we "walk the walk"

LOL- so to speak...  So last night CBGB came down and the four of us headed out to the Wine Walk to Ca d'Zan.  Phil and I had gone last year on a very busy Friday night just after we closed on our condo and really enjoyed ourselves. So this year we invited CBGB and we made a foursome...

the event is simple- wines from many countries/foods from many countries and a lovely setting alongside Sarasota Bay as the sun goes down...

the little passport has all the wines and foods listed in for planning your "trip" around the estate-

so we stopped in for sea bass and empanadas at the Chile/Argentina station and sushi and sake at the Japan station.... terrine and tenderloin pizzas at the California/Oregon one and salumi at the Italy stop--- then topped it all off with tenderloin from a carvery station at the VIP tent- then we walked to the Terrace to sit for a bit to end the evening-

the layout had been altered this year due to very heavy threats of rain and we liked the one from last year a bit better but the rain held off and we enjoyed the evening despite the changes necessitated by the threatening weather...

up next for us- a week of farewell touring for Phil (read - we go to all his favorite restaurants one last time before he heads north)

up next for me- the Sarasota Film Festival where I have tickets for five films.

Also 4000 Miles at the Asolo with Georgia (in the historic Asolo Theater) and lots of cleaning and putting away at the condo- for the summer away. And finally, once it has really actually warmed up - the girls and I will head home for the summer.

we have lots to catch up on at home (Ed's Potsticker House soup dumplings! for one example) and we have theater tickets for four plays and a concert and a Goosefoot dinner - in the first two and a half weeks after I am home.  Then, before we know it, we are off to France with CBGB for our barge trip with our friend Captain Anna! Lots of fun in store for us this summer, including a trip to the Maritime Provinces for an "Epicurean Adventure" LOL- sounds delicious!!! Stay tuned for more details.

it's sooo livable

but then again- isn't every 30,000 square foot house? LOL

the home was built in the twenties for 1.5 million- a lot of money at the time- but it was done in a mere two years- which is astounding!

much of the decorating was Mabel Ringling's own design and of course they were filling both the home and their personal art museum with things purchased on numerous European trips (where they also were interviewing circus acts!- what a life!)

he was a real estate magnate along with the circus business and many other investments - and at one time was among the top ten wealthiest men in the country-

but let's get to the house- the morning Lynn and I went was perfect blue sky weather heading to a warm afternoon...

coming up from land side towards the house-

time has made some changes and this piece of statuary has been mostly swallowed by the banyan-

a side door to the ball room from the terrace

details of the terracotta work-

and inside view looking out at the bay from the ball room-

the "grand court" ceiling- and skylight- the wood work is all pecky cypress

the living room-

the lounge

dining room - could hold up to twenty two at the table between the dining room and entry area which adjoined the dining room-

butler's pantry

kitchen area

wine "attic" - the storage was on the third floor-

a shelf in the master bedroom held this cover of time-

 

the master bedroom



clothes from the closet in the master bedroom-

John's bathtub one solid piece of Sienna marble!

one of the guest rooms

a guest bath (one of 15 bathrooms - about half were in the staff's quarters)

the game room on the third floor- with the ceiling painted in fresco including a painting of Mabel and John in Carnivale costume- keeping with the venetian theme of the house-

view of the grand court from the third floor game room-

the views from the tower-

the view from the tower was magnificent! and as we headed to Treviso to meet Phil for lunch we discussed what their lives must have been like- the parties, the travel, the servants (who lived quite well in their 15,000 square foot quarters) - certainly of a bygone era.... but very livable! LOL!

in reverse order

I am soooo far behind on the blog posts- I do apologize and assure you I will get back to China- but before that I will do the UL Lafayette course we took the first week of December on Cajun history and culture... and even before that a post or two on the second week of December which we spent with our friend Lynn visiting.

She was going to drive down with me (and the cats) in November but conflicts in schedule proved providential in that she arrived here for a week of glorious weather here and horrid weather back in Chicago...

So I met her two hour delayed flight and we walked out into late afternoon sunshine and warm temperatures- rough life- LOL... we headed home- got her settled in and popped some champagne while deciding about where to go for dinner.  It had to be someplace we could eat outside so we picked the porch at The Waterfront.

the next day we went down memory lane (for me) and headed to the Sarasota jungle Gardens (which I actually have no memory of but do have photos of me squinting into the sun, at about age nine or so, with a giant bird on my arm from there and I know when we were kids we would visit there pretty much every time we were down here on AMI (Anna Maria Island)...

so we saw the cheesy but cute bird show and some reptiles and a few flamingos and called it for what it was "old time tourist attraction" of the style TB and I run into all the time on the DART (disappearing America road trip) adventures...

a few photos? I know you are dying to see the place- LOL

Below is Frosty - a long time celebrity who is now 77 years old! He performed his unicycle act on Ed Sullivan waaaay back in the late 60's - got love the old guy- still plugging away at it... he was seriously cute and charming!

a closer shot of Frosty

the map of the gardens- which were more jungle than garden- LOL

some of the non-performing birds hanging out (you can have your photo taken with them for a fee...)

one of a few reptiles they had on display - a few baby alligators - LOL... slim pickings

by the time we got to the Flamingo area the over head sun washed out the pink so you can see their beautiful color much better in reflection than in the direct light-

we met Phil for lunch at Landside so we could eat on the deck outside-

the next day we reserved the tour of the house and private spaces at the Ringling mansion- that will be a separate post as I have lots of good camera based photos (versus cell phone ones) but meanwhile- we also made time to get to the beach and do some shelling- and to stop at the salvage yard (better known as the Sea Hagg) to peruse the junk on offer there!

the water at the beach was still warm so we took off our shoes and rolled up our pant legs to go wading in the crystal clear water-

 

at the beach we saw a pod of six or seven dolphins swimming by following a huge school of fish and of course the terns (black skimmers) were close at hand! so many fish so little time! LOL

We ate outside on the porch at Linger Lodge and our favorite sandwich place (Casa de Pizza- LOL) and got stone crab at Moore's and before you knew it the week was over! boo hoo!  So I took Lynn back to the airport and sent her on her way to the cold white north- it had just snowed the night before in Chicago and was hovering in the teens.  I drove back home in the sunshine... I know- it is mean but sometimes I can't help but gloat.... the morning at the beach was just perfect- the jumping dolphins the warm water and sunshine on the white sand made the blue sky seem even bluer!

stay warm! the next post will be Ringling and then we will head back in time to the Cajun week....