LONGBOAT KEY, Fla. -- Snowbirds are those lucky people who flee northern winter weather for the sunshine of Florida. A few years ago, my husband, Bob Wolke, and I joined the exodus, setting our sights on Longboat Key, a barrier island with beautiful beaches just north of Sarasota on the Gulf of Mexico.

While our fellow snowbirds might be thinking golf or sailing, we bring no bikes, clubs or boats. We make our getaway with only our laptops and a few local friends. We make a game of challenging ourselves to find restaurants on, beside or within sight of water, preferably with outdoor service. We like it casual.

We limit most of our dining to Longboat Key, Siesta Key and nearby Cortez Village. Here is this year's pier's review:

Mar Vista Dockside Restaurant & Pub, 760 Broadway St., Intracoastal Marker 39, North Longboat Key; 1-941-383-2391

Imagine the familiar crowd, favorite foods and friendly buzz of our own Tessaro's in Bloomfield. Now add a deck, a wharf and picnic tables on the beach. That's Mar Vista in old historic Longboat Village. In a poll a few years back, USA Today listed it as one of the 10 likeliest places to meet a millionaire. Dollar bills "paper" the walls, because it was customary for fishermen to pin a dollar bill to the wall or ceiling to make sure there would be beer money in case the day's catch was poor. The tradition stuck.

Today, the bar hops with regulars sipping beer and slathering smoked fish dip onto toasts. The deck is ringed with hibiscus. The menu is all about Florida. Huge portions of local seafood and salads and spicy crab and corn chowder will keep you coming back. Big appetites are sated with steamer pots, fish fries and fresh catch. Key lime pie seekers alert: Mar Vista makes the best on LBK, pale yellow wedges topped with puffs of heavy, hand-whipped cream. Afterward, take a walk out onto the pier and make friends with the pelicans. It's enough to make you forgive Florida politics.

Star Fish Company, end of 123rd Street off Cortez Road, Cortez Village; 1-941-794-1243.

Star Fish is part of the working waterfront of Cortez village. Buy your dinner, freshly caught, at the seafood market out front. (We recommend grouper cheeks. Toss them in a hot pan with butter, cook until opaque and season well.) Enjoy lunch on wooden picnic tables at the ultracasual dockside restaurant and bar out back. Fine-feathered poultry -- gulls, ibis, herons, pelicans and egrets -- and fishing boats are the amusement. You can't go wrong with conch fritters, po' boy sandwich, stone crab claws, grouper or any version of mullet, the fish that put Cortez on the map. Sides are fab cheese grits, fries, slaw and the best hush puppies we ever tasted, a little sweet and deeply crisp.

Ritz-Carlton Sarasota, 1111 Ritz-Carlton Drive, city side of the causeway, Sarasota; 1-941-309-2000.

Be not intimidated by the palm-lined drive and valet parking. Dining at the Ritz is your best Sarasota vacation dollar spent. I mean it. Sure, there are hundreds of chandeliers and more Italian marble in the lobby than in Rome. But take it in stride. From the terrace, admire the bay through the palms, watch the yachts at the marina and listen to the fountains tinkle.

In the Vernona main dining room, the menu shows excellence, wit and intelligence. The chef believes in fresh, local, seasonal and sustainable foods, and he provisions his kitchen mostly from local organic farmers. Because grouper is a species whose numbers are being severely depleted, the chef offers wreck fish (yes, wreck), a relatively unknown firm-flesh fish of the grouper family. On the seafood menu, it appears as "Not So Grouper." Delicious.

Others: Lime-scented King salmon tartare, lobster "macaroni" and cheese and yellow tail snapper. Turfside, barolo-braised beef short ribs and Niman Ranch pork osso buco will make you glad you came. Sweets include the likes of chocolate creme brulee, coconut panna cotta and caramel-cinnamon ice cream. The Ritz opened in 2001 as a city hotel and has morphed into a resort destination, picking up a Zagat ranking as one of the nation's top 50. Attire? Look nice and wear socks. Jackets not required. This is Florida, after all.

