My younger sister and her husband spent much of this past week with us. Visiting from North Carolina, they were happy to trade bone-chilling temperatures for sunshine, warmth, and even time at the swimming pool. We focused several of our outings on Bradenton and the surrounding area.
THE BISHOP MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND NATURE
A and P hadn’t been at The Bishop for several years. The Mosaic Backyard Universe was a new addition. Although this area with its tree house, science hut, and rocket ship is geared toward young children, it’s a fun area for adults to explore as well. We sampled some of the short videos in the rocket, tried out several different types of blocks and building materials and climbed to the treehouse overlook.
Spending time viewing the manatees was an essential for this visit. Three manatees are currently in residence being rehabilitated before being released to the wild. These funny looking blimpy mammals are soothing to watch as they float gently around their pool, periodically surfacing for air and lettuce leaves.
We also wandered upstairs to browse in a fascinating exhibit about early days in Florida, the contributions of the Seminole Indians, and the role of the Bradenton River in Bradenton commerce and settlement. The museum currently has an outdoor exhibit of robotic dinosaurs, Dinoventure, which is bound to appeal to kids and even some adults. The dino exhibit is an extra charge and will remain until mid-March. If you haven’t visited this museum in a while or ever, it’s worth going—with or without children!
BRADENTON RIVERWALK
I confess that the Chief Penguin and I had never been on the Bradenton Riverwalk even though it’s been open for some years. Its boardwalk is accessible across the street from The Bishop and winds along the Manatee River for more than a mile. We walked from the museum almost to the end. Along the way there is a fishing pier, splash pad, skate park, spot for beach volleyball, and some whimsical concrete chaises on a small sandy beach. Before lunch there were few people out, but when we walked back afterwards, the walk was much busier. It was a different experience with lots to see.
EATING
For lunch, we made our first visit to Mattison’s Riverwalk Grille conveniently located set back from the river. The restaurant is covered outside seating with heaters for cold days. There’s a wide variety of soups, salads, burgers, and more substantial entrees on the menu. Two of us tucked into the half sandwich of the day (tuna melt) with either a cup of mushroom soup or a salad (Caesar for me). The others tried the fish tacos, artichokes Esther-Style, and fried green tomatoes. Our server was a friendly young man, and it was the perfect meal for the occasion. Wine and beer are available and there is live music on certain days. At the other end of the Riverwalk, also with outside seating, is the Pier 22 restaurant.
PERICO PRESERVE
On a lovely sunny morning, we made our way to Perico Preserve. Those of us who live in Manatee County are fortunate to be able to choose from among 12 nature preserves, all with trails for walking and some biking. Perico Preserve was created from farmland and has been transformed to include wetlands and scrub along with blinds for better bird watching overlooking the bay. It’s not far from Robinson Preserve and one of the trails we didn’t take connects to it.
Unlike other local preserves, Perico does not allow any dogs, and bicycles are limited to just certain parts of the trail. It’s a very quiet spot, only a few other people were around, and we enjoyed being in nature here. For my sister and brother-in-law, active birders, it was a chance to see a variety of songbirds as well as ibises, egrets, and blue herons.
Note: Header photo was taken at Perico Preserve. All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).
