![\"Captiva](\"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2020\/01\/captivaresort.jpg\")
<\/a>Captiva Beach Resort has a retro, laid back, beachside vibe. (Photo by Harrison Shiels)<\/p><\/div>\n
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\u201cSiesta Key is the most beautiful beach in the world\u2026but Silver Beach in Michigan is pretty outstanding, also. I go to the beach here each day for moon set and sunrise just as I do at Silver Beach,\u201d said Linda, who also described the subtle differences. \u201cIt\u2019s spectacular here. There is quartz sand you can walk on and it never gets hot. The water here is warmer, too. So you can go barefoot walking through the water and dance around in the morning. It\u2019s outstanding.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Beckers have been coming to the Captiva Beach Resort for five years, and this year decided to stay for three months.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve already booked in for next year, too,\u201d she said while wearing a bright orange Siesta Key sweatshirt. \u201cIt\u2019s paradise. You can walk to restaurants and they have yoga classes on the beach each week. You can watch dolphins passing as you go through your poses.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy wife likes to walk the beach; I like to ride. I\u2019ve driven the bike all the way to Key West,\u201d said Larry. Siesta Key\u2019s Crescent Beach is miles long. Resort guests gather on the sand to watch the sun set over the warm water.<\/p>\n
Patrick Shine is chief amazement officer of The Hospitality Advisor, the group which renovated the retro-Florida, art deco-style Captiva Beach Resort recently. \u201cWe are a boutique hotel with 19 suites – each has a kitchenette. It\u2019s very laid-back with plenty of activities nearby, including on-site bocce ball and a heated swimming pool.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/a>Captiva Resort shows it\u2019s sense of humor and fun. (Photo by Harrison Shiels)<\/p><\/div>\n
One member of the housekeeping staff, a popular, friendly woman nicknamed \u201cBig Show,\u201d said she meets many visitors from Michigan. \u201cThey are all very nice people. I have a lot of respect for Michigan people.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know Michigan people love Sarasota County,\u201d said Britney Guertin, of\u00a0visitSarasota.com<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019re 35 miles of coastline and beautiful barrier islands an hour south of Tampa and two hours from Orlando.\u201d<\/p>\n Jennifer Phillips Wilson, a fundraiser from Grand Rapids, recently moved to Sarasota\u2026permanently. \u201cI love living here,\u201d she said, as does Gary Kompothecras, the owner of Captiva Beach Resort. \u201cI was a lifeguard in New York as a kid and always wanted to live near the beach. I then worked in the stock market but when I discovered\u00a0Siesta Key\u00a0in 1983 and walked out on this beautiful beach and have never left,\u201d said Kompothecras, who lives in a home on the beach and has purchased the nearby Crescent Club, which he describes as an historic local \u201cdive bar.\u201d \u201cThe bar served free hot dogs there for decades so we\u2019ve continued that tradition.\u201d (East Lansing Steve Wickens owns a condo across the street on the beach.)<\/p>\n Fishing and sightseeing charters in the Gulf of Mexico are a local tradition, too.<\/p>\n \u201cPound for pound snapper are the most fun to fish for. People like to catch grouper, too, because they are very big,\u201d said Captain Josh Pritchett, of\u00a0SiestaKation.com<\/a>. He takes up to six people, beginners or experts, 20-30 miles out. \u201cAll you need to bring is sunscreen.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t work for a living I run a boat. It\u2019s the dream job,\u201d said Captain Kevin Hagerty, of\u00a0FunBoatTours.com<\/a>, who takes leisure guests out on eco-cruises to see the dolphins play or watch the sunset with a cocktail in hand. \u201cWe get tons of Michigan people here. I see lots of U of M and MSU logo shirts.\u201d In fact the MSU rowing team trains at Sarasota\u2019s\u00a0Nathan Benderson Park\u2019s 400-acre lake and regatta center, where Douglas Jessmer, who once worked at the Detroit News, is communications manager.<\/p>\n Fun Boat Sunset Cruise from Siesta Key. (Photo by Harrison Shiels)<\/p><\/div>\n Sarasota proper has plenty of sophisticated cultural activities, including the jaw-dropping, 16-acre Ringling Museum of Art, and dining options including\u00a0Fleming\u2019s Steakhouse, Rodizio Brazilian Grill, and Andrea\u2019s \u2013 serving the art of Italian food and wine \u2013 including Chef Andrea\u2019s \u201cMama\u2019s Sunday Pasta:\u201d rigatoni with short rib, sausage and pancetta he learned to make at family dinners in Italy\u2019s Piedmont region. All attractions and restaurants are near the Comfort Inn and Suites, which is just off I-75. While I-75 runs from Michigan to Sarasota, there are plenty of flight options into airports in Sarasota, according to airport director Fredrick Piccolo, plus Tampa, Fort Meyers, Punta Gorda, St. Petersburg, and Orlando.<\/p>\n The newest, convenient hotel near I-75 and Fruitville Rd. (Photo by Harrison Shiels)<\/p><\/div>\n Log on to\u00a0VisitSarasota.com<\/a>\u00a0for information and to make plans.<\/p>\n Contact<\/em>\u00a0Travel Writer Michael Patrick Shiels at\u00a0MShiels@aol.com<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0His radio program may be heard weekdays at\u00a0MiBigShow.com<\/a>\u00a0or in Lansing on WJIM am 1240\u00a0from 9-noon. His newest book \u201cI Call Him Mr. President\u201d with George HW Bush is at\u00a0Amazon.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" See all the relaxing luxuries at Captiva Resort in Siesta Key Florida.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":2450,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,18,17],"tags":[979274,1023684,2834,606,1023681,1023682],"class_list":["post-2449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel","category-lifestyle","category-courses-and-travel","tag-beaches","tag-fun-boat-sunset-cruise","tag-michigan","tag-florida","tag-siesta-key","tag-captiva-resort"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2020\/01\/captivaresort.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2449"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2449\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2462,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2449\/revisions\/2462"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/a>