Circus, Circus - No we're not in Las Vegas

Sarasota is a beautiful city and our mooring field is just south of the Ringling Bridge; just a quick dinghy ride to downtown.  If you want to shop you can choose from lots of chic shops and trendy boutiques.  If you want to eat…well there is no shortage of interesting looking places, although we did not sample them during our short stay.  If you need groceries Whole Foods is nearby, with selections to please any palate.

Our first night we rendezvoused with our friends Jerry & Sally aboard “Encore” in time for happy hour at O’Leary’s with the crew of Dos Libras.  If you are coming this way O’Leary’s is sooo forgettable – they serve $5.50 wine in plastic cups, the fries looked greasy, and the music was loud and the vocalist was awful.  Other than that it was a fun time with friends.

Our mission this trip was to go to the Circus and it was, at least for this day, simply the Greatest Show on Earth.  The only problem was we had too much to see and too little time.  We were able to catch a city bus from downtown and we were off to the Circus.

We had been told there was “a lot to see”, but we no idea what that really meant – talk about an understatement!  The Ringling “experience” is so overwhelming we quickly realized the need to decide on the fly where to focus our attention.  Read – “what can we skip”?  We decided the two high points were the Miniature Circus and the Art Museum with a quick peek at the incredible Italianate bay front mansion that John & Mabel built in 1926 as a winter home.

The Miniature Circus was created by a man named Howard Tibbals, thus it bears the name of Howard Brothers Circus.  The detail and size is simply amazing.  The incredibly detailed display is the size of a football field and contains everything, from unloading the rail cars the circus traveled on, to the dining tent where the performers and crew were served by waiters at tables set with china plates, to the impressive Big Top that is lighted in such a way that it simulates both daylight and the lighted night time performance. 

 

In the U.S. the circus heyday was in the late 1800’s to 1938.  The Ringling brothers, all five of them, started the Ringling Brothers circus in 1884.  Ten years later they were the main competitor to the famous Barnum & Bailey Circus; in 1907 the Ringlings bought out their main competitors.  In the current age of travel & technology we forget that in the early part of the 20^th century many people, especially those in rural communities, people had never seen elephants, and camels and zebras.  There was no TV, Netflix, or Internet so folks looked forward the glamorous costumes, exotic animals, and the excitement of the big “Show” when the circus came to town.  We were so enamored of the miniature circus that we didn’t allow time for the Circus Museum, but you can learn more about it by clicking on the gray colored text.

Night lighting

 

Daytime lighting

Who knew that there was so much money in the Circus?  John Ringling, the last surviving brother was reportedly one of the wealthiest men in America before the Great Depression of 1929.  In addition to being instrumental in developing Sarasota he was an avid art collector and amassed an incredible collection, much of it from Europe.  I mean, how many private collections include Rubens – more than one!   The art museum (along with the entire property) was bequeathed to the State of Florida upon his death.  We could have spent a day in the art museum alone.  Alas, the problem (if you can call it that) was, there was so much to see that we had to look quickly and move on.  

The next time you’re in south Florida, be sure to stop in beautiful Sarasota and see the Ringling – just allow more than a single day, you’ll be glad you did!