So you’re a teenager in Sarasota and your mom gave you the car for the night. You’ve been in this situation before and can remember all your past experiences cruising through town, desperately searching for some fun-filled activity only to get home by your curfew and realize that you’ve done nothing but drive around for the past few hours. Sound familiar? Well fret not my fellow! You will soon learn of the many exciting thrills that can be found in this quiet little burg.

Think of one thing that is necessary for life. If you’re thinking of bananas, you’re partially correct. The correct answer is sustenance, more commonly called food. And where can you go to get food? Restaurants! If you’re out late, 24-hour restaurants such as Dennys and Perkins can be a haven of goodness, providing the quintessential food of french fries. Any restaurant can be turned into a great hangout with a side of fries. If you’re feeling particularly comfortable, you can get to know your wait staff and ingratiate yourself into the elite clique of late night “regulars.”

Another way to pass the time in a fun and enjoyable way is at the local cinema. With the AMC 6 outside of the mall, Burns Court and the Hollywood 20 in downtown Sarasota, the Venetian 6 in Venice, and the newly reopened Cinema 10 on Fruitville, fun seekers have an option of 5 theaters to choose from. What better way is there to pass time than sharing popcorn and laughs with a couple of your closest friends?

For the night owls who want to get out of the house but realize that Sarasota shuts down at 9 p.m. you have one place to go, Wal-Mart. Open 24 hours, Wal-Mart can be an inevitable paradise of fun. You can spend hours browsing through the toy aisles, scanning through CDs in the music section, searching for the perfect hat, testing out tents, or simply basking in the glory of being in a store that is open all night.

If all else fails, you can simply cruise the streets, picking up garbage to be used in your giant garbage sculpture that will garner you fame while you keep the city clean. Or you can sit around in your shag carpet living room, hoping that someone will create an all-night bowling alley. But one thing you can’t do is complain that there is absolutely nowhere to go in this town at night, because there is a plethora of places.