Dry Dock Waterfront Grill, 412 Gulf of Mexico Drive (at the Boathouse Marina), Longboat Key; 1-941- 383-0102.

Go for lunch. You can see the bay from Sarasota's purple Van Wezel Performing Arts Center all the way up to Bradenton. Nautical gear, maps and charts line the walls of the three-level eatery. Sailboats, canoes and kayaks hang from the ceilings. Sit at pelican level on the dockside patio or upstairs peeking through palm tree fringe. Watch a constant flotilla of yachts, sail and motor boats -- it's better than TV. Grouper sandwiches are a specialty. Bob says the fried Ipswich clam platter -- a rarity in Florida -- is a winner.

Thin, crisp fries are the best in the area. Find the usual Florida entrees after 4 p.m., all good, and see twinkly city lights. On the way out, plop onto an Adirondack chair and watch a humongous forklift-crane haul yachts and speedboats into and out of the 192-slip dry dock.

PG's (formerly Pattigeorge's), 4120 Gulf of Mexico Drive, Longboat Key; 1-941-383-5111.

Knowing the begats of The Colony Beach and Tennis Resort is essential. Murray "Murf" Klauber bought the early version of The Colony in 1969, and his three kids grew up in the business. Now, Michael owns Sarasota's black-tie magnet Michael's on East, Katie is CEO of The Colony resort, and Tommy owns PG's restaurant right up the street. The family trio dominates Sarasota in the best ways with right-priced, sophisticated wine lists and savvy Florida menus.

But classically trained chef/owner Tommy Klauber wigged out on the same old, same old. One taste, and Far Eastern influences blew him away. His menu is no-way predictable. Along with must-have sunbird faves such as pan-seared native snapper and lobster salad are these tingling dishes: Tuna tartare wonton tacos, crispy lobster spring rolls, miso-glazed black sea bass, Thai green curry grouper and Thai chicken pizza.

PG's bottom line: Coastal cuisine with a pan-Asian twist served by a swell waitstaff in a congenial setting overlooking Sarasota Bay. It's a must.

Javier's Restaurant and Wine Bar, 6621 Midnight Pass Road, Crescent Plaza, Siesta Key; 1-941-349-1792.

If you squint, you can imagine a Peruvian cafe overlooking a village in the Andes Mountains. Squint hard, because you are in a mini-mall next to a 7-Eleven. Since you can't tell a wine bar by its GPS address, trust me. Guide books have never heard of the place. It's hard to order anything but the savory small plates: mariscada de choros, tamal de pollo, picante de camarones, platanos fritos, calamares and garlic aioli and yuca frita.

You need a dictionary to understand the words and a Kleenex to blot the effects of the fiery dipping sauces, which affect you like a double dose of Peruvian Dristan. Even gringo entrees get a Peruvian spin: seafood fritters served with cilantro chimichurri sauce, seafood and pepper tortilla with creamy roasted rocoto pepper sauce, and mixed grill of barbecued ribs. Wine by the glass -- there are at least 18 -- is poured tableside. Nice touch. The restaurant is in its 16th year, all the plants are real and the owner, Javier, is a gracious gent from Lima. One of our favorites.

The Broken Egg Restaurant and Outdoor Cafe, 210 Avenida Madera, Siesta Key; 1-941-346-2750.

Make an egg-ception to the dining-on-the-water rule. Although I suppose you could count the water under the bridge over to Siesta Key. The Egg is an island breakfast-lunch institution. House specials: Risotto-like hash browns with cheddar and sour cream, caramel pecan sticky buns and plate-size pancakes. They're bigger than your head and the equivalent of five homemade pancakes. Add a couple of bucks for real maple syrup for a real treat. Other favorites include deep-dish quiche du jour, crab cakes Benedict, sandwich wraps, salads, omelets, waffles and blintzes. Patio tables surrounded by trees and ferns make you forget the Egg is in a mini-mall.

Afterward, head for Johnny's Car Wash on Tamiami Trail next door to Saks. You'll be amazed.