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.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Sarasota tourists
6.21-6.22
On Monday, we dinghyed into the dock and hoofed it to the bus depot. We were determined to use public transportation to navigate the city. It was much cheaper than a cab!
We boarded a bus that took us north of the city to the Ringling Bros. Circus museum. John Ringling and his wife had made Sarasota their winter stomping grounds during the early 1900's and had made Sarasota the winter home for the entire circus. We were looking forward to some really cool circusy stuff. Well, much to our pleasant surprise, part of the museum was free to the public on Mondays. We decided that we would try out the free part and if we felt inclined to tour the remained 3 buildings on the grounds, we would come back and pay the entrance fee.
Mr. Ringing was an avid art collector, especially of old, baroque art paintings - this we did not know before going to the museum, we thought it was strictly devoted to the circus. So imagine our surprise when we walked into an art gallery that had absolutely nothing to do with the circus. We followed along behind a tour guide and attempted to be interested in what she was saying, but at the end of the tour, our feet hurt and our eyes had glazed over from the boredom. We had spent 2hours seeing things that we had no interest in and we were exhausted! So, rather than put down the money to see the rest of the museum we decided to head back home - who knew if there was anything circus oriented in the museum at all?!
The following morning, we brought Koa to land for a much needed walk. He, shortly thereafter, stepped on a bee and after a bizarre dance involving lots of limping and leg shaking, finally decided he had had enough and layed on the ground licking his paw. We rushed him back to the boat for a dose of benedryl and hung out with him for an hour to insure that he wasn't going to blow up like a balloon. Then we left him to his drug-induced stupor and headed over to the aquarium
The aquarium was nice, although small. They had a preserved giant squid on display and also a stingray touch tank. I am always surprised at how soft they are! They also had a sea turtle, dolphin and manatee display. I was especially delighted by the manatees as I had made it my mission to see one in the wild since we had started our trip back in February, and yet this captive one was the first one we had seen! After reading the plaque in front of their display case that said that there were as many as 100 manatees spotted on summer days in the ICW, I have been renewed in my hope that we will soon see one of the gigantic sea cows floating around our boat. Any day now...
On Monday, we dinghyed into the dock and hoofed it to the bus depot. We were determined to use public transportation to navigate the city. It was much cheaper than a cab!
We boarded a bus that took us north of the city to the Ringling Bros. Circus museum. John Ringling and his wife had made Sarasota their winter stomping grounds during the early 1900's and had made Sarasota the winter home for the entire circus. We were looking forward to some really cool circusy stuff. Well, much to our pleasant surprise, part of the museum was free to the public on Mondays. We decided that we would try out the free part and if we felt inclined to tour the remained 3 buildings on the grounds, we would come back and pay the entrance fee.
Mr. Ringing was an avid art collector, especially of old, baroque art paintings - this we did not know before going to the museum, we thought it was strictly devoted to the circus. So imagine our surprise when we walked into an art gallery that had absolutely nothing to do with the circus. We followed along behind a tour guide and attempted to be interested in what she was saying, but at the end of the tour, our feet hurt and our eyes had glazed over from the boredom. We had spent 2hours seeing things that we had no interest in and we were exhausted! So, rather than put down the money to see the rest of the museum we decided to head back home - who knew if there was anything circus oriented in the museum at all?!
The following morning, we brought Koa to land for a much needed walk. He, shortly thereafter, stepped on a bee and after a bizarre dance involving lots of limping and leg shaking, finally decided he had had enough and layed on the ground licking his paw. We rushed him back to the boat for a dose of benedryl and hung out with him for an hour to insure that he wasn't going to blow up like a balloon. Then we left him to his drug-induced stupor and headed over to the aquarium
The aquarium was nice, although small. They had a preserved giant squid on display and also a stingray touch tank. I am always surprised at how soft they are! They also had a sea turtle, dolphin and manatee display. I was especially delighted by the manatees as I had made it my mission to see one in the wild since we had started our trip back in February, and yet this captive one was the first one we had seen! After reading the plaque in front of their display case that said that there were as many as 100 manatees spotted on summer days in the ICW, I have been renewed in my hope that we will soon see one of the gigantic sea cows floating around our boat. Any day now...
Travel Day
6.20
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to the most wonderful dad in the world!! :)
The day started a little before 6am when Moo, who was not supposed to be outside, shook water onto us from the window above our bed. We thought it was raining and jumped up to close the windows, only to find that the sun was coming up and the sky was clear. It took a minute to realize that the water was from the cat. He had apparently escaped in the middle of the night and fallen into the water. We have no idea as to the actual events, but we assume he miscalculated the distance between the boat and the pier and took a swim in the drink. Several of his claws were also broken so, again we can only assume, that he then shimmied up the nearest piling and hightailed it back on the boat. We never claimed he was the brightest bulb in the bunch.
