![Boat parking at The Crow’s Nest in Venice [Photo: Lauren Jackson]](/sites/default/files/styles/popular_stories_teaser/public/2023-import/The-Crow%2527s-Nest-cropped__OPT.jpg.webp?itok=F_GZSs8A)
Outdoor Activities
Trade screen time for sea breezes, quiet trails and moments that move at nature’s pace.
Since the advent of smartphones and portable tablets, some days it feels downright impossible to escape the demands of voicemail, text and email notifications buzzing in our pockets. From television to TikTok, the modern world can often feel like it's full of noisy distractions, but the good news is this: every tech device has a "Power Off" option—and we have the power to utilize it.
Runners rejoice — you can take your vacation without having to pause your training. Sarasota County is an excellent Florida Gulf Coast destination and a Runner Friendly Community, as chosen by the Road Runner Club of America.
Vacation and training for a race tend to pair together about as well as oil and water. Too often, "training" on vacation means running loops around the small park next to the hotel, or laboriously dull treadmill jogging.
Hunting for fossilized shark teeth is a treasured Sarasota County pastime, and the best place to find them is along the coastline of Venice, Florida.
It's a picture-perfect morning on Southwest Florida's coastline, as the cloudless royal blue sky meets the far-off horizon. The emerald-green Gulf gently laps onto the sandy shoreline, and a few barefooted beachcombers are off in the distance, searching for the discarded teeth of the ocean’s infamous hunters.
You’re never too young to explore the great outdoors—and we’ve got plenty of short trails to help little ones enjoy nature.
“Are we there yet?” “How much longer?” “I’m tired; can you carry me?”
If you’re a parent, you’ve probably heard these kinds of questions and complaints what feels like a million times. They’re never fun to hear, especially when you’re trying to enjoy the beauty of nature by taking a family hike.
Garden lovers should plant themselves at these Sarasota County spots
Some people have green thumbs and can grow almost anything they plant. And other people—like me—are notorious plant killers who appreciate the beauty of gardens cultivated and cared for by folks who know how to wield a trowel and pruning shears. Whether you’re a grower yourself or just never met a flower you didn’t want to photograph, there are lots of spots in Sarasota County where you can get into the garden and admire the plant life that can sprout in these parts.
Sarasota’s version of winter invites you outside—to play, explore and breathe deeply. You’ll find there’s no better time to be here than when everyone else wishes they were.
When much of the country is buried under blankets and hibernating, Florida's Gulf Coast is stretching out under 70-degree sunshine. Sarasota’s version of “cool weather” is a light breeze, bare feet in the sand and the kind of blue-sky days that make you forget what a parka even looks like. Here, winter is not a season to survive but a reason to explore.