Sarasota, FL

Everyone should be proud of their homeport, right? I have lived in a number of garden spots around the U.S., but have had the good fortune to retire in Sarasota, one of the all-time great locations. I lived here for several years back in the ’80s when my career drew me to Sarasota, but there’s an old saying around this area that once you get that sand in your shoes you can never get it out. And as a boater, I truly can’t imagine a more suitable spot for living the dream. (That’s one of the reasons we named our current boat Dream.) We keep Dream at Longboat Key Club Moorings, a world-class facility on stunning Longboat Key with Sarasota Bay on one side and the Gulf of Mexico on the other. An easy bicycle ride down Gulf of Mexico Drive gets you to world-famous St. Armands Circle, where there are shops, bars, and restaurants. If you really like to be in the middle of everything, dock at Marina Jack in the heart of downtown Sarasota; from here, it’s an easy walk to scores of shops, bars, restaurants, and art galleries. But the real beauty of living in this boater’s paradise is all of the other destinations that are just a day or two or three of cruising away. Throw in plenty of sunshine, great fishing, and those beautiful sandy beaches that are truly beyond compare and what more could a boater ask for? —Larry Tibbe