Sorbet at Sunset

This past weekend Jill and I celebrated our 16th anniversary by taking the Scrambler on an overnight trip to the Bradenton Beach – Anna Maria Island area. Our goal was to balance romance, adventure, and relaxation, but on the Scrambler romance and fun are always maximized.

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This was an ambitious trip. Ambitious because 1) it is definitely still summer here. 2) The Scrambler has no storage. Everything we took had to fit in one backpack - only a few extra shirts, shorts, and under-things. 3) We had three kids, ages seven and under, for which we had to find babysitters. In the end, it all worked out great.

Starting in central Sarasota, we traveled to our resort on Bradenton Beach. Over the next 24 hours we rode and walked all around the area, hitting notable hot spots, such as the Rod & Reel Pier, the Historic Anna Maria City Pier, the Cortez Bridge, Desoto National Memorial Park, Emerson Point Preserve, Snead Island, and the 8th Avenue bridge over the Manatee River. We covered 133 miles, enjoyed a beer on the pier, caught a movie, and, my favorite, ate raspberry sorbet at sunset on the beach.

Of course, everywhere we go people want to talk to us about the Scrambler. “Is it restored?” “Did you build it yourself?” “Man that looks just like one I had when I was a kid.” “They did a great job with that bike.” “Do those pipes get hot?” [ Not really. ]