The Ringling

The Ringling Bros. Circus found a home in Sarasota Florida in 1928.  When the show wasn't on the road, it settled on the 100 acres here where John and Mable Ringling built first a winter home, and then a permanent home.

Now, the site houses a museum of their extensive art collection, their home, and several buildings of circus memorabilia.

Since they died without heirs, they willed the entire complex with all the contents to the State of Florida.   Their home has been lovingly restored and is open to the public.

We were informed that all of the gold (and there is a lot of it) is real!  Mabel died before the great depression, but John was caught in it and ended up with only $311 in his bank account. The art collection and the assets of property were saved by being in trust to the State when John died in 1936.

 

After several hours at the Ringling, we stopped in Venice at Sharky's for a late lunch.

We shared the last of our French fries with the locals.



Lipizzaner Show

Of all the places we have been and things we have seen in Florida, this is my favorite.  At the Herrmann Lipizzaner Ranch in Myakka City, Florida, they have practice sessions with the horses that are open to the public Saturday mornings at 10 a.m. 

Most young horses are born black and gradually lose all color until they are pure white.  An occasional brown Lipizzanner is born, and is considered good luck to have on the farm.  This is the youngest stallion that is in the act.

It's hard to decide if the trainers or the horses are the better athletes.

The horses were trained to jump so that a general could view the battlefield.  During WWII, 500 Lipizzaner horses that had been stolen by the German Army were rescued by General Patton and protected until the war was over and they could be returned to Austria.

This short video clip gives you a taste of the hour and a half presentation.  For anyone in SW Florida, I can't stress enough that a short trip outside Sarasota to visit this farm is well worth it!

Motorcycle Ride to Sarasota Islands

It has been a motorcycle riding weekend for us here in Florida.  On Saturday we went on the ride sponsored by the Methodist Church of Englewood to benefit the Helping Hands charity.  The ride was a roaring success, collecting over $11,000 and 4,000 pounds of food.
Click on the link to see us riding out (Ron and I appear at 1 minute and 30 seconds into the YouTube video)  Our friends Patti and Fran are on the beautiful yellow trike in the first part of the video.
Helping Hands Motorcycle Rally - December 3, 2011

Today we tagged along on a ride that Patti and Fran had planned to go to Anna Maria island with their Canadian friends (who are fast becoming our friends too!)

The day couldn't have been more perfect for a ride up Sarasota Key, then Longboat Key, then Bird Key, and finally, Anna Maria Island.

There are some amazing statues along Sarasota Harbor, but this by far the most impressive.

We still have a hard time feeling Christmassy when it is 80+ degrees outside, but this was a pretty impressive manger scene.

Lots of stuff going on, but we breezed past a truck pulling contest on one of the beaches, several flea markets, and lots of shopping opportunities and continued on to Bradenton Beach.

Where we stopped for lunch.  

Always nice to eat outside in the sea air.

Last stop, Anna Maria Island Pier where we watched the fishermen for awhile before stopping for an ice cream cone.

A nice lady on the beach volunteered to take a picture of all of us.

Unfortunately we had already eaten lunch because there is a restaurant on the end of the pier.

Another beautiful day and another great ride!