Sarasota

Overview

The pink, lavender and gold of flamingos, columned pastel mansions and an imported European theatre, are the colours of clean and classy Sarasota, Florida. Besides excellent golf, beaches and parks, Sarasota is considered the cultural centre of the state. Where else would you find an Italian imported theatre built in 1789 for an exiled queen, a mansion modelled after a Venetian palace and a courtyard of antique columns?

The Ringling Museum of Art will have you wondering if you’ve wandered into a courtyard in Europe. The American circus tycoon of the late 1800s – early 1900s, John Ringling and his wife, Mable, spent a tremendous amount of time and money bringing their love of Europe and Asia to Sarasota. Their donated collection of bronze sculptures, Renaissance paintings, Asian art and a sprawling property along the shores of Sarasota Bay where bayan trees and Mable Ringling’s rose garden are open for visitors to explore and dream in. An ornate gilded-gold ballroom, stained-glass windows, neo-classical furniture and tons of terracotta, “Ca’d’Zan” the Ringling’s winter residence, which is now a museum, is a wonderland of Italian architecture and a monument to what lots of money and a love of beauty can bring about.

The sounds of nature and the smells of palm thickets baking in the sun at the Myakka River State Park, 9 miles east of Sarasota where alligators, blue herons, deer and eagles can be spotted from observations towers amidst the wilds of this 28,000-acre parkland make this ancient green space enchanting. A brief boat ride to the barrier islands of Siesta, Longboat and Lido Keys make for a relaxing day or a romantic evening dinner date.