You don't need a guidebook to navigate Sarasota. Let Enquirer Reds writer John Fay be your guide.

How to get there

The easiest way is to catch a Comair flight that goes directly to Sarasota Bradenton International Airport. Leave Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International at 9 a.m., and you can watch a 1 p.m. game at Ed Smith Stadium. We found fares for less than $300. Check Internet sites for the best rates.

It's a 983-mile drive straight down I-75. Yahoo.com estimates the time of travel at 15 hours and 7 minutes. Greyhound will get you there in 26 hours or so, and it's $179 round trip.

Where to stay

Hotels range from $359 a night at the Ritz-Carlton to $63 a night for the Days Inn. (That's an Internet price for early March). There are also condos and mom-and-pop motels on or near the beaches on Siesta Key and Longboat Key.

Where to eat

All the big restaurant chains have multiple locations in Sarasota. The popular hot spots have a wait beginning at 5 p.m. that can last until 9.

At places like Carrabba's Italian Grill on Stickney Point Road (a good place to spot players, by the way), you can wait two to three hours. Here's a list of a few out-of-the-way, local places:

Barnacle Bill's: Three locations. This is a good, reasonably priced seafood place. Voted the "Top Seafood Restaurant" by the local paper in 2001 and '02.

Broken Egg: A breakfast place on Siesta Key. The food's great. As an added attraction, one of Sarasota's famous citizens, Dick Vitale, eats there. He has his own table outside and spends mornings on his cell phone talking basketball.

CafÈ Baci: Good Italian food for a decent price. On Route 41, near downtown Sarasota. Highly recommended by the Enquirer sports department's leading authority on Italian cuisine.

The Daiquiri Deck: Another Siesta Key spot. This is more of a bar than a restaurant, but the food is good - the grouper sandwich in particular. Sarasota isn't a huge spring break destination, but this place heats up during that time.

Gus 12th Street CafÈ: A lunch-breakfast place 100 yards from home plate at Ed Smith Stadium. Reasonably priced. If you're lucky, they'll have some of the grouper Gus caught the night before.

The Sports Page: In Sarasota on Main Street. A good place to watch NCAA games, with a good selection of food served late.

What to do - besides baseball

Beaches: This alone makes the move from Plant City one of the great trades in Reds history. The beaches on Siesta Key and Longboat Key are world-class.

Golf: There are private and semi-private courses all over the county, with a wide range of quality and fees. Four of Florida's top 100 courses are in the area.

Ringling Museum of Art: A rainy-day alternative. This is more than an art museum, as the brochure says: "A magnificent 21-gallery museum, home to one of the world's most exceptional collections of Baroque art. Stroll through the historic Venetian-style Ringling Mansion, Ca d'Zan and the delightful rare circus memorabilia at the Museum of the Circus."

Shopping: There are a couple of outlets malls in the area. For a more cultural shopping experience, try St. Armands Circle - but beware the traffic.

Dog racing: For the less culturally inclined, there's a dog track, the Sarasota Kennel Club.

Seeing other clubs

The Reds' training facility is within 100 miles of nine other training complexes.

The Philadelphia Phillies, this offseason's big spenders, train 56 miles away in Clearwater.

The New York Yankees, every offseason's big spenders, are 52 miles up the road in Tampa.

The Pittsburgh Pirates, who make the Reds look like big spenders, are 12 miles away in Bradenton.

A word of caution here: Don't plan on averaging 60 mph. Traffic is notoriously bad in Florida in the spring, and some ballparks are set in neighborhoods. Going from Sarasota to Clearwater means driving 15 miles on Route 19, which is like driving 15 miles on Colerain or Beechmont Avenue.

Getting tickets

Tickets for Reds exhibition games at Ed Smith Stadium can be purchased at the stadium or online at www.cincinnatireds.com.

Tickets also can be ordered through www.Tickets.com at (800) 955-5566.

Mail orders, including $7 per order for postage and handling, should be sent to 1090 N. Euclid Ave., Sarasota, Fla., 34237.

Tickets are $14 for box seats, $12 for reserved seats and $5 for general admission.

Farther down the road ...

The Reds' Sarasota training complex is within relatively easy driving distance of several other training camps. Remember, though: It's Florida traffic.

City	Team	Miles	Driving time
Bradenton	Pirates	12	:25
Clearwater	Phillies	56	1:25
Dunedin	Blue Jays	62	1:30
Fort Myers	Twins	77	1:30
Fort Myers	Red Sox	77	1:30
Kissimmee	Astros	125	2:12
Kissimmee	Braves	111	2:10
Lakeland	Tigers	78	1:30
St. Petersburg	Devil Rays	38	1:00
Tampa	Yankees	52	1:00
Winter Haven	Indians	88	1:50