Most people check into a room at the Hyatt, we were DOCKED at the Hyatt last night.
We spent the night in Dream Chase which was tied to the floating dock (bottom of picture).
The Sarasota Hyatt Marina provided the quiet night’s sleep we needed after the previous night’s storm. Temps are in the low 50's and no manatees this morning.
Our 3+ miles walk this morning was to the "Ringling" and on the way, we passed the Marietta Museum of Art and Whimsey Sculpture Garden. Here are a few of the friends we met along the way.
Finally, we reached our destination- the "Ringling", the State Art Museum of Florida, which includes an art museum, historic mansion, circus museum, historic theater, and gardens on 60 acres on Sarasota Bay.
We started with the circus
museum, and it was fascinating!
THIS IS THE CIRCUS!
We learned the history of the
circus and saw pictures, posters,
performer's costumes, circus
wagons, props, and films!
After touring this museum,
we felt sad that we had missed
out on this amazing period of the
circus, but we were so thankful
that it is being kept alive through
these exhibits.
One of the most fascinating sections of the museum was the wing where a miniature circus was on display developed by the philanthropist, Howard Tibbals. Howard fell in love with the circus when he was three years old and has remained obsessed by it. On his 12th birthday, he was given a lathe and jigsaw and began creating the Big Top. He has done a tremendous amount of research and his re-creation of the Ringling Bros. & Barnum Bailey Circus is on a scale of 3/4" to one foot. His circus is called Howard Bros. Circus, because the Ringling management refused to let him use the Ringling name. The Howard Bros Circus is a reproduction as a circus would be down to the finest detail. The 4,000 square feet in the museum represents the 20 acres of layout for the real Ringling Bros. Circus. Tibbal's circus contains 42,143 main items: eight large tents (including the Big Top), 153 circus wagons, 1500 workers and performers, 500 carved animals, 7,000 folding chairs, spectators, trains & rails... He has included all the details of activity at a circus such as, kids being collared by police after they have been caught trying to sneak in. There are 7 miniature video stations with documentary footage of circus life from the 1920'3 and 1930's. What an amazing museum!
The Ringling Museum of Art has a wonderful collection of art and currently has a special exhibit, “Icons of Style: Makers, Models, and Images”. We saw amazing designs from the past 100 years of fashion artistry. Beyond fashion, the exhibit showed the practicality of fashion transformed by designers into unique art forms. The exhibit draws connections between art works in the Ringling collection and the garments on display. Beautiful! No pictures were allowed.
With no dependents and financial difficulties following the Depression, Mr. Ringling (a former circus owner, developer, and art collector) had $311.00 in his account at the time of his death, but willed his estate to the State of Florida and eventually to the University of Florida to be maintained.
We caught the bus back to the hotel, untied the boat lines, and motored out of our little cove midst the huge hotels. After three hours of motoring down the ICW, passing under many bridges, and waving "hello" to passing boaters, we docked for the night at the Crow's Nest Marina in Venice, FL.
The last time we were in Venice, FL was with our three children, years ago, and they found sharks teeth along the beach. It seemed like only yesterday-time passes so quickly.
We had a quiet evening with a walk on Venice Beach and home-made chili for dinner.
Sunday, January 5, 2014
We were up early today, anticipating ten hours of motoring to our destination- Ft. Meyers, FL. We bid farewell to the Crows Nest Marina in Venice, and were on the ICW by 7:30 am.
After some cool weather, we were looking foward to a high of 80 today!
Some sections of the ICW remind us of the river system.
While Steve navigated the ICW, Mary’s job was to clean and organize the cabins and galley. With tight quarters, everything needs to be in its place!
By 10:50 am, we were ready for lunch and found Gasparilla’s Marina and Waterside Grill near Placida, FL. A perfect lunch: outside on the patio…next to the water…temps near 80…delicious blackened Mahi-Mahi with beans, rice, coleslaw, and onion straws! Yum!
After chatting with the locals, we were back on board hoping to reach Ft. Meyers before dark.
We have passed under many bridges on the ICW and sometimes we need them lifted.
The big question is-
Will Dream Chaser
fit under this bridge?
Navigating from the upper helm, we have a better view of the sailboats, fishing boats, speed boats, cruisers, and occasional crab pots that are sharing the waterway.
Some people don't
want to go 8.5 mph.
Some people just
want the sun!
A small ferry, the “Lady Chadwick”, joined us in the ICW as it crossed from Useppa Island to Cabbage Key.
Under a cloudless sky, we were bathed in warmth and there was a light breeze creating a ripple on the blue sparkling water. Dolphins played along the boat, birds sat and rested or swooped down on an unsuspecting fish, and a sea turtle popped its head up from the water.
We saw a lot of this
going on. The birds
would rest on almost
anything.
This area has many low lying mangrove islands, and there was a dredging operation in the middle of a bay.
The numbers of boats of all sizes has increased dramatically. It looked like rush hour coming into Ft. Meyers!
At 5:45 pm, after ten hours of motoring, we arrived at the City of Ft. Meyers Yacht Basin. Dream Chaser slipped into her dockage at the marina, lines were tied, and fees paid. Relief for a boater is- getting your boat docked or anchored before the sunsets! After we docked, Mary took this picture off the bow of Dream Chaser.
At 7 pm, Larry and Barb Sly stopped by the marina to visit for awhile and see Dream Chaser. They are snowbirds from Minnesota and live in the Ft. Meyers area. As we walked a few blocks to dinner, we heard music coming from the city park and went to investigate. By the dim light of the park lights, we saw twenty people seated in a circle playing drums along with a lady playing maracas, and a few other unidentified instruments. One of the members explained that it was the Ft. Meyers Drum and Dance Circle that meets every Sunday nights from 4:45-10 pm. We were told that they meet and play music instead of wasting time watching TV!
We listened until they invited us to participate and provide the dance part of the gathering, at which point, we decided it was time to head to dinner. Tonight, it was Mexican.
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