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Sarasota Attractions
Circus Sarasota
Founded in 1997 by Pedro Reis and Dolly Jacobs, Circus Sarasota is a not-for-profit performing arts educational organization. Circus Sarasota is committed to broadening the artistic contribution of circus, while raising the level and perception of the American Circus to that of the other fine arts.
Known as the "Circus Capital 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.
Crowley Museum and Nature Center
Crowley Museum and Nature Center (CMNC) is a non profit nature and pioneer history center located on 190 acres of native land adjacent to the Myakka River in Sarasota County. Visitors can enjoy nature trails through the protected wildlife sanctuary, a boardwalk traversing the Maple Branch Swamp and Tatum Sawgrass Marsh and an observation tower overlooking the Myakka River. The pioneer history area includes a museum with artifacts from the late 1870's to the early 1900's, a one room homestead cabin, a working blacksmith shop, a working sugar cane mill, and a restored 1892 "Cracker" house. Our trails are well maintained, and many are handicapped accessible.
Florida Gulf Coast Rail Road Museum
The Florida Gulf Coast Railroad Museum, Inc. was founded in 1981 to acquire, protect, preserve and operate interesting and historic examples of railroad rolling stock, artifacts, and other aspects of railroad history, with emphasis on railroads that served the state of Florida. It is a not for profit Florida corporation and has IRS 501 (c) 3 tax status. In 1982, it was named an official State of Florida Railroad Museum by the Florida Legislature.
Operated entirely by volunteers, the museum is located in Manatee County at the town of Parrish on US 301. The museum operates excursion trains consisting of its own rolling stock every weekend, year round. The trains board on 83rd Street East just behind the Parrish post office. Currently, the trains are diesel powered and include open window coaches, a covered gondola, air conditioned coaches and a lounge car.
G. WIZ (Gulfcoast Wonder and Imagination Zone)
Brief History of G.WIZ - Gulfcoast Wonder & Imagination Zone - began as the Gulf Coast World of Science (GCWS) in December 1990. In October 1991, the GCWS opened to the public with only 1,000 square feet and just ten hands-on exhibits. GCWS was soon granted membership in the Association of Science & Technology Centers (ASTC) and ten months later GCWS expanded to 6,000 feet.
In May 1993, recognizing the educational and cultural value the science center added to the community, the Sarasota City Commission voted to provide GCWS with a new permanent home, the former Selby Library building. In December 1997, the city commission reconfirmed its commitment to provide the bay front facility to the science center and a 20-year lease for the building was signed in January 1998. With the lease secured, the board implemented plans for the move to the new facility.
The Board worked with Hands-On, a nationally recognized museum planning company, to create a fresh image for the evolving science center. A new name and logo were chosen and in May 1998 the hands-on science and technology center was reborn as G.WIZ. The $3.5 million 33,000 sq. ft. facility located downtown on Sarasota's bay front was the perfect place for GCWS to be transformed into a world-class science and technology center.
Historic Spanish Point
Over 4,000 years ago, people lived at what is now Historic Spanish Point. Here these early Floridians fished and hunted, made tools from shell, bone and wood, mended their fishing nets, cooked their food and buried their dead. At Historic Spanish Point you will see a burial mound and two middens or shell mound s , which contain the evidence of lives of these early people. The middens were created from shell, bones and other day-to-day accumulations. The unique archaeological exhibition, A Window to the Past located inside the midden, presents what archaeologists have discovered about these early inhabitants.
John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art
The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, which is affiliated with Florida State University , is the largest museum/university complex in the nation. The 66-acre estate is the legacy of John Ringling (1866-1936), one of the great business tycoons of his day. The Museum of Art, recognized as the state art museum of Florida, includes 21 galleries of internationally recognized European and American art with paintings by Rubens, Van Dyck, Poussin and other baroque masters. In addition, the estate encompasses Cà d'Zan, the recently restored 32-room Ringling mansion; the Circus Museum; the Original Asolo theater; the Rose Garden and beautifully landscaped grounds overlooking Sarasota Bay.
Marie Selby Botanical Gardens
Marie Selby donated her Sarasota Bay home and grounds “to provide enjoyment for all who visit the Gardens”. The “Enjoy” website area offers a virtual welcome and overview of the Gardens for worldwide visitors prior to their arrival. Visitors can access individual and group admission, directional, shopping and dining information in this web section.
The Gardens are open daily 10-5, except Christmas.
Members are admitted free, adults $12.00, and children 6 through 11, $6.00. Admission includes all outdoor gardens, Tropical Display House, Plant Shop, Book Shops, and the Tree lab.
