The Coastal Channel / The Lifestyle Lane
Life on Florida’s West Coast
The Lifestyle Lane.
The places, the people, and the real-estate truths most agents won’t say out loud — the stories behind the coast you’re choosing to call home.
The Flagship · Our most-watched show
Area Happenings.
What’s actually going on across Sarasota, Manatee, and the barrier islands — the local news, projects, and openings that shape the place you’re moving to.
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Every Area Happenings episode
69 episodes · newest first
Longboat Key Library and Sarasota PAC Share Tax QuestionTR-0812-AH-1
Longboat Key Awaits $29.7M in FEMA ReimbursementsTR-0811-AH-1
Downtown Sarasota Starts Condo-Hotel Policy WorkTR-0810-AH-1
How a 1985 Vote Still Controls Development on Longboat KeyTR-0808-AH-1
St. Regis Files Response in Longboat Key Arch Sign LawsuitTR-0807-AH-1
10-Story, 54-Residence Condo Approved to Advance in Downtown SarasotaTR-0806-AH-1
Where can you cool off on Longboat Key this summer? Here is the island’s current lineup.TR-0805-AH-1
Sarasota Weighs Burying Power Lines on St. Armands and Lido KeyTR-0804-AH-1
Benderson Plans Class A Office Overhaul at 1660 Ringling BoulevardTR-0803-AH-1
Whitney’s Restaurant Plans a Major ExpansionTR-0801-AH-1
Shore Restaurant Plans a Flood-Resilient ComebackTR-0731-AH-1
Longboat Key Named a Best Island in America 2026TR-0730-AH-1
Downtown Owners Push Back on New Paid-Parking RulesTR-0729-AH-1
Sarasota Installs Its First Micromobility HubsTR-0728-AH-1
Bobby Jones Nature Park — Phase 1 Now OpenTR-0727-AH-1
The Owen: Luxury Condos on Golden Gate PointTR-0725-AH-1
Pinchers Seafood Headed to Old Tommy Bahama SpotTR-0724-AH-1
Longboat Key May Ease Code for Home-RaisingTR-0723-AH-1
Artisanal Chocolate Shop Opens on St. Armands CircleTR-0722-AH-1
New App Finds Sarasota-Manatee Food Trucks in Real TimeTR-0721-AH-1
Longboat Key Approves Canal Dredging Assessment — Area Happenings.TR-0720-AH-1
Inside the Planned Hyatt Centric Harborside in Downtown SarasotaTR-0718-AH-1
Sarasota Named CNN’s No. 1 Town to Visit in America for 2026TR-0717-AH-1
$80M Four-Rink Ice Multiplex Moves Forward in Lakewood RanchTR-0716-AH-1
Longboat Key’s Only Pedestrian Tunnel Changes HandsTR-0715-AH-1
Lido Key’s Iconic Tiki Bar Reopens After the 2024 StormsTR-0714-AH-1
Sarasota Square Adds Luxury Apartments After Whole FoodsTR-0713-AH-1
Sarasota’s New Paid Parking Rules: What Changed DowntownTR-0711-AH-1
Sarasota’s Der Dutchman Ranks No. 2 Buffet Restaurant in the U.S.TR-0710-AH-1
Iconic Caragiulos Moves Closer to Reopening at 1833 Ringling BlvdTR-0709-AH-1
Longboat Key May Reclassify Feather Banners Under Its Sign CodeTR-0708-AH-1
Art or graffiti? The painted driftwood debate at Beer Can Island.TR-0707-AH-1
Anna Maria Beach Renourishment Kicks Off With $6.18M in FundingTR-0706-AH-1
Water Taxi Concept for Sarasota Bay Gains Momentum — Here’s What’s PlannedTR-0704-AH-1
