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- Mote Aquarium
Hours: Daily 10am-5pm. Nature cruises daily 11am, and 1:30 and 4pm
Address: 1600 Ken Thompson Pkwy
Location: On City Island
Directions: From St. Armands Circle, go north toward Longboat Key; turn right just before the Lido-Longboat bridge
Phone: 800/691-6683, 941/388-2541
Web site: http://www.mote.org/
Prices Admission: $12 adults, $8 children 4-12, free for children under 4. Nature cruises $24 adults, $20 children 4-12, free for kids under 4. Combination aquarium-cruise tickets $30 adults, $25 children
Kids get to touch cool stuff like a stingray (minus the stinger, of course) and watch sharks in the shark tank at this excellent aquarium. Part of the noted Mote Marine Laboratory complex, it is more broad-based than Tampa's Florida Aquarium, which concentrates primarily on local sea life. The kids won't believe all the sea-horse babies that come from the dad's pouch (one of Mother Nature's strange-but-true surprises), and they surely will gawk at a 35-foot-long deceased giant squid (it was 45 ft. long when alive). They can see manatees in the Marine Mammal Center, a block's walk from the aquarium. There are also many research-in-progress exhibits. Start by watching the aquarium's 12-minute film on the feeding habits of sharks; then allow at least 90 minutes to take in everything on land. Add another 2 hours to take a narrated sea-life encounter cruise with The Sarasota Bay Explorers (tel. 727/388-4200; www.sarasotabayexplorers.com). These fun and informative cruises visit a deserted island, and the guides throw out nets and bring up sea life for inspection. It's a good idea to make reservations for the cruise a day in advance. This company has unusual kayaking adventures, to.
- The Ringling Museum of Art
Hours: Daily 10am-5:30pm
Address: 5401 Bay Shore Rd
Location: At N. Tamiami Trail (U.S. 41)
Directions: From downtown, take U.S. 41 north to University Pkwy. and follow signs to museum
Phone: 941/359-5700, 941/351-1660 for recorded information
Web site: http://www.ringling.org/
Admission: $15 adults, $12 seniors, $5 out-of-state students, free for Florida students and all children 12 and under
Season Closed New Year's Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas
By far the top attraction here, this 66-acre site is where showman and circus legend John Ringling and his wife, Mable, collected art and built houses on a grand scale. Now under the aegis of Florida State University, The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art is the state's official art museum. It's filled with more than 500 years of European and American art, including one of the world's most important collections of grand 17th-century baroque paintings as well as collections of decorative arts and traveling exhibits. The old-master collection also includes five world-renowned tapestry cartoons by Peter Paul Rubens and his studio.
Built in 1924 and 1925 at a cost of $1.5 million and modeled after a Venetian palace, the Ringlings' spectacular 32-room palatial, bay-front, four-story winter residence Ca'd'Zan ("House of John" in the Venetian dialect) has been recently restored. An 8,000-square-foot terrace leads down to the dock at which Mable Ringling moored her Venetian gondola. Don't miss a tour of this house to see the period furniture and stunning architecture and artwork; in fact, I'd make it the first stop on your Ringling itinerary.
The Ringling Museum of the Circus is devoted to circus memorabilia (which is, in a way, more fascinating than the circus itself) including parade wagons, calliopes, costumes, and colorful posters. The grounds also include a classical courtyard, a rose garden, a museum shop, and the historic Asolo Theater, a 19th-century Italian court playhouse, which the Ringlings moved here in the 1950s. It's now the centerpiece of the Florida State University Center for the Performing Arts. You'll need most of a day to see everything here.
How to See the Ringling Museums--It's best to visit the FSU Ringling Center for the Cultural Arts on a weekday when the center offers adult guided tours and school tours of the art museum, house, and circus museum, which are included in the price of admission. Call ahead or check at the information desk as soon as you arrive for tour times. In between, explore the gardens and have lunch at The Banyan Cafe.
- Sarasota Jungle Gardens
Here is an opportunity to enjoy a stroll along a trail that wanders through an ever-changing landscape of cool, under-story jungle growth and around open pond shorelines. As one meanders through Sarasota Jungle Gardens, a magnificent and wildy overgrown paradise, one wonders how such an abundance began.
Hours: Open daily 9AM to 5PM
Address: 3701 Bay Shore Road, Sarasota, FL 34234
Directions: I-75 exit 213 University Parkway West, 2 miles South of the Sarasota/Bradenton Airport, just of U.S. 41.