All areas of the Gardens are wheelchair accessible. Wheelchairs are available at no extra charge.
From Interstate 75, take Exit 210 (Fruitville Road) formerly Exit 39 and go west about 7 miles all the way to the end; turn left onto U.S. 41; through three sets of traffic lights; slow down and get in the right lane; take the first right on Palm Avenue just after the large curve. The entrance to the Gardens is at the end of the block on the right; parking is across from the entrance.
Mote Marine Laboratory
From its humble beginnings in tiny shed in a small Florida town, Mote Marine Laboratory has expanded to include a 10.5-acre campus in Sarasota, Fla., with field stations and public exhibits in Key West, Summerland Key and Charlotte Harbor. Florida's extensive coastline and marine and estuarine environments have enabled Mote scientists to build a platform of marine research conducted in the nearshore environment.
From the original focus on sharks, Mote research has expanded to include seven major areas of concentration, organized into seven research centers. W hile each center focuses on its own specialty, Mote scientists are able to partner with others within the lab to integrate efforts across a number of fields. This approach has led to discoveries that establish Mote as a global leader in many areas of marine science.
Mote recognizes the importance of advancing the understanding of sea science to the general public. To that end, Mote conducts extensive public outreach and operates a public aquarium that serves nearly 400,000 visitors a year. Mote is one of the few organizations in the world that combines marine research with public outreach through a full-fledged aquarium.
Mote Marine Laboratory is also one of the world's few remaining private marine research laboratories and, as a nonprofit organization, is funded through federal, state and local grants and through the generosity of individual donors and foundations. Over the last five decades, the world has learned many things about its oceans. One lesson has remained constant: There is still much to discover.
Myakka River State Park
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.
Pelican Man's Bird Sanctury
The Pelican Man's Bird Sanctuary is the largest Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Center in Florida. Each year our hospital treats over five thousand sick, injured and orphaned birds, mammals and reptiles. It is also the home of some 275 permanently disabled birds that represent 70 species of Florida's native and migratory birds. The pages in this website will demonstrate the work we do to help save Florida's precious wildlife. Thank you for visiting.
Sarasota Classic Car Museum
- Famous father of CRAZY (like a fox) used car marketing tactics in California in the 1940's
- Mass marketer of black and white televisions – coined the abbreviation “TV”
- Named his daughter “Tee Vee”
- Producer of the first American sports car (‘50-‘54) – the Muntz Jet (precursor to the Corvette)
- A household name, he was a constant joke fodder for Bob Hope, Jack Benny and Red Skelton
- A high-school dropout who became friends with Hollywood stars & MUCH more to some!
- Inventor of the car stereo -- the four-track Muntz Stereo-Pak (precursor to the eight-track!)
- Developer of the Muntz Motor Mansion
- Developer of Muntz Satellite Dishes
- Inventor of Muntz Giant Screen Projection TVs
- Developer of Muntz All-Aluminum Homes
- Winner of the Horatio Alger Award
- And in 1987, at the time of his death, he was the top retailer, in L.A., of cellular phones
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.
Originally, the land was a swampy banana grove listed in the city records as "an impenetrable swamp". A local newspaperman, David Breed Lindsay, purchased these 10 lush acres in the early 1930's with plans to develop the virgin subtropical jungle into a botanical garden.
Pearson Conrad, was a friend of David Breed Lindsay. He owned an adjacent nursery and shared Lindsay's dream. Conrad charted streams, planned the lakes and provided many additional plantings from his nursery.
Green thumbs intact, they brought in thousands of tropical plants, trees and flowers from all over the world. These flourish harmoniously with native species. All of the numerous plants today are dispersed throughout the various areas of the Park, Gardens of Christ, open lagoons, Tiki Garden and within our dense forested jungle. Some of our prized possessions include the rare Australian Nut Tree, a Bunya Bunya tree, the largest Norfolk Island pine in Florida, Bulrush, Strangler Figs, Royal Palms, Selloums, Banana Trees, Peruvian Apple Cactus, Staghorn Ferns and native Red Maples, Oak Trees and Bald Cypress.
In 1936, noticing that a number of people were wandering through the jungle, Lindsay and Conrad established an admission fee of 10 cents for children and 35 cents for adults. It was decided in December of 1940 to open Sarasota Jungle Gardens as a special place for local enthusiasts and tourists. In 1958, Eldon R. Lindsey, of Atlanta, purchased the property. In 1965, Dr. George Baughman, the first president of Sarasota's New College bought the attraction, which was then sold to Arthur C. Allyn ( a previous owner of the Chicago White Sox) in 1971.
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