I love flowers. I love museums. So when I heard that Sarasota’s Ringling Museum of Art having a special four-day exhibit (“Ringling in Bloom”, Feb. 3—6) showcasing 24 floral arrangements inspired by the masterpieces, I was instantly intrigued. The results blew me away — the effect was amazing, as it felt like the art had […]

I took that photo of the beach at Siesta Key, FL, on Monday, May 31st. As you can see,the water is still clean, clear and gorgeous. (For the record, those are people's heads you see in the water — not tar balls or oil balls.) In fact, I wish I was still there right now… […]

I planned my trip to Sarasota, FL, several weeks before the BP oil spill in the Gulf on Mexico. Every time I'd been to Sarasota, it was too cold to enjoy the beach but I figured that it should finally be warm enough on Memorial Day Weekend. Well, now I wasn't worried about the weather […]

Sarasota, FL, is the ultimate circus town. After all, John Ringling (of the Ringling Bros. Circus) was instrumental in transforming Sarasota from a sleepy fishing village to one of the Southeast’s most culturally rich cities, and The Ringling Museum of Art is one of the region’s best museums. So, it was no surprise that Circus […]

Today in Sarasota, FL, it was 65F and sunny. This is my third visit and this is the warmest weather I’ve ever experienced here. Normally, 65F is not the kind of weather you celebrate in Florida. But when the sun was beating down on my bare arms at Bradenton Beach (pictured above) this afternoon, I […]

This evening I arrived in Sarasota, FL, where I’ll be spending the weekend with my family. On the way in from the airport, I was happy to see my favorite statue, Unconditional Surrender, which is based on the famous 1945 photograph “The Kiss at Times Square”. I’m not quite sure what our plans are for […]

Last week, I wrote about the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, FL. While the botanical gardens were very nice and made for a lovely afternoon, I was disappointed by the lack of flowers due to the year (although there were gorgeous orchids). But I would be remiss not to the mention what is easily […]

Before I left Sarasota last week, I paid a visit to the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. Because of the time of year, there were hardly any flowers in bloom throughout the grounds — 99% of the flowers I saw there were inside the Tropical Display House, which is the first stop in the gardens so […]