January 3-6, 2015 – Sarasota FL

 

Left anchorage by Whale Key and headed to Marina Jack’s.  We pulled in and had a great view of the Harbor and intercoastal.  We quickly walked downtown to the farmers market for fresh produce.  The place was “jumping” It was a beautiful sunny day and a lot of people wandering around. 

A view from our back deck, the neighbors

A closer look at the condos across the harbor from the marina

 

One reason for our stop here was to catch up with Wally and Mary Sue on Beulah Bell.  We found them, and enjoyed a quick beer.  We made a date for dinner, and joined them for a walk to the grocery store.  Wally and Tom cooked steaks, Mary Sue made the salad and we provided bakalava.  It was a wonderful dinner, catching up with friends, good food and even some NFL football. 

Sunday we went to church and Bible class at the Baptist church downtown with Wally and Mary Sue.  It is always good to go to church and Colletta was a little outside of her comfort zone but did enjoy the service.  The transit system in and around Sarasota is excellent.  The transit station is ½ mile from the harbor and the buses became our means of transportation for the next three days.  We rode over the Ringling Causeway Bridge and went to the Mote Marina Lab and Aquarium.   It is always fun to see fish and marine life.  It is the home of 2 of the biggest manatees we have ever seen and surprisingly, they love kale – delicious and nutritious.   A relaxing walk around the park by the marina and a beautiful sunset is always a great way to end the day – an added plus is the season premiere of Downton Abby!

Monday we cleaned the boat and enjoyed a relaxing visit with Bob and Laurie Wiesemann – long time boating friends.  Since they no longer own a boat, they enjoyed inspecting our floating home and conversation on the back sun deck.  After enjoying al fresco dining, they were kind enough to drop us off at the Ringling Museum were the two of us enjoyed some culture at the famous art museum.  The art was interesting, grounds were very lush, and we enjoyed walking around the property seeing the rose garden, intercoastal and huge banyan trees.  We enjoyed it so much that we returned to the Ringling grounds on Tuesday and spent 4 more hours finishing our tour of the other three building.  The Tibbal's miniature circus was phenomenal!!  Howard Tibbal spent over 50 years creating exact miniature replicas of circus life; everything from railroad cars to tiny silverware.  We highly recommend this stop for everyone. 

The garden at the Ringling Art Museum

Entrance to the Ringling Circus Museum and the Tibbal's Miniature Exhibit

Colletta trying out bareback horse riding at the museum

A small part of the Tibbal's miniature circus

 The

Ca' d'Zan (House of John) John Ringling's house on Sarasota Bay