Ringling Museum

We decided to visit the John and Mable Ringling Museum today.  We thought it would be mostly inside.  The museum has several separate buildings, so we had to walk in the heat and humidity between the buildings.  There are three sections to the museum, the Circus Museum, the Ringling's home, and the Art Museum based on their personal collection.

We visited the Circus Museum and the home.  The Circus Museum had various articles from the Ringling Bros. Circus, including a massive scale model of the circus "village" that moved from city to city.  We found it much more interesting than I think either of us expected.

Their home was built in 1927 and was named Ca' d'Za.  This is "House of John" in a Venetian dialect.  Needless to say, it was designed to look similar to the Doge's Palace in Venice, which we have seem.  It is a good copy though even with 56 rooms it isn't nearly as large as the original.  Apparently Mable Ringling loved everything Italian, though she grew up on a farm in Ohio.

We decided to wait on going to the Art Museum.  Admittance to just the Art Museum is free on Mondays, so we will return on another P-Day.

The following are pictures of Renee at the Ringling House.

Renee on the veranda at the back of the house.

The veranda looks out on Sarasota Bay with Longboat Key in the far background.