Sarasota's 5 Things To Know: Boiled Crawfish In Season

1. It's crawfish season so local restaurants are getting into the boil act. One includes  of Sarasota, which is offering their crawfish boil for the next few Saturdays, while the crawfish season lasts. A perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon, Half Shell cranks up the boiler, and cooks and serves the crawfish platters in a traditional New Orleans style, on their Main Street patio. Great eats paired with an Abita Restoration beer on tap at Half Shell, starting at 4 p.m., Saturdays, $12 per platter, while season lasts.

2. Mother's Day may be coming up, but NBC's Today show and iVillage.com are looking for to compete in their second annual Hottest Dads contest. The grand prize winner will be revealed on June 12 on NBC's Today show and will receive a week-long Royal Caribbean cruise for four! The category winners will all receive $300 Target or Target.com gift cards. Register here: www.ivillage.com/hotdadscontestants

3. Oh, but who are we kidding. We can never leave out Mom. That's why Patch is looking for the best Mom and will give $500 to the mommiest of them all. 

Just tell us in the comments section of our "Win $500 for Mom on Patch" story why your mom rocks and you just might win one of five $500 gift cards we’re giving away to special moms who touch the lives of the readers in our 19 Florida Patch towns.

You have until noon Tuesday, May 1, to share her story on Patch. You can also upload your favorite photographs of Mom in action in that story (but only the comments count for the contest). Five winners will be selected at random from all of those who enter by commenting about their moms.

4.  Kentucky's Lt. Gov. Jerry Abramson will make a special presentation to the City Commission at 1 p.m. Tuesday about how to restructure government while upgrading public safety and the city's quality of life. It seems awfully good timing considering the recent talks of consolidation in Manatee and Sarasota counties conveniently crepped up recently. Could consolidation work? Sound off on our story about what consolidation could mean. Abramson was the former mayor of Louisville and was named by both Newsweek andU.S. News and World Report as one of America's Top Mayors. Abramson's presentation will be during the commission's workshop in the Commission Chambers at . No public comment is permitted.

5. Paving of Fruitville Road between U.S. 301 and U.S. 41. will continue this week at night. Traffic will be allowed through the area, but drivers should expect delays. The final friction course paving is being done during off-peak traffic hours from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. Without weather delays, the paving is expected to be completed at 7 a.m. Friday, April 27.

During the past week, palm trees, Florimulch and Florida friendly plants were placed in the medians, creating a more attractive corridor for motorists and pedestrians. The improvement project began in November and is expected to finish within the contract period.