Day Trip to Sarasota and the Ringling Museum

I lived in Bradenton (just north of Sarasota) for 3.5 years and like most locals who know the attractions will always be there and don't feel the urgency to go explore now, I never actually made it to the Ringling Museum before I moved away.  I decided to combine it with a trip to see my friend and mentor who I hadn't seen in almost 7 years and drove the hour and 40 minutes from where I live in Ft. Myers to check out the museum, home, and beautiful grounds of John and Mabel Ringling.

John Ringling is one of the Ringling Brothers of circus fame.  He and his wife, Mabel, wintered in Sarasota and thought it would one day become a resort paradise.  Unfortunately, they did not live long enough to see just how right they were!  They bought land along Sarasota Bay and lived in a smaller home on the land before eventually building the very grand Ca d'Zan, which means House of John, on the bay.  The Ringlings had a love of Europe and especially Venice and modeled the home in the architecture and grandiose style that would be found in Venice, Italy. 

The museum is made up of three different buildings.  Two focused on the history of their circus and circus life in general and one dedicated to art with many pieces being from Johns Ringling's personal art collection.  The Ringlings did not have any children and wanted their collections to be gifted to the state of Florida.  Sadly, John Ringling died asset rich but cash poor and had many creditors after him at the time of his death, but the estate still made it to the State and is now run by Florida State University so that the public is able to enjoy the beauty and history of the area.  The entrance to the family home is a separate fee than the museums but to me was definitely worth the extra price.  I have been lucky enough to visit a few homes of the wealthy that were built in and around the 1920s and it is always intriguing to me to see how different life was.  This home did not disappoint.  With beautiful painted ceilings, glass windows specially chosen in colors that matched the styling of the home, ornate furnishings, and sparkling chandeliers, it was as grand as you would hope it to be to match the opulent lifestyle of a wealthy couple in the 1920s.

 The view to the bay through the stained glass windows

Beautiful stained glass windows from the outside

The art museum had collections from John Ringling's personal art collection but also houses art from Asia and different modern art displays as well.  It was nice visiting in September before the rush of high season begins again.  I was able to spend time in many of the exhibits completely by myself like it was my own private tour.  It also has a replica of the famous statue of David in the courtyard surrounded by palm trees and other sculptures in the garden.

Statue of David replica in the courtyard

The circus museum had a miniature replica of what the circus would have looked like when it was all set up.  The attention to detail was amazing with intricately carved people and animals creating a scene of what it would look like if you attended the event when it pulled into town.  There was a room with different interactive circus features including a high wire walk and the top part of a model horse that you can stand on and practice your poses.  Walking around the room, I couldn't help but play circus music over and over again in my head.

The elephants miniatures

 Miniature circus tents

 Anyone dream of being shot out of a cannon?

The train car that the Ringlings lived in while on tour with the circus.

I capped the day off with a quick visit to St. Armand's Circle and met my friend for dinner at what was one of my favorite restaurants in Bradenton Beach when I lived there.  It was a great day to learn something new and reminisce about the old for me.

Gasparilla Island

I woke up this morning tired and thinking maybe I would just skip the trip I had planned up to Gasparilla Island State Park and the town of Boca Grande but then I remembered that there are 10,000 islands from Charlotte Harbor to the Everglades and I have only visited 9 of them.  With only 9 weeks left on my assignment that leaves 8 weekends left to explore the area and more than half of those weekends are already spoken for so I better get busy!  So shortly after convincing myself to get out of bed, I found myself on my way to check out Gasparilla Island.

I had seen the island from the water before, when we went to Cayo Costa we rode by Gasparilla but this island you can drive to whereas Cayo Costa is only accessible by boat.  To get there you have to take a small bridge onto the island and pay a $6 toll but once you get there it feels like a world away.  With the crossing of one bridge you find yourself back in old, small town Florida where no high rises or chain restaurants exist.  I only saw one gas pump outside of a mom and pop shop and I'm pretty sure you wouldn't actually get gas there though, unless you wanted to move some flowers first.

