On our To Do List was a visit to the Ringling Museum in Sarasota. We didn't really know much about it except that it was there and supposed to be quite good. We were not disappointed.
It turns out that it is more than just one thing. It is a 66 acre compound that includes the Ringling Brothers Museum (part of the new Visitor Center that also houses the Historic Asolo Theater); the original Circus Museum that now houses the rail car used by John and Mabel Ringling as they toured with the circus; the Ca' d'Zan (House of John), the 1920's home of John and Mabel; the Museum of Art; another large modern theater; and the Gardens and Grounds. We saw all but the theaters - the historic theater was closed that day as was the modern theater. The property was willed to the State of Florida and is in stewardship of Florida State University.
We began our tour in the new Circus Museum. By far the best part of that museum is the Howard Brothers Circus Model - the world's largest miniature circus. It is a replica of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, created by a circus historian, Howard Tibbals. It is a 3/4-inch-to-the-foot scale. The documentation says that it features eight circus tents and 42,000 objects in a 3,800 square foot exhibit space. It replicates the tented circus when it was at its largest (about 1919-1938). It is nothing short of astonishing. Every little detail is there: people, both audience and performers, the Big Top and all the other tents used at the circus - the Menagerie, the Food Tent for performers and crew, all the crew housing, all the animals, wagons, cages, all the dishes, tables, chairs, food, every folding chair in the Big Top, all the rail cars used to transport the circus, the whole story of how the circus was set up and broken down. Did you know that when a circus toured the country, it stayed only one day in each city it visited? The first equipment train would arrive at a city in the middle of the night. The roust abouts would start setting up all the tents for the performers, and then start setting up the Big Top. If there was to be a parade, they would begin staging for that. By about noon, all was in readiness for the day's first performance. There was usually a night performance as well. During that night performance, all the supporting tents, luggage, etc. would be taken down, loaded on the train, and it would start off for the next city. When the last show was over, the Big Top was taken down, loaded, and everything would be on the way again. Apparently the logistics were so impressive that the US Army even had permission to watch as the process unfolded, to learn how to manage such a huge undertaking.
I snapped some photos of the miniature circus.
We had lunch on the lovely grounds. It was a beautiful day.
This is the old museum which we went in to see the rail car and the other old circus wagons that are housed there. For some reason, I didn't take any photos inside. It was a 2 hour wait to tour the rail car, so we opted not to do that.
Our next stop was the Ca' d'Zan - the Ringling home. The architecture is Venetian, and is in very good condition. We did the self-guided tour of the first floor. There are other tours of the house, run in a similar fashion to the Hearst Castle in California, but we didn't have time for that. Here are some interior and exterior photos of the house.
Then we toured the Art Museum. John and Mabel Ringling began collecting art from around the world early in their marriage, and it became their express purpose to create a museum for the city of Sarasota which they loved. There are some very fine works there by Rubens, van Dyck, Titian, Velazquez, El Greco, Gainsborough and much more. No photography is allowed in the museum. Here is a photo of the lovely exterior of the museum, finished in the late '20s.
We finished our day with dinner on St. Armands Circle. St Armands is an island (actually a key) connected to the mainland at Sarasota by a causeway. It is a lively retail area with some beautiful homes that continue on out at Longboat Key and beyond. Unbeknownst to us, we had dinner at a restaurant housed in the oldest building in St Armands which was the real estate office of John Ringling when he was trying to develop the area for housing and tourism. We were seated at an outdoor table looking out at the circle and the busy area of shoppers and tourists. Felt good to sit down after being on our feet the whole day. Great dinner at Cafe L'Europe!
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