Our second wakeup came at about 9am, to the tune of an air horn; thanks to the local boating law enforcement. Looks like the sign did indeed refer to us and it seemed as if we were about to get a ticket from the local po-po. The guy, however, was very nice and said that the rule was new, as of this March. Brad handled the situation very well, sugar-coating the details as needed, and we sweet-talked our way out of a ticket and into a warning citation. The guy was actually very impressed with our journey and was excited when we told him where we had been and where we were going; he even wished us safe travels!
We headed out soon after that, not looking forward to a day of motoring. We headed up the ICW, through narrow channels that were lined with boats out enjoying the wonderful weather. They all stopped to stare as we went by, whether it was due to them seeing a huge sailboat going through the ICW or that Koa, our ferocious guard dog, was barking furiously at every powerboat that dared to cross his path, we are still not sure.
Coincidentally enough, I happened to check the address of one of our family friends, the Smithmans (Dad's old college roomate) as we were motoring towards Sarasota, only to discover we were less than a mile from his backyard, which was right on the ICW! We quickly gave him a call and he invited us to come ashore and visit for a bit. It turns out they were having a family gathering for father's day and we showed up right before the burgers went on the grill - good timing on our part I would say!! They were very generous and hospitable and after allowing us to crash their party for a few hours, let us cool off in their pool and then stocked us full of drinks before allowing us to pull away.
We headed back out to the ICW and motored the remained hour to Sarasota. About 15minutes out, we ran into black clouds and thunder. About 10minutes out, we were caught in a downpour and lightening that scared the bejeazus out of me. I tried to touch the metal wheel only in small intervals in case we were struck by lightening. And I made Brad wait to anchor until the lightening had moved on and we were on the back-side of the storm.
Although we have been told that it is infrequent for lightening to strike a sailboat, I cannot help but wonder at the veracity of that statement. After all, we are a huge metal stick sitting out in the middle of the water with lightening striking all around us. I don't know about you, but I was told that lightening strikes high points out on water - I think we would qualify for that. Needless to say, we are very cautious when sailing in storms.
Once anchored, it was too late to explore the town, so we settled in for a relaxing evening aboard the mothership.
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to the most wonderful dad in the world!! :)
The day started a little before 6am when Moo, who was not supposed to be outside, shook water onto us from the window above our bed. We thought it was raining and jumped up to close the windows, only to find that the sun was coming up and the sky was clear. It took a minute to realize that the water was from the cat. He had apparently escaped in the middle of the night and fallen into the water. We have no idea as to the actual events, but we assume he miscalculated the distance between the boat and the pier and took a swim in the drink. Several of his claws were also broken so, again we can only assume, that he then shimmied up the nearest piling and hightailed it back on the boat. We never claimed he was the brightest bulb in the bunch.
Our second wakeup came at about 9am, to the tune of an air horn; thanks to the local boating law enforcement. Looks like the sign did indeed refer to us and it seemed as if we were about to get a ticket from the local po-po. The guy, however, was very nice and said that the rule was new, as of this March. Brad handled the situation very well, sugar-coating the details as needed, and we sweet-talked our way out of a ticket and into a warning citation. The guy was actually very impressed with our journey and was excited when we told him where we had been and where we were going; he even wished us safe travels!
We headed out soon after that, not looking forward to a day of motoring. We headed up the ICW, through narrow channels that were lined with boats out enjoying the wonderful weather. They all stopped to stare as we went by, whether it was due to them seeing a huge sailboat going through the ICW or that Koa, our ferocious guard dog, was barking furiously at every powerboat that dared to cross his path, we are still not sure.
Coincidentally enough, I happened to check the address of one of our family friends, the Smithmans (Dad's old college roomate) as we were motoring towards Sarasota, only to discover we were less than a mile from his backyard, which was right on the ICW! We quickly gave him a call and he invited us to come ashore and visit for a bit. It turns out they were having a family gathering for father's day and we showed up right before the burgers went on the grill - good timing on our part I would say!! They were very generous and hospitable and after allowing us to crash their party for a few hours, let us cool off in their pool and then stocked us full of drinks before allowing us to pull away.
We headed back out to the ICW and motored the remained hour to Sarasota. About 15minutes out, we ran into black clouds and thunder. About 10minutes out, we were caught in a downpour and lightening that scared the bejeazus out of me. I tried to touch the metal wheel only in small intervals in case we were struck by lightening. And I made Brad wait to anchor until the lightening had moved on and we were on the back-side of the storm.
Although we have been told that it is infrequent for lightening to strike a sailboat, I cannot help but wonder at the veracity of that statement. After all, we are a huge metal stick sitting out in the middle of the water with lightening striking all around us. I don't know about you, but I was told that lightening strikes high points out on water - I think we would qualify for that. Needless to say, we are very cautious when sailing in storms.
Once anchored, it was too late to explore the town, so we settled in for a relaxing evening aboard the mothership.
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