SIGHTSEERS
Going to Florida?
by Randy Karr

Disney is not the only thing worth coming to Florida for. So is Florida’s Gulf coast, which has an array of interesting travel destinations that will captivate you for days.

Florida’s coast boasts more than spectacular seascapes, sunsets and swaying palms. There are also interesting man-made attractions like Weeki Wache Springs, where mermaids entertain audiences in underwater shows, and Homsosassa Springs, a state wildlife park showcasing the rare West Indian manatees, a gentle aquatic mammal whose closest relative is an elephant.

For the culturally inclined, there are two world-class museums in St. Petersburg. The Florida Holocaust Museum, one of the largest Holocaust museums in the country, is dedicated to teaching everyone to recognize the inherent worth and dignity of human life. Nearby, the Salvador Dali Museum features the world's most comprehensive collection of the renowned Spanish artist's work.

Nearby Sarasota offers still more attractions. Located on Sarasota Bay is Cà d’Zan, the winter estate of circus baron John Ringling. Said to mean “House of John,” Cà d’Zan’s rooms are filled throughout with fine furniture, decorative art and tapestries. Also on the 66-acre Ringling estate is the John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art, now designated as the official state art museum for Florida. A collection of Peter Paul Rubens paintings is the museum’s most world-renowned works of art.

Four more not-to-be missed destinations in the St. Petersburg-Sarasota vicinity include the following:

1. John Ringling Circus Museum
   The John Ringling Circus Museum celebrates the rich history of the American circus with displays of circus handbills, posters, costumes and elaborately carved and painted circus wagons. An exclusive to the museum is the world's largest miniature circus, a replica of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. A master model builder created it over a period of more than 50 years. Another astonishing exhibit is Bruno Zacchini’s Super Repeating Cannon. The 37-foot-long cannon, which used humans as cannonballs, could shoot two performers 140 feet through the air, within seconds of each other, at a speed of 125 m.p.h. The operating mechanism, which remains a closely guarded family secret, has been removed from the cannon.
   
   
   
   
2. Pinecraft - Amish Winter Getaway
   Pinecraft, located within the city limits of Sarasota, is one of Florida’s most unique winter getaways, one that caters to Amish and Mennonite “snowbirds.” No horse-and-buggies here, just bicycles and large-wheel "tricycles" being pedaled along streets with Amish names like Yoder, Miller, Graber and Kauffman. As in any resort, there are lots of things for Amish to do during their Pinecraft holiday. Leisure activities include fishing, shuffleboard or volleyball, followed by a visit to Big Olaf’s ice cream stand for a cone and some old-fashioned visiting. A popular day-trip goes to Siesta Beach. Wearing modest beach attire, Amish spend the day wading in knee-deep water looking for seashells and lounging on the sandy beach.
   
   
   
   
3. Harding Circle Historic Districts - The Seven Virtues
   John Ringling named this park, located on St. Armands Key, Harding Circle, in memory of his friend, President Warren Harding. In 2001, Harding Circle, along with St. Armands Circle and its connecting medians and boulevards, were placed on the National Register of Historic Places as unique examples of early community planning and development. In 1917, John Ringling purchased St. Armands Key, then an uninhabited island across Sarasota Bay, to build a planned community. He envisioned building a people-friendly place with broad boulevards and chic shops that would be laid out around a circular park with seven classical statues known as the Seven Virtues. The Seven Virtues represented by these statues are music, flora, learning, sculpture, medicine, bounty and water.
   
   
4. De Soto National Memorial
   Besides preserving an important part of Florida's natural environment, including the largest species of Gumbo Limbo in North America, De Soto National Memorial commemorates the first extensive exploration by Europeans of the southern United States. It was here, on a swelteringly hot day in May 1539, that Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto arrived with over 600 soldiers and nine ships laden with 220 horses, a herd of pigs, war dogs, cannon, muskets and armor. They splashed ashore near Tampa Bay, eager to find La Florida’s riches and to explore, colonize and pacify the Indians. His army traveled through what is now the Southeastern United States, on a 4,000-mile journey that lasted four years.
   
   
   

For more information on these and other Florida travel destinations, go to www.stateofflorida.com and click on Visitors & Travel.

©2009 Randy Karr