The HuntFishTravel Show

When you think of Florida, what’s the first thing that comes to mind?

Snowbirds running around on golf carts?

Retirement communities?

Mile long lines at the Bing parlors?

What if I told you Florida isn’t just a state for the AARP VIP Members?

What if I told you Florida is a hidden gem of a paradise for mid-winter slumpers to escape the harsh winter chill of the northern states.
Would you believe me??

Sitting at 27.6648° N, by 81.5158° W, you will find the odd-shaped, gator & manatee haven, ol’ folk sanctuary state of Florida, AKA “The Sunshine State”

Even while averaging 230-250 sunny days a year, Florida still falls short of the undisputed heavyweight sunny champion of the U.S (falls in line behind Arizona, New Mexico & Nevada), but please DO NOT be fooled by the above “sunny state” imitators. They don’t offer the splendid beaches, fantastic ocean side dining, or epic Gulf Of America sunsets like Florida does.

On a recent trip to Florida for a wedding, we were invited by the Punta Gorda/Englewood Beach visitor’s bureau to come in a few days early and visit the lovely Manasota Key Resort, nestled wonderfully on the southern tip of, you guessed it, Manasota Key.

Manasota Key Resort, formerly known as Weston’s Resort and Weston’s WannaB Inn, sits about 1 hour south of Sarasota, and about 30 Minutes south of Venice. Our wedding was taking place in Clearwater, so we flew into Tampa. We rented a car from the airport and headed south to Manasota Key, which would normally be about 2 hours or so, but we decided to take the more scenic route and drive through Longboat Key, Lido Key, Siesta Key and Casey Key.

Stopping along the keys and taking in some sites, we could feel that the “Florida” vibe wasn’t normal. The further south we drove, the more we could feel the tension. The air loomed with a feeling of grief and despair, and we noted that the locals seemed a bit defeated, but optimistic.

In case you missed it, this year’s hurricane season in Florida was highly active and destructive. The Atlantic region saw 11 hurricanes and 5 major hurricanes (Cat 3+) this season, the worst being Hurricane Milton. Milton rode into Florida on the heels of Hurricane Helene, which decimated the Big Bend region of The Sunshine State. Milton became a Cat 5 in the gulf, but made landfall as a Cat 3 hurricane, and put the finishing devastation on Southern Florida.

As we continued our adventure south, we were constantly reminded of Milton’s power. There were houses tipped off foundations, large berms of sand on the side of the road, tons of still boarded up buildings, and many still closed businesses.

As we reached Manasota Key, we crossed the bridge at the northern end of the key, but quickly noticed that the road down to the resort was ultimately closed at Manasota Key Beach. We double backed and crossed the southern bridge to gain access to the key.

Pulling up to the resort, we somewhat felt a sense of relief to be at our destination but also felt a little anxious as we looked around. The landscape had changed. The resort no longer looked like the beautiful pictures we had seen on the internet just a few weeks prior.

As we entered the guest services building to check in, we were met by a very warm, and inviting staff, who chit-chatted with us a bit about the hurricane, the aftermath, and clean-up efforts. After a few minutes of wonderful, warm and inviting conversation, the staff handed us the keys to our room, explained that the elevator was still out and told us if we needed anything, please let them know.

Pure Florida had us set up in a beautifully decorated one-bedroom king suite. Upon entering the room, the first thing we noticed was the sliding door out to the balcony that overlooked the beach and the gulf. We stepped out on the balcony, took a big breath of salty air, and let the anxiety of the drive down just melt away.

We quickly toured the suite, noting all the little details that takes a normal, run of the mill suite, to extraordinary! The TVs in the bedroom and living room proudly displayed the Manasota Ket Resort logo, the kitchen had a full assortment of cookware, a full sized coffee maker, and a full size fridge.

The living room/dining area were simply decorated, but very spacious and more than adequate for having nice dinners with a beautiful sunset view. These small, yet enjoyable amenities more than made up for the elevator not working.

As for the outside of the resort, the topography was a lot different today. There were buildings missing, backhoes and bulldozers scattered about, giant metal pillars jetting out of the ground, road closed signs and even a new channel cut through the key, courtesy of Mr. Milton.

However, the staff did an absolutely FANTASTIC job cleaning up the resort and getting it reopened. Hurricane Milton made landfall on October 9th, 2024, and had just reopened for our stay on February 24th, 2025. Just a mere 4 months after one of the most devastating hurricanes to hit southern Florida in years, Manasota Key resort was accepting guests back to welcoming guests.

Out of the many restaurants on Manasota Key, some were still closed, but some were already remodeled and open for business. We stopped at Lock ‘N Key and The Waverly for some excellent dinners, and Beachcomber Trading Post for some killer breakfast. All 3 restaurants were fully open and ready for business, and we were more than happy to spend our hard-earned money to help boost the local economy back up.

After 3 amazing days in beautiful Manasota Key, it was sadly time for us to head back north to Clearwater for the wedding we came to be a part of. Time seemed to stand still until it didn’t. We’d like to thank the incredible staff of Manasota Key Resort, and the Pure Florida Manasota Key/Englewood Beach visitors bureau for giving us the opportunity to come and experience the beauty that is Manasota Key Florida.