Sarasota

We have much left to see and do in Sarasota on our last day, so let’s get right to it. We started with breakfast at at place called Station 400. It’s located in a restored 1852 railroad depot which was was built in Kentland, Indiana. The old depot was painstakingly pieced apart and reassembled in Sarasota.

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The food was as delightful as the atmosphere. We actually visited again the next morning before we headed to the airport.

You may remember that The Ringling Brothers Circus is a foundational part of the City of Sarasota. Today we will be visiting the The Ringling Museum which includes the Museum of Art, Circus Museum, Ca’ d’Zan, and Historic Asolo Theater, along with waterfront gardens. We wouldn’t get even one quarter the way through this sixty six acre compound.

The Circus Museum is jam packed with posters, costumes, art and implements of carnival life.

I have a fond memory of attending the Ringling Brother Barnum and Bailey Circus as a child. This was waaaay back in the olden days when they still had lion tamers and trained poodles and such.

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The preeminent Tiger-Tamer extraordinaire at the time was Gunther Gebel Williams. He literally ran away and joined the circus in post WWII Germany and would eventually be lured over to the states by the Ringling Brothers Circus. I don’t recall thinking he was a stone cold fox when I was eight, but…

Also housed in the Circus Museum is an an exact 3/4-inch-to-the-foot scale replica of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus as it might have looked from 1919 – 1938.

This miniature recreation of circus life was created by a man named Howard Tibbal. He was fascinated by the mechanics of how they’d travel to a new town each day and set up a virtual city. For over 50 years Tibbals worked with excruciating effort to recreate this tableau from old photographs and circus posters.

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I just took a few snaps of the Big Top section of the circus, but this whole display was 3,800 square feet, three times the size of my home. I could totally live here!

There was a small exhibit of sketches and paintings of various circus acts and members.

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Below is a watercolor self-portrait of Sarah Biffin who was not a part of the Ringling family. She was born without arms or legs, yet she taught herself to draw, paint, make dresses and sew using her mouth and shoulders. At 13 years old she traveled with a circus led by showman Emmanuel Dukes. Biffin performed across England, where she would demonstrate her painting skills. The Dukes family marketed her as the “limbless wonder”.

You can also get a gander at the Wisconsin, a rail car built in 1896 by the Pullman Car Company. John Ringling conducted the business of the circus aboard the the train in addition to vacations to Utah and Yellowstone National Park, as well as Sarasota when they bought their property here in 1911. In 2003 it was given to The Ringling Museum by the N.C. Transportation Museum, where it underwent significant restoration to uncover the original paint, gold plating, and beautiful stained glass windows.

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Jeff needed to shuffle off to return some gear were borrowed for our gig over the weekend. I decided to hang back and check out the Ringling’s home located here on the museum grounds, the Cà d’Zan. One might think you hit your head and woke up in Venice Italy.

This Mediterranean revival home was built in the mid-1920s as the winter retreat for John and Mable Ringling. The name Cà d’Zan means “House of John” in the Venetian language.

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Jeff finished his business and headed back to the museum. We hadn’t yet even seen the Museum of Art which is a colossal 150,000 square feet. I planned on visiting to see the both the exhibits and the building itself which looked stunning in the brochure, but time was getting on. We really wanted to get back to St. Armand Circle, which we had breezed by on day two. Plus, it was nearly lunchtime and you don’t want to be cranky whilst viewing priceless works of art. No worries, the art museum is free on Mondays, so we can definitely hit it again when we return to Sarasota. Hint, hint.

We arrived at Armand Circle and took a couple loops around enjoying the people watching and window shopping.

We landed at Crab and Fin for our late lunch/dinner. I had had this place on my list, but it was also highly recommended by locals.

We got a prime outdoor table in the cool afternoon shade. We were strongly encouraged by the bartender to get the tuna appetizer. We’re easily influenced so we acquiesced. This was the best tuna we have ever enjoyed, by a mile! The fish simply melted in your mouth. So fresh and delicious!

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For our last night in Sarasota, we would head downtown to the Westin Hotel for a drink on the roof top and a view of the sunset.

We decided to wander downtown for a cappuccino and dessert before calling it a night. We met a chatty young lady who worked at this Kitchen Bar the previous night so we popped in and grabbed a seat at the bar.

We shared this delightfully rich cake. Just what was needed.

We would be flying out in the morning after a nice breakfast. I won’t go into the flight delay, then cancellation and the overnight in a sticky hotel in Charlotte North Carolina. We got home, that’s the important thing.

This little getaway was partly a respite from the cold and partly fact finding mission. Is Florida life something that could be a part of our semi-retirement plan? Are we the snow bird type? Are we beach people? The answer is yes, especially if we go ahead and invest in some beach chairs.

Until next time, Sarasota.