Shore Restaurant Applies for 3-Story Mixed-Use Project at St. Armands CircleTR-0703-AH-1
Captain Kurt’s Seafood expands from Siesta Key to the Sarasota mainland — here’s what’s new.TR-0701-AH-1
Longboat Key Pickleball Courts Close for $189K Renovation Through SeptemberTR-0630-AH-1
Foxtail Coffee Opens at The Quay in Downtown SarasotaTR-0629-AH-1
Jewfish Key: The Boat-Only Private Island off Longboat KeyTR-0627-AH-1
New Longboat Key Evacuation Re-Entry Stickers at Town HallTR-0626-AH-1
Longboat Key Mobile Home Owner Appeals Canal Dredging FeeTR-0625-AH-1
Lido Shores Breaks Ground on New Beachside PavilionTR-0624-AH-1
First Green Sea Turtle Nest Documented on Longboat Key in 2026TR-0623-AH-1
13 New Retailers & Eateries Coming to UTC Sarasota in 2026TR-0622-AH-1
Sarasota County Tourism Up 1.7% in March 2026 — Key TrendsTR-0620-AH-6
Free Day Docks at Sarasota’s The Bay Park — No Fees (2026)TR-0619-AH-5
New Kompose Hotel Coming to Sarasota-Bradenton Airport (2026)TR-0618-AH-4
Longboat Key’s $166M Capital Plan: What’s Changing (2026)TR-0617-AH-3
Lido Beach Renourishment Project Officially Complete (2026)TR-0616-AH-2
Longboat Key’s Bay Isles Road Gets a Fresh Makeover (2026)TR-0615-AH-1
Sarasota’s Main Street Could Look Very Different in 20 YearsTR-0613-AH-6
Push Underway to Replace Longboat Key’s 50-Year-Old Rec CenterTR-0612-AH-5
Solorzano’s on Longboat Key Rebrands as Costello’s Neighborhood PizzaTR-0611-AH-4
Longboat Key On-Demand Transit: 29,000 Riders, But Supply Can’t Keep UpTR-0610-AH-3
Longboat Key’s Dock on the Bay Rebuilds After 2024 StormsTR-0609-AH-2
Sarasota Bay Park Phase 3: What’s Coming NextTR-0608-AH-1
Siesta Key North Bridge $4.3M Maintenance Project Begins — Open Through ConstructionTR-0606-AH-1
Saucy by KFC Opens in Lakewood Ranch on Lena Road — New Sauce-Forward ConceptTR-0605-AH-1
Sarasota Bridges Enter a New Era: Fixed-Span Designs Begin Replacing DrawbridgesTR-0604-AH-1
Il Panificio Opens New Downtown Sarasota Location on Main StreetTR-0603-AH
Sarasota County Approves Permitting Process Updates — TR-0529-AH-1TR-0529-AH-1
A New Waterfront Restaurant Coming to The Bay ParkTR-0522-AH
Sea Turtle Patrols Begin On Longboat Key Ahead Of Nesting SeasonTR-0516-AH
Town Sends Compliance Agreement To Longboat Key’s Half Moon HouseTR-0515-AH
Lido Beach Renourishment Project Underway At Lido DunesTR-0514-AH
New Manatee Bell Ferry Adds 90+ Air-Conditioned SeatsTR-0513-AH
Coquina Beach Parking Egress Idea Returns To The TableTR-0512-AH
Sarasota Approves Alderman Oaks Rezoning In Close 3-2 VoteTR-0511-AH
A Rare Shorebird Colony Is Nesting Right Now on South Lido Beach — Here’s How to Visit RespectfullyTR-0504-AH
Hidden Gems · Explore by place
The Treasure Map.
Every episode of Hidden Gems, mapped to the real place it’s about. Tap a glowing pin to watch the story.
Florida’s West Coast · tap a pin
Sarasota
America’s Oldest Boat Brand, Chris-Craft, Is Built in Sarasota
TR-0813-HG-1
89 gems posted across the coast · every pin is a video you can watch.