On my way to Gasparilla Island State Park, I made a quick detour down Banyan Street.  Gorgeous, tall banyan trees line the small street with shade and make for an awe inspiring view.  I may or may not have driven down it twice and walked down it once.  Yes, it's that beautiful.  I feel like I need to plant a banyan tree in my yard whenever I finally decide to stay in one place because I am becoming obsessed with them.

My other new obsession since living in southwest Florida is seeing gopher tortoises.  When I see the warning sign to watch for gopher tortoises I get excited and then disappointed when I don't actually see one.  Alas, no sighting this trip although I did see a couple of iguanas run across the road in front of my car. 

When arriving in Gasparilla Island State Park, there is a little station for you to take an envelope and put your $3 charge into the box then take the attached paper to hang on your rear view mirror showing that you paid your fee.  I had never seen that approach before but it's a cool idea, just make sure you have exact change if you come visit here! 

Gasparilla has two lighthouses.  One that looks more like the traditional lighthouse and then one that looks like a house with a light on top of it.  The latter is partially what had inspired my trip to begin with.  After seeing it from afar, I knew that I wanted to see it up close.  It's such a unique looking lighthouse.  I was a little disappointed because the museum in the lighthouse (as well as many of the shops on the main street) was closed for the month of August.  There is always a trade off, fewer people on the beaches and in the water when it is out of season so you can feel like it is your own private paradise but then the weather may be less than perfect (I like the heat so it's great for me!) and some things may be closed.  Plus, you have to visit early because there is always a good rain shower in the afternoons.

The water here is so clear that I could see manatees swim up and little fish swimming in the water even at a decent distance from where I was standing.  I have been a shell collecting nut since I have been here and had told myself that I had enough, until I got here.  There were so many pretty shells and different ones from what I had previously collected that I just couldn't help myself!

 The two dark figures are manatees

Lots of little fish swimming in the water

The shells I collected

Gasparilla Island is such a beautiful place that I ended up taking over 200 pictures while I was there!  I am definitely happy that I made the decision to spend my morning/afternoon there and not be lazy around the house instead.  Here is a small sampling of some of my favorite pictures that I took.

 At low tide, there's quite a jump from those steps!

 Egret in front of old pier

 Looking through the legs of the pier

 Pelican

Useppa Island

I really enjoy reading books about (or that take place in) the area that I am visiting so when I learned that the restaurant Doc Ford's was actually named for a character in a series of books by Randy Wayne White, I decided to check them out.  I have read 3 of them so far and they are really well written, exciting books and it is fun to read about the area through the eyes on the character which is partially how I decided I wanted to check out Useppa Island.  It played a small part in Hunter's Moon and made me curious to see this island myself.  After a little online research I was ready to book a trip on the boat and start exploring the island!

Palm tree lined steps up to the Collier Inn

There are 10,000 islands off the coast of southwest Florida which makes for a lot to explore when you are visiting the area.  Mom and Dad were in town visiting so I decided it would be fun to take them out to Useppa Island for lunch while they were here.  Useppa Island is a very exclusive island that you have to be a member or the guest of a member to be allowed to visit or take an hour boat ride with Captiva Cruises to go there.  The boat leaves from the northern end of Captiva Island from the South Seas Resort so getting there and driving past all the beautiful homes is part of the fun.  When we arrived at the marina, we immediately saw several manatees swimming around.  I can never seem to get over how something so huge is so friendly! 

The boat for the cruise was a nice sized 2 story boat with the top being open to the fresh air but mostly covered from the sun and the bottom was air conditioned so if it rained or you got over heated then you could go downstairs to cool off.  The staff was super friendly and informative and the ride was very pleasant despite the August heat with a cooling breeze coming off the water as we moved.  We saw several dolphins and twice had them jumping in our wake!  There is something about seeing dolphins play that is soothing to the soul.

Mama and her baby jumping at the bow of our boat

The boat went to both Cabbage Key and Useppa but since I had previously been to Cabbage Key then I was happy to get to see the differences with Useppa.  Cabbage Key has a much more laid back fisherman vibe while Useppa has a little more of a country club, historical vibe to it.  Both are fun places to visit but have unique differences even though there are many similarities including the remoteness of the islands. 

