Ringling Museum and Ca'D'Zan

January 23
Saturday

Headed south down the Gulf coast, I am surprised to see a prisoner work crew along the road wearing actual prison gear, black and white stripes.  This would not be PC in California, but does come in handy in case they decide to wander off.

 Sarasota has long been the winter home of the Ringling Brothers Circus.  Since 1948 the Ringling Circus Museum has been a storehouse for the huge bandwagons, animal cage wagons, and calliopes of the circus in its heyday.

 Not a fan of circuses, I couldn't help thinking as I toured the estate grounds of all the animals that underwent training, often cruel, to be taught to perform totally unnatural acts for human enjoyment.

Circus magnate John Ringling came here in 1927 to make Sarasota his home and built his incredibly lavish mansion, Ca'D'Zan, (House of John)

at a cost of $1.5 million.

It has 32 rooms and 14 baths and is modeled after a doge's palace in Venice.

The house is interesting as a study in opulence, best described as circus Gothic highlighted with Ringling rococo.

Many of the furnishings came from the Astor and Jay Gould mansions in New York in the Italian and French Renaissance styles of
 the Louis XIV to XVI.

Out back on the huge marble terrace, it's like being on St. Mark's Square in Venice minus the pigeons.  I'm told there is a genuine Venetian gondola somewhere but I didn't see it.

Ringling not only lavished his fortune on the house, but on his own personal art museum, also on the grounds.
It contains this country's largest number of works by Rubens, Rembrandt, Gainsborough and other well know artists.

This walkway outside the museum is a mosaic
of beautiful marble pieces.

At his death in 1936, Ringling bequeathed his entire estate--the museum, residence and art treasures -- to the state of Florida.

Very cold and windy, choppy water in the Bay. The average temps in Florida are usually in the 70s in the winter, but not this winter.

This year hasn't been normal in more ways than one, for me at least.

It's where I've found total bliss this year.

Motorcycle Mama and the Manatees

Friday
January 22


I had hoped to be in the north central states by now but cold weather there has kept me in Florida. That and having a good time with Friendly Floridians. I'll be holed up here for awhile waiting for good weather.

Seeing the Florida countryside on the back of the motorcycle of former Santa Clara cop, Bob.

Remember the Key West blog?

Working my way down the west coast of Florida near Crystal River.

At Three Sisters Manatee Preserve on the Gulf side the water is this incredible shade of three blues.  

Manatees hang out here among the Mangrove swamps until the Gulf warms up enough for them.

They look like giant rocks under water and are

no longer on the endangered species list thanks to the efforts of people like singer Jimmy Buffet.

The great fun of rv travel is meeting up with folks on the road like Dave and Andrea Sherman. We started chatting in a cafe in an rv park in Maryland near Washington, DC a few months ago and I've been following their FB posts ever since.
They're here on the Gulf coast now so we had dinner at Captain Jack's.near New Port Richie. They are on a quest for the perfect Margarita and have sampled hundreds around the country.
Dedicated bloggers, they had posted on FB a photo of us at dinner within 10 minutes of their dropping me off at my rv park!

At a huge rv park in Pinellas called Robert's, a nightly Happy Hour was just starting. Guests were jockeys for a horse race on which bets were taken for a winner. Food and 50's music as giant foam dice were rolled by the guy in the cowboy boots to determine how many spaces horses could move up.  It was more fun if you had a few drinks in you so I had some catching up to do.

In the morning as I was pulling up stakes, a volleyball game was under way, proving that white men CAN jump, even old white guys!

 Rainy this morning so drove into St.Petersburg to a historic 1920's neighborhood of Craftsman homes called Kenwood.
Stephanie and Jeff Schoor converted this one to a gallery for art and pottery and a cafe.

 Had a cappuccino and good salad and convinced myself I didn't need a beautiful glass bowl of colors I had never seen before. My tiny Doodlebug keeps spending down as there just isn't much room.

Next door was an antique shop whose owner, a young Army vet, showed me his collection of glass which glowed under a black light.

It's great to see young people excited about anything from a bygone era.

In the evening at Linger Lodge outside of Bradenton I had dinner at the restaurant in the rv park. It's rare to find a restaurant in an rv park and this one was filled with locals, most of whom were not staying at the park.
This giant alligator was 22 ft long.
I must be in Florida.

The Villages in Florida

Monday
January18

Yikes!  I'm about a thousand pictures behind in posting.  Better get back to it.

A visit to the Villages in Florida showed it to be about as much like our Villages in San Jose
 as a turkey is to a baby chick.

The concept is the same;  active retirement community for people  65 and older.
 But the Florida Villages is located in the center of the state which is largely devoid of any topography on its over 50 square miles. Its boundaries are 13 miles long.
 

 

 So it doesn't have hills.

  What it does have is 630 holes of golf and 65,000 golf carts for its 100,000 residents.  It's huge!

80% of the residents live here full time.

I met high school chum  Sharon and her husband Bud who toured me around the beautiful area.

 There is plenty here to keep busy with 
2300 clubs and organizations, one of which is a softball team for those over 80. Yes, they allow designated base runners.
 Bowling, not golf, is the main activity.

 There are 79 swimming pools in over 80 villages, one pool for children, and no one under 30 is allowed in the main pools.

