SARASOTA AND THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH

We left St. Petersburg under gorgeous, sunny, blue skies. A light breeze from the west put a ripple on the water. The trip took us to the bottom of Tampa Bay and then south into protected waters again. Of course, running in shallow water continues to try my nerves, but, again, it’s something we can all get used to. The trip to Sarasota took us under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. This is a beautiful bridge, all shiny and new. It is not quite the spectacle that the Golden Gate Bridge is, but it certainly runs a close second. It was an easy trip. We had more water than we needed as we have decided to always run at high water or when it is mid-going-high when ever possible. I would recommend taking this plan of action to heart, especially during the winter months when the tides are lower than usual and the water is lower than usual as well, especially after the wind has been blowing from a northerly direction over a couple days.

 As we wound our way through the bays and channels towards Sarasota, I was struck by all the beautiful homes on the banks. Some of them are so big, you could get lost going to the bathroom. I heard a number of major sports stars have homes in Big Sarasota Bay. While many of these homes are quite spectacular, none really compared with the Ringling Mansion visible on the north shore a couple miles north of Sarasota. At first, a visit to the Ringling Mansion is the only thing bringing us to Sarasota. However, as we discovered later, Sarasota is a vibrant, lively city that has just about everything. I am beginning to realize that the image of Florida as a tired and quite retirement community is vastly misplaced. Sure, there are lots of folks who come here to retire. Who wouldn’t? The waters are, for the most part, absolutely beautiful (especially the further south we get), and the weather is actually quite good (also, the further south we get). Prices of everything seem fair, sales tax is only 7%, and folks are generally friendly everywhere we have been. For the person who wants to retire and still enjoy the finer things in life, based on what we have seen so far, the West Coast of Florida is the place to do it.



There is theatre, opera, ballet, museums galore, and many, many fine restaurants. If you like a single family home, there are many very nice models. If you like condo living, however, where your biggest concern of a home maintenance type, is locking and unlocking your door, then this is also definitely the place. There are festivals every weekend, markets, and all sorts of special events. What occurred to me is this: The folks who retire down here in style are folks who had to have been movers and shakers in their working lives. When they want to put together an art festival in the park, or a special museum exhibit, or, for that matter, to establish a museum, they do it. I’m all but certain the municipalities do not endeavor to stand in their way. It’s nice to see such active communities. Back to Sarasota……



We got in later in the afternoon. The sun was shining and it was quite warm. The water all around was a vision of sea-foam green and quite clear in the first several feet. We anchored in front of Park Island, just south of and adjacent to Marina Jacks Harbor. Marina Jacks is a very classy, full service marina. However, us poor folk prefer to anchor. There is nothing wrong with spending all your time in a marina if you love stagnant air and fiberglass all around you. Then, what’s the point of cruising? From our vantage point, anchored in front of the city, we had the most beautiful views of the city, the park, and the marina, plus, we could see out over the bay and enjoy unfettered sunrises and sunsets. There were many other boats anchored in this little bay, but there was still plenty of room.

As we approached in the very well marked and easily identifiable channel, there was a sign concerning the Bayfront Mooring Field. So, I called on the radio and inquired. We were told that the mooring field was not open, but that the area was a “free” anchorage and to stay anywhere we could get our anchor to hold. In St. Petersburg, we saw some chatter on the internet concerning the mooring field situation in Sarasota. It seems that there were some folks who wanted to do away with the rights of us boaters to anchor in front of their waterfront area. I can understand this in the case of derelict boats, but to pass an ordinance that says it’s a crime to anchor for more than 72 hours? What ridiculous, bored, fastidious little ferret came up with that idea? If it’s derelict, tow it away. Real simple, and certainly a lot less expensive than going through all the hassle of permitting in order to say out a bunch of mooring balls. Well, they tried it, but the locals managed to create such a stink that nothing could get done before the permits expired thus setting the promoters of mooring balls back at least a couple years. However, the sign is still there.



Speaking of signs, that is something we sure see a lot of on Florida’s West Coast ICW. Sign after sign. I am not just talking about the navigation aids. Slow down, speed up, turn left, turn right. There should be more signs, however, that say, “Don’t be a Schmuck!” For instance, you see signs that say, “Slow Speed - Manatee Area - 35 MPH”. WTF???!!! You’ve got folks here who operate boats with absolutely no respect at all. We have been clobbered more than our fair share of times by inconsiderate operators of large (and I mean large) glistening bleach-bottles who feel compelled to operate their machines at the highest speed possible in close proximity to other boats and especially while passing slower moving boats, thus causing a huge wake that rocks you like crazy. I have not been hit as hard by the wake of a freighter in the Santa Barbara Channel as I have been hit here.  I am sort of besides myself. It seems so unlikely that it is actually possible to buy a big boat like that and take it out without any sort of licensing requirement. I have just become an advocate for operator certification for boats. I wish the municipalities had the wherewithal to police this sort of activity as well. It’s called Negligent Operation. If you get caught, you should lose your props for a period of time. Get caught a couple times, and you lose the boat. Real simple.

