Summer bucket list: Top nine things to do

Summers don’t have to be slow on Longboat Key. In fact, it’s the perfect opportunity to explore the best of the island’s offerings, minus the crowds. If you’re sticking out the summer showers and 90-degree temperatures, here are suggestions for the most dogged of days.

1. Be a beach bum

This one’s a no-brainer. Longboat Key is famous for its white sand beaches and tranquil waters. So grab your towel and sunscreen and head to one of the island’s 11 public beach accesses. For locations, visit longboatkey.org.

Stay safe at the beach by doing the stingray shuffle (shuffle your feet to avoid stepping on a stingray in the water) and monitoring beach conditions. Look for the beach flag warning systems outside both fire stations, 5490 Gulf of Mexico Drive and 2162 Gulf of Mexico Drive, that provide information about potential hazards.

2. Explore the ocean at Mote

At the Aquarium at Mote Marine Laboratory, 1600 Ken Thompson Parkway, you can get an up-close look at the sea’s most fascinating creatures.

Learn about Mote’s history of shark research in the Shark Zone and check out a narrated training session at 11 a.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday, in the aquarium’s 135,000-gallon Shark Habitat.

You’ll also meet Mote’s resident manatees, sea turtles and more.

Through Sept. 14, you can see some of the ocean’s most unique creatures in the limited-time “Survivors: Beautiful and Extreme Adaptations” that features species such as the Vietnamese mossy frog that’s known as a master of camouflage and the toxic but flamboyant cuttlefish. For information, call 388-4441.

3. Savor Sarasota before June 14

Do three-course lunches for $15 and dinners for $29 sound too good to be true? During Savor Sarasota Restaurant Week, which continues through June 14, you can sample local cuisine without breaking the bank.

Participating Longboat Key restaurants are Chart House, Dry Dock Waterfront Grill, Euphemia Haye Restaurant, Harry’s Continental Kitchens and Pattigeorge’s. On St. Armands Circle, Café L’Europe is participating. For information, visit restaurantweek.savorsarasota.com.

4. Find bargain beach reads

Need a beach read? Check out the Longboat Library, 555 Bay Isles Road, where you can buy paperbacks for 50 cents and many hardcovers for $1. Hours are 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

5. Paint the town red, white and blue

Celebrate America’s birthday at Freedom Fest, the parade that is known locally as the shortest Fourth of July parade in America — and the most charming.

As usual, patriotic people of all ages and their pets can join the march or bike around Bay Isles Road. Then, stick around for a morning of games, food and prizes. Further details will be announced in a future edition of the Longboat Observer.

6. Observe a summer photo-op

We want to see how you spend your summer — whether you’re staying close to home or traveling the world.

Submit your most stunning sunset photos from Sarasota and Manatee counties in our Weather Photo contest. Weekly winners will have their photos published in their local Observer newspaper, online and on the Observer’s Facebook page.

If you’re taking a vacation, pack your Observer newspaper and snap a photo of yourself reading the paper in your destination for our “It’s Read Everywhere” contest. The winner will receive two travel tickets from JetBlue, United, Delta or U.S. Airways.

Submit photos for either contests by clicking here. 

7. Track turtles

Longboat Key goes to the turtles from May through October.

Beginning in May, female loggerheads that weigh in around 300 pounds come to shore to lay nests, each of which have 100 to 120 pingpong ball-sized eggs. Just one in 1,000 will survive to sexual maturity.

To learn more about loggerhead turtles, attend a free turtle walk beginning at 6:45 a.m. Saturdays in June and July, beginning at the public beach access at 4795 Gulf of Mexico Drive.

A trained volunteer will show participants how Mote’s Sea Turtle Patrol scouts for signs of turtle nesting as part of an effort to conserve sea turtles and discuss sea turtle life history and other local wildlife. Children must be accompanied by an adult; no reservations are needed.

Longboat Key Turtle Watch, which patrols the Manatee County portion of the island’s beach, also holds public nest openings during which spectators watch as volunteers count the eggs that hatched from a nest and help any baby stragglers make their way to sea. For nest opening details, visit lbkturtlewatch.com.

8. Flock to Save Our Seabirds

Save Our Seabirds’ Wild Bird Learning Center is home to approximately 200 wild birds and 40 species of birds that have been injured and rescued but can’t return to the wild. Admire the center’s bird residents and learn what makes each species unique, including why each species developed certain features to help it survive in its habitat.

The organization recently completed a native plants project that includes signage explaining the interdependencies between plants and birds.

For information, call 388-3010.

9. Get a taste of St. Armands

On St. Armands Circle, you’ll find world-class shops, boutiques, salons and dining at more than 130 businesses. Our suggestion for strolling the Circle in summer heat: Cool off by sampling the offerings of the half-dozen shops that serve ice cream.