Exploring Sarasota

Monday and Tuesday, May 20 and 21, 2013--Sarasota, FL

The Ringling Museum of Art is just one part of a large complex within the Ringling compound.  Admission to the art museum is free on Mondays.  Since the complex seemed too large to want to see it all in one outing, we decided to go only to the art museum today for free and to pay tomorrow to see the rest of the complex.

The art museum is in a large building that is designed like an Italian palace.  It has two wings.  Between the two wings are gardens with sculptures leading down to the waterfront.  Best known for its large paintings and a tapestry by Rubens, the museum also includes many other paintings, sculptures, and decorative objects.  It seems that some, if not most, of the objects were purchased just to impress others.  Also, most of the sculptures in the gardens are not originals; instead, they are copies of originals.  It's a nice museum, but something just seems a bit less than grand about it.

The grounds of the Ringling complex are beautiful.  We found a bench in the shade with flower gardens around us and a lake with various water fowl to the side and in front of us.  We sat there enjoying the view, the fresh air, and the opportunity to relax for maybe half an hour after going through the museum.

For lunch, we went to Costco and ordered a whole pizza so we would have leftovers for later.  What's interesting about Costco here is that it is an anchor store in a large, indoor mall!  The store looks just like a Costco.  They tore down an old Dillard's and built the Costco on its site.  What was a bit different is that the Costco restaurant was outside the main walls of the store so that it could be accessed by anyone at the mall.

We headed to Siesta Beach on Siesta Key in the late afternoon.  It was named the top beach in the world in 2011.  Fortunately, there was free city parking to make it easily accessible!!  The beach is wide and VERY WHITE!  A reference said that it is over 90% quartz crystals.  It has a light, sugary feel to it.  It is soft, but a bit grainy.  Many people were sunbathing and playing in the water.  We walked up the beach about half a mile and back again watching the people and enjoying the view of the white sand and the clear, turquoise-colored water.

Before returning to the hotel, we stopped downtown.  Four blocks of Main Street, 1 block of Palm Avenue and another block off of Main were lined with small, independent shops, restaurants, bars, and galleries.  Another block to the side has a large Whole Foods supermarket.  Only 3-4 buildings were vacant, and one of those had a sign saying it had been leased.  Besides Whole Foods, the only other national stores in the area were Starbucks, Brooks Bros., and Sur la Table; all others were local businesses.
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Tuesday was similar to Monday with variations.  We returned in the morning to the Ringling Complex.  This time, we visited the Ringling private home Ca'd'Zan, the Circus Museum (2 buildings), and the gardens.  Returning, I tried to figure out why something just didn't seem right about this complex.  I think what it is that bothers me is that so much of it is not of high quality.  Yes, there are Rubens and works by other famous painters in the museum, but so much of the construction of both the museum and the house seems to be substandard.  The foundations were weak enough that the tiles are often broken.  So many of the statues around the grounds and on the roofs are really just cast concrete (and very poor quality concrete at that).  Even many of the furnishings in the house are second-hand.

For a beach experience, we went to Lido Beach.  Actually, it was a repeat for Wes, since he stayed there for a week after graduating from high school in 1975.  The Sand Castle Hotel where he stayed is still there, but it is surrounded by condominiums and fancy houses.  This part of Sarasota has the most expensive neighborhoods in town.  We walked up and down the beaches enjoying the soft, white sand and watching the people before heading to our next stop.

To walk a shopping district, we stayed on Lido and walked the St. Armand's Circle.  It was originally planned by Ringling as a high class shopping district to be surrounded by high class housing.  He never managed to develop it, but it eventually got built anyway.  The circle has shops, restaurants, bars, real estate offices, galleries, etc.  It is an expensive and pretty shopping district.  We walked around the circle and up and down the side blocks looking around.  Many people were out dining and shopping.