Most Excellent Day

6.23

USA, USA, USA!! We got up to watch the soccer game at a local restaurant this morning - were they trying to give every American a heart attack?! All those attempts on goal and we botched every one of them - until the stoppage time and the very last minute!!! AHH!!! Although stressful, it definitely kept us on the edge of our seats.
After calming down a bit from the game, we boarded a bus and headed back up to the Ringling museum. We had been told that the rest of the museum was better than the art gallery and that there were in fact artifacts from the circus there and no more art. So had decided to give it a second try.
The rest of the museum entailed three more buildings, two of which focused on the history of the circus and the Ringling's role in it and the third of which was the $1.5 million mansion that the Ringlings had built overlooking Sarasota Bay in the 1920's. The mansion was amazing!! They had the very best of everything from every country in the world. Since they traveled in Europe a lot, Mrs. Ringling had fallen in love with Venice and had in turn designed their entire mansion to mirror different aspects of Venice. It was amazing to see all that wealth and beauty, and to think that was how much they paid for it in the early 1900's!!
There is also the world's largest miniature circus in one of the buildings. It takes up the entire first floor and is truly amazing. One man loved the circus so much growing up that he has been working on this project for the last 50 years. It is incredible! And it is how the circus was back in the early 1900's, not as it is now. There were a dozen tents, rail cars, workers, wagons pulled by horses. Animals everywhere. It was beautiful.
The last building held the history of the circus and the workshop for the builders/mechanics who maintained the museum and it's pieces. It was great to see them at work, carving wood for the intricate wagon designs and recreating the private train car that the Ringlings used when traveling.
As we were touring the museum, we got a call from one of our helicopter Navy friends in Jacksonville saying that he had to log 5 hours of flight time and was going to come have dinner with us in Sarasota! We agreed to meet him for dinner and started walking towards Outback. Well, we should have paid closer attention to the GPS, because the walk was at least 5miles. In flip-flops. After already having been on our feet at the museum for the previous 5hours. In the heat of the evening sun. Up hill both ways. Ok, maybe not the last part, but you get the picture. We were so tired and sweaty by the time we made it there, I'm surprised they let us in! Next time, we will splurge and get a cab!
Anyway, we met Brad and his two crewmen for an excellent dinner at Outback. So awesome that he can just fly over, grab a bite to eat and then be back at home the same evening. Thank you American taxpayers!
All in all, a productive and enjoyable day. Tomorrow, I think we will give our feet a rest and get the boat ready to sail up to our final stop - St. Petersburg.