Longboat Key residents' summer vacation photos tell stories

Longboat Key residents have plenty of good views to choose from on the island, but they still look forward to their trips out of state and around the world for a change of scenery (and a break from summer humidity). No matter if it was a fresh memory from this summer or a warm and fuzzy memory from a summer long gone, Longboaters loved looking back on happy vacations. 

We asked them to send us their favorite photos from the summer:

Irina LaRose’s sister visited last summer and rented a house in Bradenton. Despite COVID-19, the family had a wonderful vacation (or stay-cation, for LaRose) and stayed mostly outdoors. There was a lake by the house and the nieces and nephew loved going out back with the fishing poles. 

“That was the fallback,” LaRose said. 

They  would catch and release the fish every time. LaRose is soon taking a late-summer vacation to St. Louis to see them for the first time since last summer. 

Jack and Nancy Rozance count their trip to the middle of the world as one of their favorites. The couple traveled several years ago to Quito, Ecuador and experienced the strange effects on gravity that come about at the equator. They balanced an egg on the head of a nail and saw water flow differently — clockwise to the south and counterclockwise to the north.

Ed Krepela’s trip to Long Island this summer was more of a mission than a vacation, he said. He had been trying to get up north for a big family reunion for about three years to see the whole 23-member Krepela clan, including his nine great grandchildren. 

“Four of them I had never seen in person before, just in pictures,” Krepela said. “I also found out that there’s another on the way, so by the end of the year I’m going to have 10 great grandchildren.” 

The one in the photo is Molly, the youngest Krepela relative. Krepela met her for the first time in her young life during the family reunion, but the two became fast friends. 

Julie McGue and her family go to Big Sky, Montana every year to visit the Last Best Place. They visit Yellowstone National Park, go hiking and fishing and take a western adventure. One of McGue's favorites was an overnight horseback trip into back country to a working wigwam campsite. Their guide took them, a cook and pack horses to camp.

"At sunset, the guide and cook served us dinner grilled over an open fire," McGue said A"fterwards, we sat atop logs, sipped hot chocolate, and tried to put names to the scores of constellations lighting up the night sky."

Cyndi and Mike Seamon don’t often travel in the summer, because Cyndi is the vice president of the Longboat Key Turtle Watch and walks the beach most summer mornings. However, they did get away to visit Cyndi’s parents in Wisconsin for Fourth of July. They flew into Green Bay and snapped a selfie with the resident Cheeseheads before joining the family and forgetting to pick up their phones for pictures. Sometimes the simplest trips are the best. 

Mike and Lyn Haycock took a two-month summer trip in their motorcoach. They stayed in state parks, the front and back yards of friends, driveways and RV parks. They hit 19 states and made 20 stops. Lyn said it was a new adventure for the couple and they loved every minute of it. 

In this photo, they’re at Sleeping Bear National Park on Lake Michigan. They had a full, active day riding the biking trails, going for a slow, scenic mountain drive and exploring the golden sand dunes.