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Hidden Gems
Things locals and visitors don’t know about Florida’s West Coast
America’s Oldest Boat Brand, Chris-Craft, Is Built in SarasotaTR-0813-HG-1
Stephen King’s Real ‘Duma Key’ House Was a Longboat Key RentalTR-0811-HG-1
The $100,000 Flower Crime: Selby Gardens’ Orchid Smuggling CaseTR-0810-HG-1
The Bradenton Ballpark That’s the 3rd-Oldest in Major League BaseballTR-0808-HG-1
The Florida Scrub-Jay: The Bird That Inherits Its TerritoryTR-0807-HG-1
Tropicana’s Name Is a Hidden Love Note From Its Bradenton FounderTR-0806-HG-1
Italy Shipped Sarasota an Entire 18th-Century Opera HouseTR-0805-HG-1
The Sunken Sugar Barge Off Bradenton Beach You Can SnorkelTR-0804-HG-1
The Party Yacht Buried Off Lido Key: Sarasota’s Wildest ShipwreckTR-0803-HG-1
Snooty: The Bradenton Manatee Who Changed What Science KnewTR-0801-HG-1
The World’s Oldest Shuffleboard Club, Saved by Twenty-SomethingsTR-0731-HG-1
The Man Behind Florida Grapefruit and Tampa CigarsTR-0730-HG-1
Why is there a man-made hill in flat Sarasota — and what’s buried under it?TR-0729-HG-1
Ted Peters: The 75-Year-Old Smoked Fish Joint Where Smell Was the PlanTR-0728-HG-1
The Sarasota Youth Circus Born From a 1949 High School Gym ClassTR-0727-HG-1
The Terra Ceia Women Who Organized 19 Years Before the VoteTR-0725-HG-1
The WWII Army airfield hiding in plain sight at Sarasota’s airport.TR-0724-HG-1
The 220-Foot Rule That Keeps the Myakka River WildTR-0723-HG-1
Myakka: Florida’s Only Wild and Scenic RiverTR-0722-HG-1
How Bertha Palmer Revolutionized Florida Cattle RanchingTR-0721-HG-1
The Anna Maria Jail Designed to Be UncomfortableTR-0720-HG-1
The turpentine camps and debt peonage hidden in Sarasota County’s pine woods.TR-0718-HG-1
How a single hurricane cut New Pass between Longboat Key and Lido Key in one afternoon.TR-0717-HG-1
The Island You Cross in 90 Seconds Has 3,000 Years of HistoryTR-0716-HG-1
Where Elvis and DeMille Came to Downtown SarasotaTR-0715-HG-1
The Cuban Fishing Community Erased From Bradenton’s CoastTR-0714-HG-1
The Englewood Movie-Star Town That Became an AirportTR-0713-HG-1
There’s a comeback story unfolding right under our boats in Sarasota Bay.TR-0711-HG-1
Useppa Island: The Florida Hideaway Where the CIA Trained Bay of PigsTR-0703-HG
St. Armand’s Key: Named After a Typo, Causeway Built by ElephantsTR-0702-HG
1885 Scottish Colonists: Promised Paradise, Got Sarasota SwampTR-0629-HG
Peace River: Where You Can Legally Shovel Ice Age FossilsTR-0627-HG
Bertha Palmer: The Chicago Queen Who Bought Half of Sarasota CountyTR-0626-HG
Cortez Village: 1880s Fishing Town That Tested Its Bridge with an ElephantTR-0625-HG
Why Siesta Beach Sand Stays Cool: It’s From the AppalachiansTR-0623-HG
Older Than the Pyramids: Osprey’s 4,500-Year Shell MoundTR-0622-HG
How a Cleveland Railroad Union Built — and Lost — Venice, FLTR-0620-HG
Venice FL Shark Tooth Capital: Why Caspersen Beats Venice BeachTR-0619-HG
Deep Hole at Myakka: 150 Alligators in a 131-Foot SinkholeTR-0618-HG
Little Salt Spring: 12,000-Year Time Capsule in North PortTR-0617-HG
Midnight Pass: Closed in 1983, Reopened by 2 HurricanesTR-0616-HG
Longboat Key’s Ghost Hotel: Ringling’s $650K WalkawayTR-0615-HG
Boca Grande Florida: The Tarpon Capital of the WorldTR-0613-HG
