The Ringling Experience...Part 1 (Inside)

After wanting to visit this venue for several years and cancelling plans to go in January because it was so cold...the weather today was perfect for visiting!  It took us a little more than an hour on the road to get here but we traveled without incident and arrived around 12:30.  

Our first stop was the Tibbals Learning Center, which houses a handcrafted, nearly 1 million piece, "3800 square foot, 1/16th scale model three-ring circus".  It's basically a complete miniature circus village.  My photos do not do it justice; it's very impressive!

The Center Ring

The mess tent

Elephants preparing to enter the big tent

The Side Show entrance with posters

This is looking down from the second floor...

Remember, each one of the pieces in this display was hand crafted, including the folding chairs, pots, pans, dishes, animals...everything!

This building also includes a lot of historical pieces and memorabilia, including this Bandwagon.

This is an elephant blanket...very ornate and LARGE!

There is a tightrope to be walked, a partial horse to be ridden and even a small clown car.  I'm not very big and I was squished.

Upstairs, along with the areas to overlook the circus town, there is a huge, hand carved circus parade.  I'm guessing it may be over 100' in length; I can't express how small these pieces are and there must be thousands of them!

We ate lunch at the Banyan Cafe, then checked out the Original Circus Museum.  This building houses historical papers, props, costumes and the railroad car used by John and Mabel Ringling.

There is a walkway on the other side which allows visitors to look inside.

There is also a group of volunteer woodworkers that meet weekly to maintain and repair all of the wood pieces in the museum.

This totally amazes me!

Considering that the circus called it quits within the last year, we are so glad that so much of this history has been saved and is shared.  

Self portrait

I always loved these mirrors...they made you tall and skinny or short and fat but we always laughed and we would stand in front of them over and over and over.

This is one of the cages that transported the large cats.

Check out the woodworking and the awesome tires.   Actually, wheels is probably a better term.

I never saw a side show and it could never be done in this day and age, but I can remember posters from the Acton Fair, of all places.

The Bearded Lady

The Fat Lady

The Siamese Twins

That wraps up the part of our day spent inside.  Stay tuned for the outside adventure!

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

Peace River Botanical and Sculpture Gardens

A new adventure!  We read about these gardens last year and even drove around looking for them. We actually saw the entrance but I think we thought it was a new housing development. 

The vision for the gardens began ten years ago but Phase 1 didn't open until October, 2017.  Another reason we couldn't find it last year.  We are excited that we will get to see it from the beginning and see new additions each year.  The next phases are not expected to be completed for another twelve years!  Quite an undertaking.

The cactus garden is the first area we entered and is clearly a work in progress but this one looks pretty good. 

The next area was a narrow walkway lined with different stag horn ferns.  To be honest, I didn't know there were different varieties...duh.

This must weight several hundred pounds

This sculpture, entitled "The Wave: is located at one end of the "fern" walk. 

This Andy Warhol sculpture had recently been delivered.

He looks kind of grouchy...probably tired of people asking directions.

And, yes, he's really yellow.

Throughout the gardens there are large (60x40") photographic images of plant life and flowers by Laurie Tennent.

"Lobster Claw" 

These three "Tree Trellises" stand near the main entrance and are surrounded by various species of bougainvillea.  They have also been planted at the base of each "tree", which reach a height of 20' and have a diameter at the top of 22'.  They will be spectacular in a few years.

This island is the first section seen upon entering the gardens and the "Fleur" sculpture is a nine-foot-tall water feature reminiscent of a pedestal vase.

From here we walked across Riverside Drive, which bisects the gardens, to the area located along the Peace River.

This Garden Community Center is a new building and was created and designed to match the architecture of the home occupied by the garden's visionary, Roger Tetrault, which will eventually become part of the gardens and will house a fine art museum.  This building currently contains a snack bar, gift shop and offices.  It's surrounded by a reflecting pool and aquatic pond.

There are several sculptures located along the walkway on this side of the gardens, including "Monumental Fire and Harmony".  I must admit, I don't get the title..at.all!

The one, titled "Keel", is located along the boardwalk to the gazebo.

The gazebo sits out in the river and it's an awesome space, very quiet and serene.  

You can catch a glimpse of one of the buildings on Mr. Tetrault's property, which is probably a garage or guest "apartment".

I say that because this is the house, which can be reached by following the boardwalk, although it's secured behind a locked gate.  Just a little shack ;o)

Another one of the sculptures, "Glass Fronds", is located on the residence property, behind the gate, but will belong to the gardens in the future.

It is said that Mr. Tetrault and his wife have more than 200 pieces of art in their home!

Other works of art along the walk include "Man in Red"

and "Rondolet", an aluminum kinetic sculpture that twists and spins in the wind.

The gardens signature sculpture is "Steel Palm"; it's design inspired by a 50 million year old stone palm frond fossil that the Tetrault's purchased in Wyoming (for a very large sum of money, no doubt).

View from the gazebo boardwalk

It's really an interesting sculpture.  Although it's made of three separate pieces, when looking at it directly, it appears to be one large palm frond (the middle photo).  It weighs 20,000 pounds, stands 22' high and is designed to withstand winds of 140 mph.

The reflecting pool contains this hyper-realistic sculpture, "New York City Slicker", by  Carole Feuerman.  Check out her website!  He work is amazing and this picture doesn't do it justice.

"Ostriches" creates an arch to walk under, entering or leaving this side of the gardens.

This is another title I really don't "get" but they were designed by a Beijing artist so maybe the name was lost in translation.  They stand 20' high and appear well secured but I wonder if they can withstand a 140 mph wind.

The only sculpture we didn't see was "Thinker", which is a spoof on "The Thinker". It's located on the seating area behind the Community Center, which was closed today due to a private function.  

I think these gardens are going to be spectacular when they are eventually completed.  It's not everywhere you get to see beautiful plants, along with some very cool art.  We look forward to seeing what's new when we return next year.

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

Friends From the North

Marc and Deb come down every year to visit Marc's daughter in Bradenton for the Super Bowl.  Happily, we were able to make plans to spend the afternoon together.  

They arrived around 3:30, after visiting family members in Pt. Charlotte.  We visited for awhile, then headed to Fisherman's Village for a late lunch/early dinner at Shorty's Brewhouse.  This is a restaurant/craft beer establishment that was new last year, although we never tried it and Punta Gorda is their only location in FL.

We sat inside, because the sun was low and there was no shade outside.  However, the doors were all open so it was like sitting outside and there was a nice breeze.  Everyone agreed, it was a great meal!  Deb had pizza, Marc and Bill had the special burger and I had a spicy Hawaiian chicken wrap.  I can't believe I didn't take pictures.

From there we drove to Ponce de Leon park and caught a nice sunset.  We took selfies, which was quite hysterical because there were too many of us, Marc is very tall, Deb and I are very short and no one had long enough arms.  Our first attempt was pretty sad, we nearly missed Deb completely and I didn't want to playground in the background.  Oh well.  The evening sun was nice.

Finally, after much repositioning and laughing, Marc held the camera and Bill pushed the button.  In fact, I think that's his finger in the left hand corner.  Good grief.

The sunset was worth the trip.  I took these three...

and Marc took these two.

So glad we were able to spend time together.

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)