Venice

Venice is a coastal city in Sarasota County, Florida, and stretches across several miles of shoreline with numerous canals connecting neighborhoods to the waterfront. Streets run parallel and perpendicular to the Gulf of Mexico, forming a grid of avenues, parks, and residential areas.

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers founded the city in 1925 as a planned settlement and equipped it with Mediterranean Revival architecture. In the following years, the place grew through an influx of retirees and became a center for pensioners from the northern United States.

The local theater stages more than 30 productions each year and ranks among the largest community playhouses in the country. Visitors watch performances by residents who have rehearsed and performed in the same venue for decades.

Parking lots near the shore sit along Harbor Drive and are usually free to use. Visitors find more open spots and fewer people at the waterfront in the morning than in the afternoon.

Fossilized shark teeth from prehistoric times wash up daily on the shore and come from ancient marine deposits offshore. Walkers often collect the small black triangles in the sand during low tide.