Tampa Cuban Sandwich: The Florida City That Made It LawTR-0612-HG
Cedar Key Florida: The Island That Built the World’s PencilsTR-0611-HG
Cabbage Key: The Florida Island You Can Only Reach By BoatTR-0610-HG
Sarasota Hidden History: The Shark Lady Who Trained SharksTR-0609-HG
St. Pete Beach Hidden History: The Don CeSar’s Army YearsTR-0608-HG
Gamble Mansion: Florida’s Last Surviving Plantation HouseTR-0606-HG
Beer Can Island: The Longboat Key Beach That Didn’t Exist 150 Years AgoTR-0605-HG
Florida’s First Protected Archaeological Site: Madeira Bickel MoundTR-0604-HG
Linger Lodge: One of America’s Weirdest RestaurantsTR-0603-HG
The Florida Castle One Man Built from Newspaper PlatesTR-0602-HG
The Florida Town Where Elephants Live in Yards: GibsontonTR-0601-HG
Sarasota’s First Settler Was 21, a War Vet, and Built With CedarTR-0529-HG
Myakka Has the First Public Canopy Walk in North AmericaTR-0528-HG
I.M. Pei’s Only Florida Design Is Hiding in SarasotaTR-0527-HG
Anna Maria Island Was Built By the Fig Newton BakerTR-0526-HG
Sept 10, 2001: George W. Bush Slept on Longboat KeyTR-0525-HG
How The Great Freeze Of 1895 Saved Florida’s Gulf Coast CitrusTR-0523-HG
How A Gulf Sponge Town Became The Most Greek City In AmericaTR-0522-HG
How A Confederate Cabinet Member Escaped Through Sarasota BayTR-0521-HG
The Hand-Built Calusa Capital In Estero BayTR-0520-HG
The World’s First Commercial Airline Took Off Right Here In 1914TR-0519-HG
The Florida Mermaid City Of Weeki Wachee SpringsTR-0518-HG
Tampa’s Pirate Festival Is Built on a Pirate Who Never ExistedTR-0516-HG
Wild Flamingos Are Returning to Florida After 100+ YearsTR-0515-HG
The 576-Sq-Ft Sanibel Beach House That Made Architectural HistoryTR-0514-HG
The Tampa Bay Ghost Town You Can Only Reach By BoatTR-0513-HG
The 7,200-Year-Old Burial Site Off Manasota KeyTR-0512-HG
The 425-Foot Underwater Sinkhole 50 Miles Off SarasotaTR-0511-HG
Meet Eugenie Clark — the Shark Lady Who Built Mote MarineTR-0509-HG
Gamble Plantation and the Confederate Secretary’s Secret EscapeTR-0508-HG
John Ringling’s Yacht, a NYC Mayor, and a 1930 Sarasota Cover-UpTR-0507-HG
The 350-Foot Gulf Sinkhole Off Sarasota You Never Knew ExistedTR-0506-HG
How a Railroad Union Built the City of Venice, FloridaTR-0505-HG
Every Sarasota Bay Dolphin Has Its Own NameTR-0504-HG
How the Great Gale of 1848 Carved John’s Pass in One NightTR-0502-HG
The Green Banana: Florida’s Unexplored Gulf Blue HoleTR-0501-HG
How a Fig Newton Built Anna Maria Island’s DowntownTR-0430-HG
Bertha Palmer’s Cattle Empire: The Woman Behind Myakka River State ParkTR-0429-HG
Hidden Gems of Florida’s West Coast: The Ghost Hotel on South Longboat KeyTR-0428-HG
Hidden Gems of Florida’s West Coast: The 1,000-Year-Old Sacred Mound in Safety HarborTR-0427-HG
Why Sarasota Used to Be Called Circus CityTR-0425-HG
The Oldest Restaurant in Florida Has Been Open Since 1903TR-0424-HG
Why Venice, FL is the Shark Tooth Capital of the WorldTR-0423-HG
The 10,000-Year-Old Secret Inside Warm Mineral SpringsTR-0422-HG
Cortez: Florida’s 150-Year-Old Fishing VillageTR-0421-HG
🌴 Sarasota-Manatee is BUZZING: Top Events, Local News & Hidden Gems for April 6–12! 🎉TR-0405-HG
New stories all week — the coast, the way the locals know it.
