We really like this town and its four barrier islands: Longboat, St. Armands, and Siesta Keys, and Lido Beach. In 1927, John Ringling chose Sarasota to be the winter quarters for his circus. Today you can visit the Ringling Center for the Cultural Arts, a 66-acre estate that includes three museums: the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, the Circus Museum, and the former Ringling mansion, the Ca d'Zan. The complex also includes a small 18th century theater from Asola, Italy, a rose garden and beautifully landscaped grounds overlooking Sarasota Bay. Skeptics who wonder about the quality of the circus impresario's art collection will be startled; it's a tasteful collection of primarily Renaissance and Baroque art, with an especially fine selection of works by Rubens,Van Dyke, and Poussin. There's not a sad-clown painting to be found. Affiliated with Florida State University, it's the state art museum of Florida.
The circus collection is wonderful, especially the restored circus wagons, the air cannon used by the first Human Cannonball and the meticulously detailed miniature circus. A new section oriented to children is scheduled to open soon. Ca d'Zan, the recently restored 32-room Ringling mansion, houses an impressive collection of fine arts as well as Mable Ringling's decorative arts collection.
The Asolo Theater is closed for renovation, but a nearby performing arts center across Bayshore Drive from the Ringling complex hosts a variety of theatrical and musical productions in the 161-seat Cook Theater and the 500-seat Mertz Theater from Dunfermline, Scotland.
Sarasota is known for its celebration of film. The Sarasota Film Festival is held each year in January, and the city regularly hosts international films during the Cine-World Film Festival in November.
While you're in Sarasota, you might also investigate the Sarasota Jungle Gardens, 10 acres/4 hectares of unusual plants, flowering shrubs and palms, as well as animals and waterfowl. The Marie Selby Botanical Gardens are the only ones in the world that specialize in epiphytic plants (plants nourished by air and rain). On display are more than 20,000 tropical plants, including 6,000 species of spectacular orchids and banyan and bamboo groves. If you're lucky, you might see the Titan Arum in bloom -- it's the world's largest and smelliest flower. Country Living Gardener magazine has named Selby Gardens one of the Top Ten Botanical Gardens in America.
If anyone in your group has a fondness for mechanical things -- or just for odd combinations of collectibles -- you won't want to miss the Sarasota Classic Car Museum. It has vintage cars (including a 1932 Auburn boat, a 1954 Packard convertible and a 1937 Dusenberg). More examples of yesteryear's transport are found at the Florida Gulf Coast Railroad Museum, where you can take a ride on an old train, complete with a red caboose.
Of Sarasota's four barrier islands, our favorite by far is Longboat Key. One of the best resort areas on the Gulf Coast, this very pretty strip of beach has grown increasingly popular, but it still has a nice, relaxed atmosphere -- you never feel rushed. Resorts of all kinds line both sides of the island (those facing the gulf are more popular), serving guests of all ages. We saw as many kids as we saw seniors on our last visit, and that added to the pleasant feeling. We also enjoyed St. Armands Key, a charming little community with a roundabout in the middle of town that's surrounded by stylish shops and restaurants. St. Armands has a small-village feel to it but also has a little more sophistication than some other Gulf Coast towns. It's perfect for dining and shopping, especially when you've maxed out on UV rays.
Lido Beach and Siesta Key are two other popular islands near Sarasota. Both have restaurants, shops and galleries. At the far end of Lido Beach is Mote Marine Laboratory's Mote Aquarium, with a 135,000-gallon shark habitat, a Mysterious Mollusks exhibit, sea turtles, jellyfish, two manatees (Hugh and Buffett), two touch pools and viewing areas where you can watch Mote's research in action. The Gulf waters around Siesta Key are crystal clear and provide almost unlimited visibility. A number of diving and snorkeling excursions are available. One popular destination is Point of Rocks, where scuba divers and snorkelers can explore an exotic array of sponges and colorful tropical fish at depths of 10 ft/3 m or less.
Or you can hunt for prehistoric shark teeth south of Sarasota on Venice Beach: They wash up onto shore by the hundreds, though scientists aren't sure why. Small teeth are common, and you might even find a 5-in/13-cm tooth from a megalodon. These sharks grew up to 60 ft/18 m in length. Fortunately, they've been extinct for at least five million years.
Day's end in Sarasota might include a relaxing bay cruise as another way of viewing the harbor and islands.
Just north of Sarasota is Bradenton, where the South Florida Museum, Bishop Planetarium and Parker Manatee Aquarium (one attraction with a long name) gives you a chance to see live manatees. (The venerable Snooty is now in his 50s -- the oldest manatee born in captivity.) The museum has lots of historical artifacts and the planetarium presents well-executed laser shows.
East of Bradenton on the north bank of the Manatee River in Ellenton is the Gamble Plantation State Historic Site, which features a colonial mansion with 18 wide columns. Judah P. Benjamin, the Confederate Secretary of State, took refuge there while fleeing to England at the end of the Civil War.
West of Bradenton, near the confluence of the Manatee River and Tampa Bay, is the De Soto National Memorial, which marks the site where the Spanish explorer is said to have first set foot in Florida. The visitors center shows films and has on display a replica of one of De Soto's ships as well as antique weaponry. Sarasota is 50 mi/80 km south of Tampa.