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While Sarasota is known for its affluent lifestyle and beach setting, hundreds of homebound seniors and veterans are unable to prepare nutritious meals and face the inevitability of needing to relocate to an assisted living facility sooner. Groups can work with Meals on Wheels of Sarasota, engaging in a day of volunteer work that involves tasks such as meal preparation, packaging, and delivery. By doing so, you help these individuals maintain their independence, while also providing some much-needed social connection.

Get your group together to support (and savor) the unique and artistic communities of Sarasota through one of our many farmers markets. While the downtown Sarasota Farmers Market – held every Saturday from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. rain or shine – may be the best known with 70-plus vendors, others to consider include The Farmers Market at Lakewood Ranch and Coquina Beach Market at Longboat Key. Round out your day back on our private resort beach with healthy bites and an open bar.

Although Sarasota may be best known for its postcard-perfect beaches, the area also boasts an exotic system of otherworldly mangrove tunnels that are best seen by kayak or canoe. And what better way to create lasting memories with your group than connecting with these unique “walking tree” ecosystems during a guided tour with Almost Heaven Kayak Adventures. Lido Beach Resort can also provide a bagged lunch before departing, as well as welcome groups back a refreshing juice bar to re-energize.

© Visit Florida

Groups visiting in the spring can balance beach time with a Grapefruit League baseball outing. In fact, Sarasota isn’t just home to one but three major league teams: the Baltimore Orioles, the Atlanta Braves, and the Pittsburgh Pirates – all with their own stadiums located within easy driving distance of the resort. It all makes for an ideal way to experience baseball without the cost, crowds, or straying too far from the beach.

© Joseph Garnett via Visit Florida

Groups embark on a two-hour aquatic adventure during a Sea Life Encounter Cruise. Offered by Sarasota Bay Explorers in conjunction with Mote Marine Lab, this immersive experience invites participants to delve into the rich marine ecosystems of Sarasota and Roberts bays. Highlights include observing and handling some of our area’s most interesting marine residents, including puffer fish, sea horses, stone crabs, and cowfish. Not to mention, Lido Beach Resort can bookend the experience with some delicious food and beverage options at the resort.

Founded in 1987, Big Cat Habitat and Gulf Coast Sanctuary is an ever-growing large-animal rescue in eastern Sarasota County that provides a permanent home to dozens of exotic animals in need. And your group can learn all about the conservation, lifecycle, and needs of rescued big cats during a visit. In fact, they offer one very unique way to do so: Wild Yoga, where lemurs or foxes roam freely during a guided yoga flow class. Not into yoga? Your group can also book special up-close encounters with some of their residents.

Home to salt therapy rooms and heated salt beds and booths, Salt of the Earth is a Sarasota-based wellness center that harnesses the healing power of dry salt to alleviate respiratory issues and treat skin issues, stress, and anxiety. Groups can come try out all their various salt services, as well as vibration and light therapies, then keep the salt healing going back at the beach with a juice and cheese bar provided by the resort.

A botanical oasis in the middle of downtown Sarasota, the 15 acres at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens are packed to the gills with tropical and subtropical plants – and groups can take it all in during a guided yoga session organized by the sanctuary. Once your session is complete, continue to unwind by walking through the mesmerizing landscape and the only botanical garden in the world dedicated to the display and study of epiphytic orchids, bromeliads, gesneriads and ferns, and other tropical plants.