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Years ago, back in the late 50s there was a restaurant at the northeast corner of Tuttle Ave and Ringling Blvd. called Casa Canestrelli with La Tosca Trailer Park right behind it. I understand the trailer park was named for one of the Canestrelli's daughters. I only remember going there once or twice since our children were very young then and we didn't venture out with them very often but it was so unique because during dinner they had circus performers doing aerial acts. There was nothing else in Sarasota quite like that.

Later, the same location became House of Chong and by then our children were a little older and could behave during a dinner out. Our son, Ken, really liked going out as long as he could have a hamburger. Shades of Wimpy. As much as I tried he would only order a hamburger. One night I ordered egg drop soup and asked him to just taste it and lo and behold he discovered a world apart from hamburgers and I lost my soup. It seemed to me that he went from that right to escargot and I informed him that he'd either have to go back to hamburgers or get a job. It's interesting to note that he is now a vegetarian.

Another one of my favorite buildings in Sarasota is the Woman's Club on the corner of Cocoanut and Palm Aves. It was built in 1915 and served as the Woman's Club throughout most of the 20th Century. It now belongs to the Florida Studio Theater. A couple of reasons come to mind as to my attraction to this building; first, in among all the Mediterranean Revival architecture styles around town, here was a little building that was more English Tudor in design. What was that about? It certainly stood out and was unique among all the red tiled roofs and quatro foil designs with its half timbered exterior walls and diagonal mullioned windows (or perhaps leaded glass). Of course, it was not strictly English Tudor but certainly enough so to distinguish it from all the Mediterranean buildings that prevailed in Sarasota. And second, but certainly not lesser in importance to us, it was where our wedding reception was held more than 53 years ago.

Even though the South has been invaded by the North, Jefferson Davis' (President of the Confederate States of America, 1862 to 1865) birthday in June was a legal holiday in the eleven Confederate States up to 1962. I remember that local banks, city, county and state offices were closed. And we still have our Jefferson/Davis street sign.

During your life span did you ever know of a building that every member of your family had near-intimate relationships with? I sure did.

Such a building in my home town was the Commercial Court Office building on Central Avenue, three blocks north of five points, two blocks north of my daddy's bicycle shop.

During the 1930s and 1940s that building probably house almost fifty percent of Sarasota's commercial professionals. Nostalgic names included Doctors, Blackburn, Butcher, Halton, Harris, Johnston, A. Lamar Matthews and Morton; Dentists, Bond, Finley, Fuqua, Ketchersid and Sanders; Architects, W. Kannanberg, Thomas Reed Martin and Albert Saxe.

Other services available were by Accountants, Attorneys, Barber, Dressmaker, Insurance Agency, Photographer (J.J. Steinmetz), Realtors and more.

My most traumatic event was in 1936 when I watched Dr. Morton lower an ether-laden gauze pad onto my nose for my tonsillectomy-office surgery. "Take George home and let him have as much vanilla ice cream as he wants", were the post-op instructions.

A remembrance of the building would not be complete without mention of the 1926 elevator. Of course, it required a human operator to manipulate the "UP" and "DOWN" control which was a handle sticking out from a wheel. Handle to the left "DOWN"; Handle to the right, "UP" (or was it the other way around?). Most of the time the operator stopped with the elevator floor either two inches above or below the building floor. "Watch your step, please".

Now, when I go stand in the paved parking lot reserved for employees of the Selby Sarasota County Library, I can feel Dr. Sanders poking and drilling on my teeth. Ah, what price beauty?

One of my favorite buildings in Sarasota was the Commercial Court building on Central Ave. It had so much charm and character and it aged to perfection. I loved the central courtyard. It was like being in a leafy glade. In the bustle of the city it was an oasis of calm and cool in those pre-air conditioning days. As I recall the courtyard had benches to sit and enjoy the peace and quiet. The designer and builder sited it so that if there was any breeze to be had, it would be in the perfect position to catch it. My doctor, Lester Blackburn, was on the second floor and I had to go to his office twice a week for allergy shots and I remember how slow the elevator was which delayed my arrival at his office and that suited me just fine. To me that was a building worth saving but alas, no one asked me. So they tore down paradise and put up a parking lot.