St. Armands Circle & Sarasota, FL

Thursday, February 8. We left Gulfport at 9:30 for an anchorage 36 miles away near St. Armands circle by Lido Key.

Pictured below is a snapshot off of NEBO an app we use to see a birds eye view of possible anchorages/marinas and the surroundings. Also, note the boat named Sapphire is showing in the anchorage spot we were interested in. With this app, we were able to message Sapphire and find out if there was room for us, and what the conditions were. The gold flag showing next to their boat name indicates they have completed the loop once before. It’s also a great way to track folks we have met to see where they are, as well as being tracked by family and friends.

Sunset—very calm anchorage here next to Otter Key. Looking forward to exploring St. Armands Circle in the morning.

Friday, February 9th. St. Armands Circle is a swanky little circle with shops, cafes, and easy access to Lido Beach lined with tourists. St. Armands Circle was named after Charles St. Armand, a Frenchman and first resident of the island. He purchased 132 acres for $21.71…seriously!!

In 1917 John Ringling purchased the key and designed a luxury development. Everything was top notch and after he built a bridge and causeway in 1925, he sold property parcels that was estimated to exceed one million dollars. Unfortunately land sales in Florida and on St. Armands stopped completely in 1928. The City of Sarasota accepted as a gift the causeway which Ringling could no longer afford to maintain. In the 1950’s businesses returned to the Circle and as John Ringling envisioned, it is now a parklike atmosphere for homeowners and tourists to enjoy.

This sweet lady pictured owns the home behind the wall. She created the rock garden during covid. There is a sign that says: ‘Kindness Grows Here, Take a rock for inspiration, or Leave a rock to help our garden grow!’

Birds on Lido beach. Fyi—-I did not scare them into flight. Honest!

Saturday, February 10. We spent another day at the anchorage and went to spend more time on Lido Beach.

Our spot on the beach.

Love watching the hover board kite flyers.

We went into town for something to eat—and gelato.

Ok… dog lovers—2 questions:

1) Would you?

2) Did you just search Amazon for one…or maybe two?

Sunday, February 11. Pulling anchor for Sarasota.

Last sunrise in Otter Bay.

The dock at Marina Jack’s. Superbowl Sunday’s Kansas City fans. There was alot of honking at the end of the game with alot of happy boaters.

Monday, February 12th. We took the bus to the Ringling Museum. We purchased tickets to see the Ca’ d’Zan, home of John and Mable Ringling, the Circus Museum and the Museum of Art. We had no idea that we would be entertained for the next 5 hours learning about the Ringling Circus, family, and art collection.

Ca’ d’Zan (House of John) seen from the water looking at the back of the house.

Turning around from house, Sarasota Bay.

From inside—I was trying to show that each window pane was a different color of stained glass.

There is so much about the life of John Ringling—too much to summarize. But due to being asset poor and unable to pay property taxes when he passed away in 1936, the Ringling Estate was bequeathed to the people of Florida.

The next four photos is in the museum and is called Howard Bros. Circus—never an actual circus but named after the creator, Howard Tibbals. It is 3/4 inch to the scale of 1 foot replica of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. It was fascinating to take in all the detail. Not shown is a bridge leading into the circus grounds even included men fishing and ducks swimming in the river.

Last photo—yes we enjoyed our day! Highly recommend.

Tuesday, February 13. We walked to a fish house for early dinner and along the marina as we prepared to leave the next morning.

This Unconditional Surrender sculpture based on the iconic photo of a sailor kissing a nurse, marking the end of WWII in NY Times Square. 25’ tall—we are standing by her feet.

Last sunset at Marina Jack’s. On to Cape Haze in the morning.