- April 19, 2024
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A is for apple, B is for boy is old news. That’s boring and doesn’t apply to Longboat Key anyway. Why try to learn the alphabet when you can use the alphabet to learn about the Key? From A to Z, here are the ins and outs of Longboat Key.
Don’t think you could beat the Public Tennis Center regulars at their own game, and you’ll always see cyclists, runners and speedy dog-walkers making their way up and down Longboat Key. No matter the season, Longboat Key residents are no slouches.
Every Longboater probably has at least some sand in their car. How could you live in a beachside community without it? Some lucky residents live right on the water, while others have to make the grueling trek across Gulf of Mexico Drive to get to the beach. But no matter where you are on Longboat Key, you can smell the salt air — and that’s special. From visitors to part-time residents to full-time residents, few can turn down a beach walk.
Longboaters love to give and be seen giving. There’s a reason the Longboat Observer publishes the Nice List every year during the holidays. The Lawn Party nets thousands of dollars for the community, neighborhoods randomly donate to Sarasota organizations and some residents even put up six figures to renovate the dog park. There may be a lot of money on the island, but some residents seem like they can’t give it away fast enough.
There are several fashion shows every year, and even the attendees put their most fancy foot forward. For black tie galas, the island’s residents show up glittering in evening gowns and sensible but fashionable shoes. The Lord’s Warehouse even tries to go green with their fashion show — green is the new black, after all.
At least 97% of Longboat Key residents have at least a high school education, and 65% have a college degree, according to the U.S. Census. Aside from the mounds of knowledge that Longboaters bring to their everyday lives, there’s the highly popular Education Center at Temple Beth Israel, where curious residents can continue learning throughout their whole lives.
You probably immediately thought of how much emptier the roads seem right now. Longboat Key is crazy busy during the winter season, but that hustle and bustle drops off as snowbirds fly north. It’s like a college town — the full-timers get to enjoy the slowness of life that can’t be found anywhere during the winter.
There are only two golf courses on Longboat Key, but plenty of people and organizations try to make their way to the links. The Longboat Key Club rules the roost with golf and boasts men’s clubs, multiple women’s groups and several invitationals every year. That’s not counting all the tournaments that churches and the Chamber put on every year. The director of golf is quite a busy man, but when you’ve got views like this, it’s not so bad.
There are no slapstick comedies here. Longboat Key residents tend to enjoy the finer things in life, like the theater, ballet and opera. Think of the countless hours residents spend in their cars trying to get into downtown Sarasota to see what’s at the Van Wezel and consider the fact that at least some residents want to bring a black box theater to Town Center Green.
Longboat Key residents are always giving their two cents — which is far better than the alternative. Residents show up en masse to commission meetings, retirees throw themselves into volunteer work and everybody seems to know everybody. It leads to the connected, small-town feel of the island.
J is for Juan Anasco, the residential street on the north end of Longboat Key. It’s named for a scout of Hernando de Soto, who manned the “longboat” as the intrepid pair navigated their way around the Key.
The typical boat on Longboat Key probably has a motor, but kayakers take to Sarasota Bay in droves. Even during a Blessing of the Fleet, kayaks make their way to get a blessing, too — just like they do at Longboat Harbour every year.
Though the involved residents are always trying to make things better, not one Longboat Key resident will deny that they’re incredibly lucky to live where they do. Even when stuck in traffic, you can get views of the gulf in the right spot.
It hasn’t been around for quite some time, but the Colony Beach & Tennis Resort’s Monkey Bar was the site of countless Longboat Key stories. It’s embedded in the fabric of the island. And it’s coming back — the ghost of the Monkey Bar will return when the St. Regis resort opens, as early as spring 2024.
During the pandemic, residents hosted block parties and toasted one another from their balconies. And before and after a virus kept residents apart, Longboat Key is a town of neighborhoods. Condos host social parties, neighbors create task forces and generally, the proximity doesn’t seem to dampen the urge to spend time together.
The pandemic gave everyone an excuse to host their events outside more often — humidity be damned. There are plenty of beautiful places to explore on Longboat Key, such as Quick Point Preserve, Bayfront Park, Joan Durante Park and all of the beaches, but more often than not, you’ll find Longboaters taking their parties and meeting to the great outdoors. Watch out for people doing tai chi in The Paradise Center’s parking lot.
The game is growing and it seems as though players will never be sated. Tennis courts have been converted into pickleball courts, and forget about trying to get a parking spot at Bayfront Park during season. The pickleballers take over the whole place and tap to their hearts’ content. Just don’t think you can easily pick up pickleball if you’re a tennis player — you might feel and look foolish.
And we love you for it. Longboat Key residents know what they’re talking about for the most part, and they have a funny and ever-so-quotable way of saying it. How else could you have a community newspaper packed with so many one-of-a-kind voices?
According to the U.S. Census, about 80% of Longboat Key is retired. But that doesn’t stop Longboat Key residents from getting down to work or continuing to work at their previous jobs — just close the laptop and walk away.
The list of events to cover during the winter grows long and longer every year. Longboat Key residents can’t go a day without getting together with friends for parties, dinner or just drinks on the patio. It keeps everyone busy and the happy memories are worth the gymnastics required to make it to everything on the calendar.
There are dozens of courts on Longboat Key and every morning during season, the Longboat Key Public Tennis Center courts fill up for hours. You could say it’s really Love.
There are just under 1,000 veterans on Longboat Key, which totals about 16% of the population. In Sarasota, it’s only 12% of the population. Veterans enjoy a peaceful life on Longboat Key, and every year there are multiple events to honor their sacrifices, from concerts to luncheons to pinning ceremonies.
The president of the Kiwanis Club doesn’t get paid, but that doesn’t stop whomever it is from nearly bending over backwards to work hard to improve the community on behalf of the club. Service organizations like Kiwanis, the Rotary Club of Longboat Key and the Garden Club all run off volunteer work, and boy do they run.
So much of the population is retired, but the island couldn’t run without all the volunteer work that goes on. And those who still work do so from their homes keep on ticking thanks to the era of Zoom. Longboat Key residents work to live and live to work and just keep going like the Energizer Bunny.
Ever been to a lackluster Longboat Key party or reception or event? When Longboat Key residents put their minds to something, it might as well be the biggest and best version of it.
The Education Center at Temple Beth Israel, the classes at the Bayfront Park Recreation Center, the random classes that pop up at different outdoor spaces. Longboat Key residents seem determined to twist themselves into all sorts of shapes in the name of health and wellness.
From community comments at town commission meetings to the eagerness that goes into the planning of the Lawn Party every year, Longboat Key residents are not lacking in passion.
