No boat travel
Today turned into a crazy, busy day! It started out innocent enough but things just kept happening. Clark spent the morning on the phone regarding issues with a property we own in New Jersey mostly due to the freezing cold weather up there. Being a thousand miles away there is not much we can do that does not involve a phone call.
When we docked yesterday, the only space they could provide us was at the fuel dock. Since we planned to stay two nights, they told us we would have to move in the morning after the sport fish boat left the other dock. We hoped, since it was a fishing vessel, that they would be gone early - no such luck.
Sometime after 10:00 a.m. we finally spotted someone in the cockpit of the boat. Then he went back inside the boat and disappeared. Half an hour later he came out and, at an absolute snail's pace, took in two fenders then disappeared inside. Twenty minutes later he came out and brought in the electrical lines then disappeared again. I thought they would never leave!
When we arrived yesterday, the marina staff warned us of extra low tides and said that was the reason for the fuel dock tie-up. They were afraid we would not have enough water on the inside of the "guest" / transient dock. As I watched the guys on the sport fish like a hawk, I told Clark they were obviously waiting for someone as they kept looking off towards the water.
"Maybe not someone", he said, "Perhaps they are hard aground at dock and looking to see the water coming up." After that I noticed that our boat was rocking from the wind, but their boat was completely stationery. When they finally pulled away from the dock just after 11:00 a.m., they seemed to have to "power off", so I expect Clark's guess about low water may have been correct.
As soon as they left, we started bringing in our lines for the move from the fuel dock to the dock they had just vacated. Too bad there was not quite enough space for us to tuck in behind them before they left. If there had been, we would not have had to wait all morning for them to move on. When we got ready to leave, we just pulled in all our lines. The wind held us hard on to the dock. It took two attempts, but using the stern thruster Clark managed to back our boat off from the dock. On the first attempt, the rudder position prohibited him from getting away. He re-positioned the rudder, and Voila, we got off the dock.
If I had nothing planned for the day and nowhere to go, I would not have been anxious for them to leave; however, we did have plans for the day that did not include hanging around for hours waiting to move the boat. This is the second time we have stayed at the Crow's Nest and the second time we have had to hang out at the fuel dock in limbo waiting for another boat to leave the transient dock before we could settle in. If we got a discount for our inconvenience perhaps I would not feel such a need to gripe about it.
My college roommate, Ginny, winters in Venice. Before leaving St. Petersburg, I contacted Ginny and we made plans to get together for the day today and visit the Ringling Museum in Sarasota. Our delay in being ready to start the day's outing would have been much more insufferable except for the fact that Ginny's husband, Matt, took their car for a scheduled oil change this morning before coming to collect us for our day's activities. Then, traffic delays they encountered on the ride to the marina also aided us in the coordinating of meeting times. As luck would have it, we finished tying up the boat at the transient dock just as they arrived to pick us up.
We had some urgent items to take care of when we finally did connect for the day. After our agreed upon first order of business, lunch, Matt kindly drove us first to a bank to get some documents notarized and then to CVS so I could pick up a prescription refill that I forgot to take care of in St. Pete. After we got all that out of the way, we headed to Sarasota (our original plan for the day) to visit the Ringling Museum.
Arriving just before 3:00 and knowing that we had limited time to explore the site, we decided to take a tour of the Ringling home and save the art museum for a day when we have more time. We managed to grab the 3:15 guided tour. The guide said we were fortunate because we had a very small group compared to the earlier, much larger groups that passed through. About three months ago, the rules changed to prohibit taking photos inside the house, so the only photos Clark took were of the outside grounds.
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| Historical Marker at entrance to Ringling Museum & Grounds |
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| Ginny, Matt, and Evelyn entering the Ringling grounds |
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| Water Nymph Statue by pond with fountain |
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| 56-Room Home / Palace of John and Mable Ringling described as "the last of the Gilded Age mansions" |
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| Ca' D'Zan (House of John) Built in the "Roaring Twenties" the tour guide compared the style of living to The Great Gatsby |
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| Decorated for Christmas throughout |
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| Ornate balconies and lac glass windows |
When the inside tour completed, we exited onto the waterfront patio.
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| Shows balcony removed to be rebuilt and replaced |
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| Waterfront Property! Used to entertain friends, politicians, and celebrities |
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| Marble Patio |
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| Used to Dock Zalophus - Ringling's 125' Yacht |
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| The band would play from on board the yacht and the marble shown here acted as the dance floor. |
After viewing the house, we walked around the grounds, starting with the Mable Ringling's Rose Garden.
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| Statuary in Rose Garden |
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| Roses in bloom! |
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| Oldest Rose Garden in Florida |
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| Inspired by Mable's trips to Italy |
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| One of many statues in rose garden |
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| Roses apparently not impacted by the cold temps! |
From there we walked over to the art museum for a look around the outside.
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| Chinese Art in Bronze depicting the "Year of the ..." Designed by artist - Ai Weiwei |
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| Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Ram, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Boar |
Unfortunately, we had no time for the art museum today. We could only admire the outside of the building.
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| Statues at the Ringling Art Museum |
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| Huge Art Museum Building |
Other interesting sights on the grounds ...
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| Mosaic Ceramic Tile Compass Rose with Signs of the Zodiac at entrance to the Ringling Mansion |
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| Lion Statue |
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| Banyan Trees No climbing, hanging, or swinging allowed! |
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| Some odd bits of art on the property like ... What are these men doing to this poor bull?? |
After we left the Ringling exhibits, we stopped at the West Marine in Sarasota to buy a patch kit for the broken front panel of our full enclosure. Then we dined at Longhorn Steakhouse before heading back to Venice and the Crow's Nest Marina. Ginny and Matt dropped us off and said goodbye just at 8:00. We had a wonderful day today with a mix of business and pleasure, a lot of great conversation, and some excellent food.
A special thank you goes out to Matt for all the driving he did to help us with our chores, take us to visit the Ringling grounds, and allow us to enjoy some great food!
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