John D. and Sarasota Ron

I have always been an avid reader, starting with the Hardy Boy books when I was a kid. Someone once said: “A non-reader is somebody standing there in a blindfold.” One of my favorite authors is John D. MacDonald . MacDonald lived in Sarasota for many years, and wrote many of his books while living there in his house on Siesta Key. He became one of the best read and widely loved Florida authors of his generation. Recently, Sarasota celebrated his life and his books for what would have been his 100th birthday. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune has published tributes to his lasting influence by more than two dozen authors. 

John D MacDonald wrote 78 novels and almost 500 short stories. Many of his stories are set in Florida, making him probably the most prolific of all Florida authors. Most notable of the Florida books are his Travis McGee series. I read my first Travis McGee novels back in the 1960’s and have read every one them. They are good reads the second, third and fourth time too. These 21 novels are packed with mystery and adventure, and describe the changes in Florida between 1964 and 1985.

Travis McGee may be the first great modern fictional Florida hero. Commercially speaking, there has never been a smarter creation than Travis McGee. He is the embodiment of male wish-fulfillment. No nine-to-five job, lives by his own set of rules, resides on a houseboat, drinks but is not a drunk, tall, handsome, good with his fists but not a bully, etc. He has been called the first great modern Florida adventurer. 

One of my Sarasota hometown hangouts was the Crescent Club on Siesta Key. Nobody understood a place like the Crescent Club better than John D. MacDonald and he used some version of it over and over again in his books. It appears most prominently in his great Sarasota novel “Condominium“. There are bars like the Crescent Club the world over. But thanks to MacDonald, we have the embodiment only here in Sarasota.

MacDonald was the first modern writer to nail Florida dead-center, to capture its languid lifestyle, racy sense of promise and breathtaking beauty. This is why people come to Sarasota on vacation and fall in love with it. I have seen many changes in my lifetime of living in Sarasota; some say it has grown too fast and that we have enough people here. But how can you not want to live here once you have experienced paradise? I love this quote by J. Michael Blue: "Travis McGee had the right idea. Retirement days should be taken early and often." 

So if you are looking for a beautiful place to live and retire, Sarasota is it and I can help you find your dream home in Sarasota and tell you some stories about my hometown and why John D. MacDonald loved it here!

Sources and Credits: Florida Zone Blogspot, JDMHomepage.com, Sarasota History Alive, YourObserver.com

Hometown Sarasota Drive-In Movies

During my dating years one of the favorite things to do in Sarasota was to go to a drive-in movie. Sadly, they don’t exist in Sarasota any more. Sarasota built its first drive-in in 1949 with the opening of the Trail Drive-In on the North Tamiami Trail, across from the Sarasota-Bradenton Airport. The Trail Drive-In touted itself as one of the largest drive-ins in the Southeast in 1951. I grew up near the Ringling Museum, so this was ‘my theater’! We would all mill around and visit with our friends before the movie and during the intermissions - it was real 'family time'. And of course, 'dating time.' (enough said!)  It had the capacity for 780 cars and showed only first-run pictures of the highest quality. In an ad in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune on November 20, 1949, the Trail Drive-In was described as “one of the finest projection rooms in the nation. The screen impression, located 265 feet from the projection room is clear, sharp and light. The lounges are immaculate and a modern snack bar serves chicken and shrimp dinners for your refreshment.” The screen measured 65 feet by 47 feet and was the largest in the South.

Yes, that is an air-conditioner in the bottom, middle photo!

The Trail Drive-In stressed family entertainment by providing playgrounds for the kids and talent shows. The theater would open early so families would make an evening of it. One ad in the Sarasota Journal in the mid-1950s stated that the “whole family likes the Trail Drive-In Theater because Mom can leave her girdle at home; Dad likes to smoke big black cigars and he will hear no complaints at the Drive-In; baby sleeps in the back seat with all the comforts of home; brother likes snacks with his entertainment and the Drive-In Theater is less costly.”

The Trail Drive-in wasn’t the only drive-in in Sarasota. There was also the "Siesta" where Gulf Gate Shopping Center is today; the Tropical on the way to Venice; "Booker Park" on today's 27th Street for African-American's (Sarasota was segregated back then) and the "Bee Ridge," on Bee Ridge Road, just east of Beneva Road, which was the last drive in to open in Sarasota was the Bee Ridge and advertised the largest screen on the Gulf Coast. It opened in 1969 when air-conditioning had become the norm in Sarasota households. To maintain the comfort factor, the theater offered individual units, with the added benefit that it kept the mosquitoes out – somewhat!

Many blamed the introduction of daylight savings time and the end of the “baby boom” for declining revenues. The ‘80s brought cable TV and the introduction of the VCR, which kept people at home. Many theater owners, sensing that their time had passed, began selling land to developers. The Trail Drive-In closed in the 80s and stood vacant for years. Today it is a site of a hotel and storage facility. But my memories are still vivid!

Sources and Credits: Sarasota History Alive, Jeff LaHurd, cinematreasures.org

The Street Where You Live-Some History

I grew up on the north side of Sarasota amongst the banyan trees, near the Ringling Museum. My wife and I frequently take drives there and throughout Sarasota to see the new developments and reminisce about the old homesteads and streets where we lived and played. Sarasota can be at times, a challenging place to find your way around so we got curious about street names and the history surrounding them.