Phone: 941-355-5305
Website: http://www.sarasotajunglegardens.com/
Admission: Adult $12.00, Senior (62 & up) $11.00, Child (3 - 12) $8.00, Under 3 are FREE
- Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall
The city's other prime venue is the lavender, seashell-shaped Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall , 777 N. Tamiami Trail (U.S. 41), at 9th Street (tel. 800/826-9303 or 941/953-3368; http://www.vanwezel.org/ . Recently renovated, it offers excellent visual and acoustic conditions and a wide range of year-round programming, including touring Broadway shows and visiting orchestras and dance troupes. It and the FSU Center host performances by the Florida West Coast Symphony, the Jazz Club of Sarasota, the Sarasota Pops, and the Sarasota Ballet
- G-Wiz Gulf Coast Wonder and Imagination Zone}
Hours: Tues-Sat 10am-5pm; Sun noon-5pm
Address: 1001 Blvd. of the Arts
Location: In the Blivas Science and Technology Center, 1 block west of U.S. 41
Phone: 941/906-1851
Web site: http://www.gwiz.org/
Admission: $7 adults, $6 seniors, $5 kids 2 and over; free 5-8pm the 1st Wed of the month
This hands-on, state-of-the-art science center has two floors of fun exhibits that cover the physical, earth, and health sciences. In June 2002, G. Wiz opened its three-year ExploraZone exhibit, which features annually rotating interactive exhibits from San Francisco's renowned Exploratorium. The 35 exhibits have themes ranging from sound and music to mathematics and motion, color and optics, sight and illusion, and others.
- Circus Sarasota
Known as the "Circus Capitol of the World," Sarasota now claims its own one-ring, five star international circus. The presence of circus as an institution and its artists as individual citizens has contributed substantially to the cultural richness and diversity, which is now synonymous with the Sarasota area.
Phone: (941) 355-9335
Website: http://www.circussarasota.org/
- Marie Selby Botanical Gardens
Hours: Daily 10am-5pm
Address: 811 S. Palm Ave
Location: South of U.S. 41
Phone: 941/366-5731
Web site: http://www.selby.org/
Admission: $12 adults, $6 children 6-11, free for children 5 and under accompanied by an adult
Season Closed Christmas
A must-see for serious plant lovers and a should-see for those looking for good photo ops, this peaceful retreat on the bay, just south of downtown, is said to be the only botanical garden in the world specializing in the preservation, study, and research of epiphytes, that is, "air plants" such as orchids. It's home to more than 20,000 exotic plants, including more than 6,000 orchids, as well as a bamboo pavilion, a butterfly and hummingbird garden, a medicinal plant garden, a waterfall garden, a cactus and succulent garden, a fernery, a hibiscus garden, a palm grove, two tropical food gardens, and a native shore-plant community. Selby's home and the Payne Mansion (both on the National Registry) are also located here.
- Gamble Plantation
Situated northeast of downtown Bradenton, this is the oldest structure on the southwestern coast of Florida, and a fine example of an antebellum plantation home--something that's quite rare in Florida--over a 6-year period in the late 1840s by Major Robert Gamble, it was constructed primarily of "tabby mortar" (a mixture of oyster shells, sand, molasses, and water), with 10 rooms, verandas on three sides, 18 exterior columns, and eight fireplaces. Maintained as a state historic site, it includes a fine collection of 19th-century furnishings. Entrance to the house is by tour only, although you can explore the grounds on your own. The Prime Outlets Ellenton is a 5-minute drive from here via U.S. 301, so you can combine a plantation visit with some bargain hunting.
- Myakka State Park
13207 S.R. 72
Sarasota, Florida 34241
Phone: 941-361-6511
Website: http://www.myakkariver.org/
One of the oldest and largest state parks, Myakka protects one of the state´s most diverse natural areas. The Myakka River, designated as a Florida Wild and Scenic River, flows through 58 square miles of wetlands, prairies, hammocks, and pinelands. Visitors can enjoy wildlife viewing from a boardwalk that stretches out over the Upper Myakka Lake, then take to the treetops with a stroll along the canopy walkway. The park´s river and two lakes provide ample opportunities for boating, freshwater fishing, canoeing, and kayaking; a boat ramp provides access to Upper Myakka Lake. Hikers can explore trails that cross large expanses of rare Florida dry prairie. Scenic lake tours are offered daily on the world´s two largest airboats. Safari tram tours of the park´s backcountry are offered from mid-December through May. Full-facility campgrounds and primitive campsites are available. Five palm log cabins, built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps, have been modernized for comfortable lodging. Located nine miles east of Sarasota on State Road 72.
Hours of Operation: Florida state parks are open from 8 a.m. until sundown 365 days a year.
Admission Fees: $5.00 per vehicle for up to 8 people. Economically Disadvantaged Fee (Up to 8 people)is $2.50
Permits
Annual Family Entrance (Up to 8 People) $80.00
Annual Individual Entrance $40.00
Camping Fees
Campsites all year $22.00
Cabins all year $60.00
Senior/Disabled Citizen camping (must be Florida resident, over 65 years or 100% disabled) $11.00
Dump station, per unit, non-registered camper $6.00
RV water filling station / per unit, non-registered camper $5.00
Pavilions
Lake and Clay Gully per day (holds 40 people) $30.00
South (holds 111 people) and Log (holds 60 people) per day $60.00
Daily Concession Tours
Airboat & Tram Tours Adult $10.00
Children 6 thru 12 $5.00 (Children 5 & under free in adult´s lap)
Daily Concession Rental Fees
Canoe rental: 0-2 hrs $15.00; 2-4 hrs $25.00; 4hrs close $40.00
Kayak rental: ½ day $25.00; Full day $45.00
Bicycle rental: 0-2hrs $10.00; 2-4hrs $20.00; 4hrs-close $25.00
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