Circus!

Days on cruise:  262

This morning we walked 5 blocks to the downtown Sarasota Transit Center and for $1.85 (both of us, one way) we rode the bus 15 minutes to the Ringling Museum. Surely all our readers (except maybe our adult kids and folks of their generation) have fond memories of attending a Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus show as a child!

John and Mabel Ringling were entrepreneurs who, among other things, owned the Circus. In the mid-1920s they built a winter home on the shore of Sarasota Bay, and tours are available of this magnificent Mediterranean Revival, Venetian structure.

The 60 acres of grounds are planted with lush gardens.

The house has many tons of marble, hand-painted ceilings and wall murals, hand-blown colored glass panes in every window and gorgeous textiles. We went on a 45-minute tour of the interior.

A marble and brick promenade fronts the 1,000 or more feet of waterfront.

Sittin’ at the dock by the bay. A marble tile dock????

The salon.

In addition to the home, the site houses a Circus Museum that provides Ringling Circus history, many exhibits, circus stories and artifacts.

Remember humans being fired out of canons?

Silly circus stuff: Cathryn has always wished for longer legs, while Bob looks like a dwarf in the background!

We could get used the view on this deck!

After 5 hours of Everything Ringling, we took the bus back downtown and walked past this iconic artwork adjacent to the waterfront. Why is Bob looking up her skirt?

We got a text from Dick and Deanne on “Sareanna”, the wonderful couple who led our Gulf Crossing group a couple weeks ago. They’re also in Sarasota, so we stopped by their boat in the marina for a visit. Deanne’s adorable 88-year-old mother is visiting them on the boat for the week, and we had a good reunion with them.