Siesta, Longboat, Lido and Manasota Keys from a natives view
Posted 12-09-2009 at 11:27 AM by SoFLGal
Most of the keys in the area are pretty neat and everyone has a different feel.
In my opinion, Siesta Key has the youngest vibe. Probably due to the handful of bars and several restaurants in the village that seem to draw the younger crowd. Most of the bands that play out at the Siesta bars seemed to be geared more for the younger crowd as well.
Longboat always had more of an old money feel to me. There really is no downtown area on Longboat either, unless you consider Ave of the Flowers the downtown area. There's the "village" but that's nothing more than a restaurant or two. I loved living there as a kid and would go swim at the community dock. It was a pretty tight knit community. I would say the people in the village are the more "working class". Sometimes you can find a rental in there.
I lived on Lido back in the early 90's and it was great. You could walk to St Armand's, which was kind of neat. At the time, my boyfriend was a surfer and all the surfers would hang out over on the beach. There's not a lot going on on Lido. More of the action is on the circle. Lido is almost an extension of downtown, and it's near the vibrant and cosmopolitan St. Armand's Circle. Lido gets a good mix of all types of people, and for this reason I find it most interesting. There is also a nice little park at the south end, which attracts more families. I think you will enjoy Lido.
Manasota Key is pretty laid back as well. There's Lock -n- Key Restaurant and Pub and that's about the most happening place on the key.
Most of the keys get pretty crowded in the winter and clear out more in the summer. I would say you're assumption that you can't go wrong on any of the keys is pretty accurate, just depends on what you are looking for.
In my opinion, Siesta Key has the youngest vibe. Probably due to the handful of bars and several restaurants in the village that seem to draw the younger crowd. Most of the bands that play out at the Siesta bars seemed to be geared more for the younger crowd as well.
Longboat always had more of an old money feel to me. There really is no downtown area on Longboat either, unless you consider Ave of the Flowers the downtown area. There's the "village" but that's nothing more than a restaurant or two. I loved living there as a kid and would go swim at the community dock. It was a pretty tight knit community. I would say the people in the village are the more "working class". Sometimes you can find a rental in there.
I lived on Lido back in the early 90's and it was great. You could walk to St Armand's, which was kind of neat. At the time, my boyfriend was a surfer and all the surfers would hang out over on the beach. There's not a lot going on on Lido. More of the action is on the circle. Lido is almost an extension of downtown, and it's near the vibrant and cosmopolitan St. Armand's Circle. Lido gets a good mix of all types of people, and for this reason I find it most interesting. There is also a nice little park at the south end, which attracts more families. I think you will enjoy Lido.
Manasota Key is pretty laid back as well. There's Lock -n- Key Restaurant and Pub and that's about the most happening place on the key.
Most of the keys get pretty crowded in the winter and clear out more in the summer. I would say you're assumption that you can't go wrong on any of the keys is pretty accurate, just depends on what you are looking for.
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