underneath it that read "#1 Beach USA". I feel like they wouldn't have gone to the trouble of printing and erecting so many signs if it weren't true.
Sadly, as the work trip was a particularly busy one, I did not have much time to spend at the beach. I did, however, have enough time to go for a nice walk at sunset. The water was as warm as a bath tub, which would have been enjoyable if not for the cloying anxiety associated with having my feet standing in incontrovertible evidence of the cataclysmic climate change already wrought on our pale blue dot... but I digress.
(This was a VERY ROMANTIC way to end an evening with my other straight, spoken-for male coworker)
The big draw to Siesta Key is the sand. The sand is made from 99% pure white quartz. It looks fairy-tale white, and has a unique consistency. I would compare it to moon sand/magic sand, which you may remember playing with or attempting to eat as a kid (No? Just me? okay). It feels "fake" in an odd way.
(I was about to write out a beautiful, pithy poem. You should have seen it. A seagull cried)
Ultimately, it was a pretty rough week. It was difficult getting back into the swing of things with my job, and the long days are exhausting. There is always the temptation on these trips to just go to bed after work, or to just lay around the hotel room relaxing. Occasionally it can feel like it would take too much effort to go out and explore in the late afternoons.
I never let myself fall into this trap. Why else do I have this job if not for the opportunity to see more of the world? Sure, West Florida may not be too terribly different from Central Florida, but I still found a few gems and made a couple of memories. Stopping to smell the roses is what gives me the fuel to keep on going.
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