Emily and I are learning to drive the dinghy. She thinks she is better than me. Ok, she probably is! We have a lot of fun exploring canals on the dinghy. Since we are on a mooring ball, it is about a 10 minute dinghy ride to get to the dinghy dock to go to shore, which is a really long ride when you get there and realize your shoes are back on the boat and you need them to go to town. Trying to find a spot to tie up is a little akin to bumper boats. Once we are at the dinghy dock, we are just across the street from downtown Sarasota, which has lots of boutique stores and great restaurants. Of course there's also ice cream shops. There is a market festival every Saturday that we walk to and enjoy the people watching and all the street artists and goodies, from art to wild mushrooms to crab cakes and coffee.  Sarasota is hands down the most dog-friendly city we've ever been to.  Towns in Colorado claim to be dog friendly, but you can't even eat on the patio with a dog. In Sarasota, dogs are welcome everywhere, even in the local restaurants, and that's inside, not just the patio. I don't always want to take my dog everywhere, but sometimes we have to, and it is nice to not be limited because of him.