Sarasota Vacation Highlights
52 miles south of
Tampa, 150 miles south west
of
Orlando
Sarasota is home to the FSU
(Florida State University) Ringling
Center for the Cultural Arts, a 60-acre
site where the circus legend John Ringling and his wife built their home
on a truly grand scale and collected magnificent works of art.
The
grounds include the historic Asolo Theater, a 19th-century Italian
playhouse that was moved to Sarasota in the 1950s and is now the focal point
for University's Center for the Performing Arts.
Recent
restoration works have been completed on the Ringlings' 30-room palatial
winter residence Ca'd'Zan which was built in 1925. Modeled after a Venetian palace, the house had
its own dock where Mrs Ringling was able to moor her private gondola!
Anyone with a love of circus will
appreciate the Ringling Museum of the Circus with its circus
memorabilia.
The
John and Mabel Ringling Museum of Art is Florida's official art
museum, is filled with over 500 years of European and American
art. It
features one of the most important collections of grand 17th-century
baroque paintings in the world. There are also collections of decorative
arts, traveling exhibits and an old-master collection.
The beaches at Siesta
Key, North and South Lido and Turtle Beach are
not the only other local attractions in the area. Historic
Spanish Point is a museum and archaeological site covering 31
acres of walking trails through Native American burial mounds and 1867
pioneer homesteads.
For a change of pace, lovers of exotic automobiles
will enjoy the Classic
Car Museum.
The
Marie
Selby Botanical Gardens is a must-see for serious lovers of
orchids. It houses over 20,000 exotic plants,
of which more than 6,000 are orchids.
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