Glebe Park

On busy weekends, when thousands of mainlanders rush to Siesta Beach, dozens of island residents relax at Glebe Park (1000 Glebe Lane, Siesta Key). Mothers push strollers along a path. Cyclists loop through the parking lot. Children dash onto the baseball diamond and soccer field. Glebe draws from several Siesta Key subdivisions, serving as a neighborhood park for hundreds of families. “It’s golden,” says Maurice Dentici, who lives next door. “We’ll ride our bikes out there. We’ll throw a football out there. It’s a great little park.” Glebe is the home field for the Suncoast Sports Club, a soccer program which draws hundreds of children on Saturday mornings. This is a world away from the beachy Siesta that tourists recognize. “A lot of people don’t even know this park is here,” says Stephen Weeks, who founded the soccer club. “They’ve made it very family friendly. You come here anytime, and the place is full of people and children.”