quaint cortez florida

Steve and I managed to escape the grey skies of Michigan recently by jetting down to the keys of Sarasota, Florida.

One of the reasons we chose to visit this area is because of a lovely store on St. Armand’s Key that sells lots of our a.i. paper design products.  After experiencing the St. Armand’s shopping district, I can see why they’re so successful.

Being the restless soul that I am, I can only handle a few hours relaxing on the beach and then I need a little adventure.  So Steve and I started exploring some of the other keys and found ourselves driving by this eye-catching store.

Since we passed it the first time around, we looped through a little neighborhood to back-track and then I spotted this oh-so-adorable-I-would-love-a-cottage-like-this…. maybe-someday!

Okay, back to the Sea Hagg… which is filled with interesting antiques, nautical goods, artist wares and other curiosities.

I love how they created their fence from a variety of finds – bed frames, ornamental metal and old fences.

The garden pathway of goods.

The salvage garden… I do have an affection for windows and doors (as you can tell by my displays at catching fireflies)

More colorful vintage nautical wares… I love all the bright colors.

Some fun goodies inside – a scoop of seaglass if you like.

Or pirate treasures for the bargain price of 2 for $1.00.

I went home with a couple of these locally made funny-frog business card holders for our store.  (I hope to carry them at catching fireflies soon)

I just noticed after looking at my picture what they had painted on their check-out…"We reserve the right to slap the parents of children left unattended"  ha ha!

After talking to the sales associate about this wild shop, I found out that the owner (who happens to be from the Midwest) lives in that great cottage we passed by earlier… hmmmm – now that’s what I call a retirement plan.

We ended our little jaunt in Cortez with a stop for lunch at a local favorite, the Star Fish Company.

And we enjoyed our crab cakes and sweet scallops on a picnic table with an ocean view.  A perfect ending to a delightful afternoon adventure.