Editor's Notebook: Way too much to do this weekend

Wow. First, the bottle boat regatta on Palma Sola Causeway at 10 a.m. Then (maybe, time permitting) there's the rowing regatta at Benderson Park  in the wilds of E. Sarasota County. And Saturday and Sunday (it started last night), the Rhythm and Ribfest fills the county fairgrounds in Palmetto with award-winning BBQ and excellent music. Plus there's the Bradenton Jazz Fest every day from now until April 18.

We learned about these events -- and many others -- by reading Erica Newport's Weekend Adventures in Bradenton column, which runs every Thursday -- and is included in our free Weekly Recap email newsletter, too.

And for those of you who want to venture south into the unexplored wilderness of Sarasota, they're having both a legitimate film festival  through April 18 and a fringe film festival, which... hmmm... ends Sunday, April 11. Darn. We seem to have missed most of it. Too much to do right here in Manatee County.

And all next week: More music. Bradenton Marauders games, including one Monday night. Get Down Downtown in Bradenton Thursday night, an event we try to get to as often as possible because it's a great place to learn about new local bands, and because we always run into friends we haven't seen for a while. And a whole new raft of weekenc activities.

Anyway, now I'm off to the bottle boat regatta, video camera in hand.

If I don't see you there, maybe we'll meet at the Ribfest. Or while we're getting down downtown.

Until then, thanks for reading!

Robin Miller
Editor and Reporter,
The Bradenton Times