 There are 10 shopping plazas, all accessible by golf cart.
Within the Villages are 15 grocery stores, 100 restaurants and 5 health care centers. 

One of the 12 main clubhouses, this one, the Eisenhower Center, is dedicated to all branches of the armed services and is loaded with memorabilia donated by residents.  
All 12 are open to everyone to use for card playing, etc.

Five of the clubhouses have fitness centers.

Every neighborhood has live entertainment in the evening as I found when I came out of Margaritaville Cafe after Happy Hour and ran smack into this live band at a gazebo. 

This couple was dancing with their little dog. So cute!

Socialization here takes many turns.
At the Redsauce Bar in Sumter Square a drink was named after a couple caught making love in the park late at night. The drink was called Sex in the Square and was made of wine and cordials.

 And now I've saved the best for last. What does all this cost?

Home prices run the gamut from $160K to over $1M.

Monthly HOA dues are $145/month for everyone because everyone maintains their own home.

$15 to $65 for golf.

It's a great place to retire with only one drawback.  
It's not in California. 

Back to Sunny Florida

Tuesday
January 19

Back to the beach, the only place where salt lowers your blood pressure.

To paraphrase Jimmy Buffet:

Change Your Latitude and it Changes Your Attitude.

Since coming South to Florida last month  I'm looking at life differently.

This is not the bridge over troubled water. It's the bridge over calm waters.


Back after Christmas I leave Miami and head to Cedar Key on the north Gulf coast. I have all the "essentials" in the Doodlebug--- bottles of wine stashed away in nooks and crannies, warm and cold clothes, packaged Margarita mix and Jimmy Buffet CDs and old tapes of Ella Fitzgerald.

I still want one.

Came across this blast from the past at the next RV park.  Something I've wanted since 1967, a 1967 VW camper van.
This one belongs to Rob from Toronto, who found it online and had it imported from the UK.
Rob reminded me a lot of Maynard G. Krebs. He even has a GoPro mounted on the dash.

My home for the next week will be Sunset Isle on Cedar Key on the Gulf coast. 
It has a definite 60's vibe which attracted me as well as a bunch of musicians who hang out there all winter and play whenever they feel like it, especially Friday nights.

We heard folk songs, country blue grass, old ballads long forgotten, and one guy sounded so much like James Taylor I had to get a good look  to be sure it wasn't him. 
Still not convinced it wasn't.
His Sweet Baby Jane was the real deal.

Every night there's a cozy campfire where everyone gathers
  by the Clubhouse.

 Elly and her Wheaton Terrier.    Buildings painted by a local artist.

 This one went down in the last storm, and yes those are bowling pins around the palm tree.

Their own cafe, Ada Blue,

has great grub

My site by the water

 with  Nemo windsock

Tiki Bar next door to the RV park

A very friendly crowd 

and cute bartender

Cedar Key pier in town has

shops and restaurants

I always wanted to be a mermaid.

Watchband made of alligator skin by a local guy

New friends Carole and Marc, 

French Canadians who spend the winter here 

in their Doodlebug twin Roadtrek

My view out the back window

with the moon barely visible in the night sky.

Every place I go is a change from the last place --- the scenery, the people, all different.

That's the point of my journey, everything changes, my life, the country.

For me, I'm looking for a new beginning.

Christmas at Home

Thursday
January 7, 2016

Around Thanksgiving I began to get really homesick for family and friends, and yes, it did take 5 months for that to happen because I have been having such a good time on the road. So this 3 week break spent at home was just in time. Left the Doodle in a Miami hotel parking lot and flew home.

Great to see everyone at a

big family Christmas party at Shelly and Trav's

Tammy and Kris,

Brandon and Jarad

Pandemonium

Me with brother Mike as Santa

Hey Santa, what about your 'stache?!

More Christmas at Lisa and Michael's on Christmas Day:

Michael hard at work preparing our Christmas feast.  Lisa watching.

She is afraid of knives (they're sharp) and the stove (it's hot), but does a good job of cleaning up.

Here Michael prepares our Lobster Ravioli in Brandy Cream Sauce. 

Our six course menu was fit for a four star restaurant.

It's great having foodies in the family.

 Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest

grand kids Dylan, Emily and Ty

Pontiers and Planes out for some
 holiday dress up fun

Digesting dinner before diving into presents

Catching up with friend 

Patt Houston in Willow Glen

Saw so many friends while home, wish I had taken more pix.

I think of the Doodlebug often.
I wonder if it thinks of me...

Crossing the elegant new Bay Bridge which connects Berkeley to San Francisco.

The exciting culture of art and food here in the Bay area can't be beat.

Bobbie and I are headed for the DeYoung Museum in Golden Gate Park to see an
exhibit of art from the
1915 Pan Pacific Exhibition.
It's hard to believe the City got itself together in just 9 years after the 1906 earthquake to create so many beautiful buildings for this exhibit.

Afterward we have lunch at the Beach Chalet on the Great Highway. I had a Beet Burger. That's
right, a burger made of beets that was very pink and quite delicious.
The lobby here is filled with Parisian artist Lucien Laboudt's 1926 mural of San Franciscans at the beach.

Closer to New Year's we celebrate at Opa! in Willow Glen with Michael before Ty takes off back to Park City.

Lisa is seeing double.



Back to some nice 80 degree Floridays now.  It's been in the 50's here. I'm ready for warmth.