The museum docent met as at the dock and took as for a 5 minute walk along the "pink pathway" up the center of the island towards the Collier Inn where we had lunch.  On our way to lunch we had to circle around a baby gopher tortoise that was walking up the pink pathway along side of us.  So cute!  There is a large outside patio but it was just too hot to sit outside in the blazing sun and August heat of Florida so we settled inside with a view of the water.  I had the grouper sandwich and sweet potato fries (always order the sweet potato fries!) that were delicious. 

 Baby gopher tortoise

Collier Inn where we had lunch

After a leisurely lunch, we headed over to the museum on the island.  Turns out besides being a beautiful place, the island is full of history.  They have been able to trace human activity on the island back to the Paleo-Indians in 8000 BC.  The Calusa tribe lived here as well and artifacts have been found that help provide a better picture of how they lived.  In the 1960s, the training for the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba took place on Useppa Island.  The island later became a private resort in the 1970s.  It's amazing that such a small island has so much history attached to it.

Glimpse of the gorgeous view on the pink pathway

Pathway to the beach and pier along the island

The "I could look at this all day long" view from the Collier Inn

Giant Banyan Tree that you cross under on the pink pathway

The ride home on the boat led to more dolphin sightings and more manatees greeting us in the marina.  It was a great day to get out on the water and explore a little more of what southwest Florida has to offer!  I highly recommend this trip with Captiva Cruises if you are in the area.  We all agreed that it has been one of our favorite excursions since I've been down here!

Dolphins jumping on the way home

Passing by old stilt fishing shacks on the way home

Two manatees in the marina

Thomas Edison and Henry Ford's Winter Estates

I have been busy visiting with friends and family and heading to Orlando to cuddle my 2 month old niece so I have not been able to do as much exploring in the area for the last 2 months.  Today I had some free time and despite it being a cloudy, slightly drizzly day, I thought it would be a good time to visit another place on my list, the Thomas Edison and Henry Ford Winter Estates.  Thomas Edison basically put Ft. Myers on the map.  It turned out it was a great day to go.  I got there early before the heat of the day since it is August which is probably the most miserable month in Florida and having the cloud cover was a definite blessing.  It was nice getting there early before the crowds started too.  It was much busier by the time I left and I like being able to walk around and take pictures without feeling like I am constantly in someone's way or waiting for someone to move so I can take the picture that I want.

 The largest Banyan tree in the continental United States

Thomas Edison greeting me on my arrival

There are different tours you can sign up for and I decided to spend the extra $5 for the guided tour which I think was money well spent.  I do not do as well with just an audio tour, I get distracted too easily, and I like having someone there to emphasize little interesting facts and who you can ask questions.

The most amazing thing that I learned today was Thomas Edison received only 3 months of formal education.  3 months!!  As someone who went to school for 20 years from Kindergarten to Graduate School, I find that absolutely incredible!  There is no question that he impacted every one of our lives. His passion for inventing things led to over 1,000 patents!

The properties themselves are beautiful.  Thomas Edison arrived first and built his home then after becoming friends with Henry Ford and having bonded over a mutual desire to find local sources of rubber, Henry Ford later bought the home next door to Mr. Edison.  The homes both have big porches surrounding the houses that overlook the Caloosahatchee and I can just imagine sitting out there and enjoying the view and the breeze that comes off the water.  The grounds are covered in different flowers, palm trees and Banyan trees including the largest Banyan tree in the continental United States that takes up 3/4 of an acre and was planted in the early 1900s when Thomas Edison was still alive.

 Thomas Edison's Dining Room

 Thomas Edison's Winter Estate

Midnight Gardens

If you are in the Ft. Myers area, the Thomas Edison and Henry Ford Estates are really worth the visit, especially if you enjoy history but even if you don't, the location is unbeatable and the homes and grounds are beautiful to walk around and explore.

 Statue of Henry Ford

 Henry Ford's living room

Henry Ford's Winter Estate

 Beautiful tree on Henry Ford's property

Loved the incredible roots of the tree

My favorite quote I saw today that I am sure I have heard before but I think really runs true was from Henry Ford- "Whether you think you can or you think you can't- you're right."