FLORIDA: It’s paradise, even when the ill wind blows

Bev Fearis and family head south to Sarasota and find themselves feeling right at home at Siesta Key.

Siesta Key is an eight-mile island, with a lovely laidback feel. It’s one of a handful of beach resorts close to Sarasota, about 1hr 25 minutes south of Clearwater.

Siesta Key’s Beach Road runs from one end to the other, linked to Sarasota by bridges. At one end are high rise beachfront condos and one beachfront hotel (a Hyatt) but as you head towards Siesta Key ‘village’, the high rises are replaced by pretty pastel coloured bungalows and low rise motels. We’re staying at one such motel, the Ringling Beach House, named after the Ringling brothers who turned a small travelling circus into an international entertainment empire – and it all started here in Sarasota.

The Ringling Beach House has 10 self-contained bungalows, named with a circus theme (ring master, lion, seal, etc etc). We’re in ‘Clown’, and it’s very pretty, in candy pinks, turquoises and greens, with a little wooden deck, two bedrooms, bathroom, and a large living space and kitchen. Freddie is delighted to find a towel shaped like a puppy on the bed and he even has his own bedroom. I feel at home straight away and make myself a cuppa. It even has a kettle – a rarity in this part of the world!

It’s not on the beachfront (only the Hyatt has that luxury) but it’s right across the road, down a little sandy track. In 2011, Dr Beach (the number one authority on US beaches) named Siesta Beach the nation’s number one beach for its sugary white sand. It’s one of the few beaches made up almost entirely of crushed quartz crystal rather than coral.

The beach is a little wilder than Clearwater but with the same stunning white sand, but it’s only when we get nearer to the shoreline that we start to notice dead fish scattered along the water’s edge. We also notice that although there are other families and couples on the beach, nobody is actually swimming. A chat with a passing local and it all becomes clear. Siesta Key has become victim to the Red Tide, a natural algae that emit toxins, which get dissolved in the water and released into the air, killing fish and causing people on the beach to cough when winds blow toward the coast. Sure enough, within minutes Freddie is coughing and we notice a kind of peppery feeling in the back of out throats and in our nose which makes us want to cough too. It’s nothing serious, but enough to make us turn the back of our beach chairs against the sea breeze.

Red Tide is a very rare occurrence along this coastline and only happens every five or six years. It’s been making its way, sporadically, along this west coast, affecting some resorts but missing others. Unfortunately, it’s Siesta Key’s turn. We don’t let it spoil our beach time, though, and once we explain to Freddie that the sea is out of bounds today, he’s more than happy building sandcastles (we bought him a bucket and spade too).

Back at the Ringling Beach House, it’s time for a quick dip in the pool (there are two, one is heated, and we have it to ourselves) and then we head into Siesta Key Village, a cluster of quirky little restaurants, surf shops, boat and jetski rental offices, and cafes, plus all the necessary extras – laundrette, post office, banks, grocery store. It feels like a real little community.

We eat at SKOB, the Siesta Key Oyster Bar, which is absolutely heaving. The atmosphere is buzzy and noisy, partly down to the live music and partly down to the party spirit. Everyone seems to know everyone. Signed dollar bills are pinned all over the walls and across the bar reads a sign saying ‘Another shitty day in paradise’, which says it all.

The menu is enormous and after a lot of indecision, we decide on the Cowboy burger. It’s the first burger we’ve had since we arrived and it’s just what you’d expect from the US – large, succulent and filled with delicious toppings. We’ve been making the most of the seafood until now, but sometimes you just need a good old burger and this one didn’t disappoint.

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