Downtown Sarasota has super-cute street names named after tropical fruits like Orange, Lemon and Pineapple Street. And then there are the numbered streets and those streets that don’t seem to go through and then pick up again further on. I found a great explanation of all this written by Don Smally, a well-known builder and engineer, in Sarasota’s History Alive newsletter and I quote the article here:

Growth in the metropolitan Sarasota area was putting a burden on the Post Office because of the duplication of street names. Mosby’s work preparing new property maps presented an opportunity to correct the street-naming problem. The Post Master, Gordon Higel asked the County to help him straighten out the mess that existed and to allow him to control the naming of new streets. I was asked to work with him. There were duplications and inconsistencies in numbering that also needed correcting. We devised the following plan: 

• East-West thoroughfares would be renamed 'Streets'
• North-South thoroughfares would be renamed Avenues
• 7th became 1st Street
• The old 5th became State Street
• Roads would remain Roads

There were complaints. “Avenue” sounded classy, while "Street" sounded ordinary. “Why should I have to change my street name from 12th to 6th Street?” "Why should I have to change my address from 2604 to 1804?” The Postmaster prevailed, the changes were made, and all new developments followed the new method of naming new streets. Another major change had to do with the requirement of naming any through road that lined up with existing roads to use the same name, even though miles might separate the two. An example was Beneva Road which had stretches and gaps and was called Oriente north of Fruitville Road. Starting at 17th Street (which used to be 23rd Street) Beneva was the name down to U.S. 41 at Vamo Road. An exception was made for Swift Road. It was allowed to remain even though it lined up with Tuttle Avenue. There was confusion for a while but eventually everyone got used to the new system.

And then there is a lot of old history of our streets names based on landowners and developers ‘way back when.” Examples are the Bertha Palmer family, (Palmer Blvd, Honore Ave., Webber St., Lockwood) and the Burns family who arrived in 1910. Owen Burns closely followed Bertha Palmer to Sarasota and with two purchases, he quickly became the largest landholder within what now is the city, therefore many of the huge Sarasota properties she owned are in what now is Sarasota County (which did not exist during her lifetime). Many of its roads bear the names she put on the trails she established. She did participate, however, in speculation in the city along with others, purchasing undeveloped land in great quantities, and many parcels bear her name or that of her sons among those in abstracts.

And the history of all of our neighborhoods is entirely fascinating from the street names to the famous people who lived in them. For instance, do you know why there’s an Ocean Boulevard on Siesta Key when the city isn’t near any ocean? Turns out the street was named after Captain Louis Roberts’s wife, whose given name was Ocean Hansen.

It was a lot of fun researching this and the fact remains that Sarasota is not the easiest place to find your way around. Thankfully, most of us have navigation systems…and lifetime Sarasota residents like myself who know their way around! So if you are thinking of buying Real Estate in Sarasota, I will be glad to show you around my home town and find you a great home!


Sources and Credits: nps.gov, Sarasota History Alive, The Sarasota Herald Tribune/Jeff LaHurd

The Sarasota Quay

Finally! The Sarasota Quay project is moving forward. We all have lots of memories of this property and the "hole" on the Bayfront lasted too long! The definition of the word 'quay' is:  a landing place, especially one of solid masonry, constructed along the edge of a body of water. I have a vague memory of learning that way back in Sarasota's history, this area was indeed a port of sorts. I will do some research on that!

Per the Sarasota Herald Tribune, the massive mixed-use Quay Sarasota development received final city approval on 12/5/16 after years of planning. The potential $1 billion project will combine commercial, residential and office buildings on the long-vacant property and transform the downtown waterfront over the next decade. The project is located on 14-acres located on US 41 in downtown Sarasota, Florida and is considered by many to be the most significant redevelopment project in the history of Sarasota. The Quay, Hyatt, 888, G.WIZ and Van Wezel were built on fill added in the 1960's.

My memories of the Quay relate back to the famous Lido Casino sea horses…In the 1980’s the developer of the Quay project on Sarasota’s Bayfront brought the delightful iconic figure back to the community. The majestic sea horses were again cast in concrete, from the original design and attached to the Sarasota Quay. The Quay opened in 1987 with eleven sea horses adorning its entryway and main plaza and once again these magical statues became the backdrop for photographic portraits. Visitors and residents, young and old came to the Quay and posed for a picture with them. History has a way of repeating itself. The sea horses again lost their home after 20 years. This time the horses were rescued by citizens interested in seeing the icons returned to the community.

The Quay was demolished in 2007 and the valuable property where the Quay stood is now a non-accessible grass field, with the Belle Haven remaining, tucked away in the back corner on 4th Street, next to the Hyatt Hotel. I am delighted to know that the Bell Haven will be restored as part of this project.

If you are looking for a real estate in Sarasota, Florida, give me a call at 941-315-1185 and I will be glad to show you around my Home Town and find you a great home!

Read the Sarasota Herald Tribune article here:
http://www.heraldtribune.com/…/quay-sarasota-project-wins-c…