Manatee Lake SRA, Bradenton,FL: Back to the Ringling Museums this morning after stopping at Waffle House for breakfast. We signed up for both the regular tour of the mansion and a private tour of their personal quarters. Besides the mansion, there are also two circus museums and the art museum which houses John and Mabel Ringling’s fantastic art collection. This collection is valued among the top 20 museum collections in the United States. And the historic Asolo Theater is one of the most important architectural works of art ever brought to America. Created in Asolo, Italy, in 1798, the palace playhouse was first remodeled in 1857. In the 1930s, the Ringling’s first director purchased the artifact for the Museum. We toured the circus museums first. One housed a huge model of a circus (occupies 3800 sq. ft.) which took more than 50 years to create. The other circus museum housed the private Pullman car used by John and Mabel Ringling. They sure traveled in style. We started our docent-led tour of the mansion at 1:15 and then took another docent-led tour of the more “private” places in their home. It was a great tour of this fantastic mansion. This beautiful “winter home” was designed after the Venetian palaces they saw in their many travels to Italy—and specifically to Venice. After the tour of the mansion we had lunch at the Banyon Café on the grounds and then toured the art museum which houses the Ringling’s huge art collection. A great day.

Pronounced cah-de-zahn, which is Venetian for "house of John"

(you know you've arrived when your house has a name)

Facade on the Bay side

Main entrance where visitors would be greeted after being driven from the railroad station by one of the Ringling's four Bentleys or four Rolls Royces.

One of the banyon trees--a gift from Thomas Edison

Roses from Mabel's rose garden of over 1000 plants

Bronze statue of David--cast from the original--what a butt!!

Ringling Art Museum

This marble boat dock is where they kept John's yachts and Mabel's Venetian gondola