When I was a little girl we didn’t have much in the way of money, but I did have grandparents who lived in Florida and almost every year my parents found a way for us to take a trip and go stay on Singer Island. My first trip (and airplane ride) was when I was three years old and even though I don’t remember much of that trip, my memories are full of experiences from many others.
Take the above picture for example. I have a hard copy picture of the same statue I took when I was about 8 and another hard copy with friends when I went on Spring Break in high school. I was super excited to take another picture at 57 because this place and this statue have deep roots and memories for me.
My Mom has always talked about moving there and I was very excited for her when she bought a condo in the exact same condo complex that my grandparents and great-grandparents lived. What’s even greater is that very little has changed. Although this small 3 story building is now surrounded by high rises, the condo complex is mainly owned by generations of families and they have consistently refused to sell. Driving in I was flooded with memories and it was truly really special.
My Mom is actually on the second floor in a one bedroom and it is really nice. I got to tour several of the condos while there and I liked Mom’s the best. The one bedrooms are 680 square feet but that doesn’t include the Lanai. Some people use there’s for storage, but Mom like my grandparents use it as extended living space and I always slept on the lanai as a kid. Not all of the condos have a view of the ocean (Mom has a bit of one) but the real draw is how close you are to the ocean. There is a lovely pool (where I learned to dive as a kid) and then a short walk to a private entrance and you are on the beach. And what a beach it is. It doesn’t have the white sands of the gulf, but I loved the Atlantic ocean waves and walking on that send took me back in an instant.
As I said its surrounded by tons of high rises including a Ritz Carlton residences and multiple Marriott vacation villas but the Villas really stands out or doesn’t because from the beach you can just barely see the top floor. The last time I visited was on a work trip after the 2009 hurricanes and although many of the high rises were wrecks the Villas hung on.
The purpose of the trip was to see my Mom but also find out if I could work remotely and get out of LA for awhile. Thankfully that worked really well so I spent the weekdays working and the evenings going out and seeing things. When Mom asked me what I wanted to do I actually said I just want to see the town as it is today. We went to numerous thrift stores at my request and ate out at few restaurants. But mainly it was just hanging out and walking on the beach or swimming in the pool which was totally fine with me!
One new things we saw was the Manatee Lagoon which is right down the road from Mom. This wasn’t here when I was a kid and even though we didn’t see any manatees it was still fun. I didn’t realize manatees were on the east coast as well, and will need to come back in winter when they are more likely to be in the warmer waters near the electrical plant.
I think Mom’s favorite day was when we celebrated Mother’s Day early and I treated her to dinner at Carmine’s Gourmet Market which is a local favorite restaurant and specialty Italian market. Dinner was good but the market is really someting special and I can’t believe how much they have in such a relatively small space. Amazing and if you are ever there I highly recommend the market at least.
My favorite thing though was totally random. We were driving to the Manatee Lagoon and I saw a building that looked familiar. I asked Mom to stop and we walked into a wonderland of shells. This building has been in existence since “forever” according to the current owner and I have strong memories of going there as a child and looking at all the shells. This time I was extra excited because I have been looking for shells to make patterns in my pottery and they had bins and bins all for 25 cents to $2. Amazing !!!
Next up I’ll share my one day off where we went to see Mar-a-lago and Palm Beach!
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Camper Chronicles 