My third day in Sarasota, Florida! Today, I wanted to check out Myakka State Park, which is located out on Longboat Key. I drove out on the causeway and veered left, this Key felt more private than the others I’ve been to so far during my stay here, so I ended up driving a while, because it all looked so very private. I didn’t see public entrance to get to the beach. All I saw were hundreds of condos, vacation rentals and many country clubs with golf courses. So, I drove with what felt like hours until I was outside of Sarasota county and entering Manatee county. I was really wondering if there was no way to see Myakka and was about to turn around, when all of a sudden I was surrounded on both sides with parking lots for the beach. I picked one and got out. I was at Coquina Beach, with beautiful white sand. I only stayed for about an hour because I felt I was too far up the coast.
I headed back towards Sarasota. I ended up driving back into the downtown area and feeling better, because I was in familiar surroundings. I went back to park my car at my hotel, which I found on-line at this site: http://www.westfloridahotels.com when I did a search for West Florida hotels.
The next morning, I checked out and packed up my car and gave it one more try for Myakka State Park. This time I got on Fruitville road and travelled for about 18 miles. I really wanted to see an alligator, I mean after all, I am in Florida! I finally ended up at the entrance to the State Park, but I couldn’t take my car inside, the park is designated for pedestrians and bicyclists. I was told that I could take my car here. When I asked about, someone told me to head down the road for about 45 minutes and I’ll see the main entrance to Myakka. I was thrilled when I passed the Rangers Station and drove at a very slow 15 MPH. This was fine by me, because all the flora I was passing was awesome. I drove passed a bridge and found a place to pull over.
I walked over to a boardwalk that led up a hill to a viewing area, which overlooked a small inlet. I saw plenty of birds and tall grass. I then headed up where there was a bike rental place and stepped onto the grass and looked across the water. That’s when I saw something start to move; it was big, black, very long and had scales on it! When I saw the nostrils that when I knew I’d finally saw my first glimpse of an alligator! Alligators! There were a few more and one of them moved from the sandy beach into the water and began to swim. My goal was complete, so now I can drive out of Florida knowing I got to see a real live alligator.