Anyways, when we dropped the hook, we spotted a really cool looking palapa on the sand near what looked like a dinghy dock. Brenda suggested that maybe there was a bar over there, so I pulled out my trusty Droid and hit the Places app and, lo and behold, we had just discovered O’Leary’s Tiki Bar and Grill. O’Leary’s??? Yes, this was the first Irish tiki bar I have ever discovered. So, we buzzed over to the beach, beached the dink and walked over the sand and broken shell beach to the bar and ordered. What a spectacular cruiser hang out. The drinks are generous, the bartenders are friendly, the food smelled really good, and there was good music. All of this, right on the water. No glitzy bar rails or anything fancy. Just a down to earth, cool tropical style place right on the water. If you passed by Sarasota and did not stop here, you missed something really fun. We had a good time watching the sun go down and the stars come out.




The next day, we slept in and then noticed just how fine the weather could be. It was sunny and warm. It was so nice, we decided to do nothing. We sat around on the back deck, drank coffee, talked, napped and basically just enjoyed a great view. Later in the afternoon, we took the dinghy back into some canals nearby and explored. There are some really cool homes back in there. The water is very brackish and there were mangroves everywhere. We got back pretty far, so far, in fact, that we had to lift the dinghy motor and use our oars to push through the thicket on either side. Eventually, we determined that we were going nowhere and the bugs were getting thick, so we spun around and pushed our way out of there. It was very neat. It was super quiet, and super green. Of course, we were looking for the apparently ubiquitous manatee, but found none. I say “ubiquitous” given that, everywhere you look, there is another sign that says, “Slow - Manatee Zone”. You would think they are all over the place. But, alas, we found none. We had a nice dinner aboard, and watched a few movies and turned in early. Overall, a great day on the water. The next day, we would visit the attraction that brought us to Sarasota in the first place.



You’ve all undoubtedly heard of the Ringling Brothers & Barnum & Bailey Circus? Well, John and Mable Ringling set up their summer home in Sarasota. In 1936, when John Ringling died, he left his estate and amazing art collection to the State of Florida. The Ringling Museum and Estate are now stewarded by Florida State University. It is a 66 acre museum complex that houses much circus memorabilia as well as John and Mable’s fabulous art collection in a number of buildings, including, the “Ca d’ Zan” mansion. You have an opportunity to visit the grounds which are completely manicured and beautiful, Mable’s famous rose garden, the Ringling Museum Library, the Museum of Art, the Asolo Theater, and the Circus Museum.

The circus was a big money maker for John and his brothers back in the day when the circus truly was, “the greatest show on earth.” As such, John and Mable developed a taste for the finer things in life. John and Mable loved to travel to Europe and loved art. John was a regular at the New York and London auctions at which he purchased masterpieces by famous artists such as Rubens, Titian, Velasquez, Halls and Gainsborough. John also managed to get his hands on some serious statuary work as well, and acquired a collection of Cyprot, Greek and Roman antiquities. All of the art is tastefully displayed in an easy and accessible manner. Unlike the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg where you had a security guard breathing down your neck every minute, this museum was easy to enjoy.



The Circus Museum was really cool, however. The first building you come to along the path invites you in with a short film that talked about the logistics of the circus. The Ringling Brothers Circus managed to move thousands of people, animals and equipment to over 150 cities each year - all by rail car.


There would be an advance team that would go out ahead and market the event. Then a crew would show up and select the place. Then, early in the morning, arriving from their previous night’s show, the trains would arrive and the unloading would begin. In a matter of hours, these men and women, with the assistance of animals, would essentially assemble a small city, complete with everything from a hotel to a barber shop. The kitchens would prepare over 4500 meals per day.


 The logistics are impressive. Then, from the theater, you walk into a large exhibit of costumes, posters, news paper articles, and other trinkets. Finally, in this building, you get to see the model a man named Tibbals spent nearly 50 years working on.











It is an absolutely perfect replica of the Circus that spans at least an acre, all done in miniature, each piece meticulously created by Mr. Tibbals. Although it is a model of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus from 1919 - 1938, he had to call it The Howard Brothers Circus because he could not get a license to call it the RBBB Circus. Silly, isn’t it, especially now since it is in the Ringling Museum.

According to a video playing in a mock up work shop, if one were to actually look closely at the model of, for instance, the ticket booth, you could look inside and see the cash registers, open them, and find miniature dollars and change. According to Mrs. Tibbals, she recalls telling her mother that she was ecstatic to have actually found a man who loved to play “dolls” as much as she did. We had a lot of fun here.


Overall, Sarasota is a great stop along the way. It’s easy. Access is easy. Public transportation is easy. The downtown area is compact and has many restaurants and other shops and bars. There is a great farmers market on Saturdays that spans several blocks and includes everything from farm fresh produce to good music, beautiful flowers, and hand crafts. I’m very glad we stopped here.

Right now, we are anchored in a place called Englewood Beach on Lemon Bay while making our way further south. Our destination this afternoon is Cayo Costa. It’s a state park and I have received a number of recommendations for it. As usual, we’re just waiting for the tide.