Ringling Museum -- Sarasota, Florida

February 14, 2012

John and Mable Ringling built a winter mansion in Sarasota and the complex has been turned into several attractions.  One of the first is the circus museum.

 

Inside is a mammoth collection of miniature circus exhibits.

 

Many small video screens show film footage of the activities under the tent.  This is the farrier area where horseshoes are fitted and applied.   

As many as 10,000 workers traveled on the railroad cars along with wagons, tents, animals and food.  The Ringlings, however traveled on this special car with staterooms, kitchen, dining room, and a parlor.

The trains are shown traveling through a city in this diorama.

Some of the life-size exhibits included replicas and actual items from the circus.

Joan was particularly fascinated by the decorated wheels on the wagons.

 These banners flanked the midway.  (They were shot in groups and compiled into a panoramic photo using the Zoner program which can be downloaded from Tucows.com.)


John Ringling's Ca d'Zan Mansion was a short walk from the big top museum and the back faces Sarasota Bay.

This opulent Ventian-style building is huge and impressive.

 

Sarasota County Beach House

February 11, 2012

We are spending a few weeks at this beautiful home on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. 

This photo was taken a few feet from the gentle waves hitting the shore day and night.

The house and surroundings provide many photo opportunities...

...and plenty of chairs to watch Joan at work!

 Crab boats come close to shore to harvest the traps.

This bird didn't mind sharing the beach as it waded through the surf.

 

Spectacular sunset shots over the gulf were available most evenings.

Georgia Aquariun

February 10, 2012

 

 The Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta is an outstanding experience and is reported to be the world's largest.

The following photos show a selection of some of the exhibits.

This shark is a few feet from the glass separating us.  

The size of the deep-water fish dwarfs these women.

The skate swims so quickly that it's difficult to focus and shoot the camera.

It's easy to miss the yellow sea horses in this colorful coral reef.

If you got close enough, you could see the only color of this albino alligator -- its eyes.

The animal lacks a gene that provides color.  Its eyes appear red because of the blood in the eyes.

These vicious piranha fish can devour an animal in a short time.

Colorful tropical fish swim among live plants.

Eels swim around looking for something to eat.

Jelly fish look colorful and move at a gentle pace but contain
powerful and painful toxins that can kill other living beings.

Frogs of many colors, from tiny to large -- some poisonous -- are kept in natural habitats.

Viewing the fish from the bottom level through the clear water gives the feeling that we were with them.

 The extraordinary backdrop provides many photo opportunities.

The dolphin show was an entertaining exhibition of aquatic mammals and humans interacting in a musical aquatic ballet in a 30' deep tank.  Photography was prohibited but the Georgia Aquarium web site has a few videos that present good background descriptions.  See it at:

http://www.georgiaaquarium.org/dolphin-tales/

For more information, check out this site:  http://www.georgiaaquarium.org/explore-the-aquarium/