Still Seeing The Sights, But Soggy

...Continued from yesterday:
     The rain started early Friday evening and continued to pour down in subtropical torrents all night long.
     I swore I heard ducks quacking in the middle of the night - presumably having a field day in the lake I imagined the yard of the Beau Lido must have turned into - but I think now maybe I was just hearing some noisy sea gulls.
     As the storm was predicted to continue straight through the night into the next day until 1 pm, Romaine and I feared on Friday night that by morning the streets would be flooded and that with the rain still pouring down we wouldn't be able to get out and get to some breakfast and would have to ration the meager remains of my emergency stash of juju fish and pretzels (see yesterday' post), one fish and pretzel at a time.
      But, miraculously, by 7 am on Saturday morning the rain had stopped and when I opened the door of our bungalow I saw wet sidewalks and grass, but no small rivers or lakes.  In fact the sun was even beginning to make a pale showing,
      So, the weather now looking promising, we decided, this being our last day, to drive into downtown Sarasota and spend the day walking around and seeing what there was to see and do there.
      We discovered that there was a First Watch - one of my favorite breakfast eateries - I love the avocado toast - in downtown Sarasota, so, Romaine never having been to a First Watch, I declared that she must experience a First Watch breakfast.
       We arrived downtown,

...found the First Watch,

...and had no sooner sat down than the rain returned in buckets.

     But we were indoors and dry and so we figured we'd just wait out the rain over breakfast. Romaine had the Eggs Benedict Florentine,

​...while I had my favorite, Avocado Toast.

     We finished breakfast, then sat around as long as we thought it was acceptable to take up a restaurant table.

     But when the place had filled to the point where people were waiting for a table we figured it was time to leave.  So we made a dash for the car,

...then recalibrated our plans for spending the day downtown, and decided rather to return to Lido Key,

...and visit the Mote Marine Aquarium located on the northern tip of the island.

     The aquarium was filled with fascinating aquatic life,

...and fascinated children,

...who crowded excitedly around  one of the tanks to see "Nemo" and "Dory."

     By the time we left the aquarium the rain had stopped so we decided to return to St. Armands, the island-within-the island town circle of Lido Key,  ​

...where we found another great lunch spot, this one, we decided,, our favorite so far, another Caribbean-style restaurant called ChaCha Coconuts. 

...where we split an appetizer of Crabby Spinach Dip,

...followed by the Ahi-Ahi Tuna Salad with Wasabi dressing, which Romaine declared awesome,

​...and for me the Ahi Ahi sandwich, also with Wasabi dressing on the side and also awesome (Note to self:  if you ever return, order the exact same thing!).

     Though the sun had come out while we were eating lunch,

     Before we'd finished it was again teeming rain.

     So after lunch we again made a rain-run to the car and returned to the Beau Lido to spend the rest of the afternoon sitting around, packing, watching TV, and hanging with our little anole friends, as a Facebook friend informed me that these ubiquitous little Lido Key lizards are called.

     By dinner time the rain had once again let up, so we decided, for a change of scenery, to check out a neighboring island, Siesta Key, a cute but touristy-looking spot,

...where we found a really good Italian restaurant called Napoli's.

...where I had a delicious spaghetti with pesto and sun-dried tomatoes,

​...and Romaine had spaghetti  with shrimp, also delicious.

    Mine was so good that when I heard another customer asking a server what was good on the menu, I called over that mine was really good.  The customer then ordered what I had, and was likewise pleased with her choice.      Alas, during dinner the rain began to pour down again,

...so once again we ended up making a soggy trek from restaurant to car then, back at the Beau Lido Lido  from car to  bungalow for our last night at the Beau Lido.
     But rain, sun, or moon, it was all so good.

"Equal And Opposite Reactions"
         by Patti Liszkay
is available at
http://www.blackrosewriting.com/romance/equalandoppositereactions
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