Hello and happy Tuesday! After a lovely holiday weekend, it’s back to normal life today.
Ryan and I celebrated Memorial Day with my in-laws which meant that lots of yummy drinks and indulgent dishes were consumed.
After a morning workout with Ryan and his dad, Ryan and I drove to my mother-in-law’s house in Sarasota to enjoy a delicious spread of hot dogs, corn-on-the-cob, baked beans, pea salad, fruit salad, fresh cherries and a chopped salad.
Plus lots of chips and dip and deviled eggs to start!
Les + Bernie (Both veterans!)
Ryan’s mom and grandmother live less than five minutes from each other, so it’s always such a treat to be able to see both of them when we come to visit.
They’re two of my favorite women and always greet us with enthusiastic smiles on their faces!
Our time at my mother-in-law’s house passed by a little too quickly, and right after we dug into some dessert (ice box cake for me!), we headed out to meet up with my father-in-law at The Ringling.
The Ringling
Ryan and I have walked the grounds of the museum before and enjoyed the gorgeous gardens, but this was my first time visiting the art museum and the circus museum located on the campus.
As you can tell by the map in my hands, The Ringling is quite large!
The Ringling is named after John Ringling, the art collector, financier and famous circus owner. John and his wife Mable bought property in Sarasota in 1911 and in 1927 moved the winter quarters of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circuses to Florida. The Ringling’s winter residence and art museum were left to the state of Florida upon John’s death and now The Ringling includes a library, theatre and circus museum. (It’s also now one of the largest college art complexes in the United States.)
Ryan’s dad, Ryan and I had plans to check out the art museum and circus museum before dinner and had a great time exploring.
Our first stop took us to the art museum which is free to the public on Mondays. When I first graduated college, I worked in the public relations and marketing department of the Orlando Museum of Art, and I feel like I now notice so much more than I used to when I visit art museums. The Ringling’s collection of European art is quite impressive.
There were three traveling exhibitions at The Ringling while we were there and my favorite was an exhibition dedicated to art forgery. It was fascinating and I highly recommend checking it out if you live in the area and like art.
After our time at the art museum, the three of us walked to the circus museum which is home to banners, costumes, wagons and memorabilia documenting the history of the circus.
Our first stop inside the museum took us to the Tibbals Learning Center which is home to the Howard Bros. Circus Model, the world’s largest miniature circus.
My picture doesn’t even begin to capture the incredible expanse of the miniature circus. It is so detailed and I enjoyed reading all of the plaques in front of the display and learning more about the circus. I was reminded a lot of the book Water for Elephants and wish the museum had more information on the treatment of the circus animals (which obviously concerns me a lot) and the conditions of the railcars since I think that’s an important part of the history of the traveling circus. (When I asked a woman working at the museum if this was intentionally not shared, she didn’t seem to know.)
The museum seems like it would be a fun place to bring kids since one of the galleries included a lot of interactive activities that allowed you to try to walk on a tightrope (on the ground), balance on a plastic horse (again, quite close to the ground) and blast pieces of foam out of a play cannon.
Of course Ryan and I are two big children, so we participated in all of the activities.
We left The Ringling right as it was closing at 5 p.m. and agreed it was a great way to spend Memorial Day.
I hope you guys had a relaxing day with loved ones!
See ya after lunch!
P.S. HAPPY 85th BIRTHDAY to my grandma, Mimi!!!
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Looks like a great weekend and that spread at your mother-in-law’s is amazing!
That sounds so fun! And yes the food this weekend was incredible but gosh our spread sounded like yours and I have had quite the stomachache ever since but not a thing I ate is regretted haha
You are Ryan are so blessed to have Grandma’s in your life!!! I wish mine were still with us. But one lived well into her late 90’s.
Ringling is so much fun, brings out the kid in you. Love the Sarasota area. I try to avoid the outlet mall though, too tempting for me.
It’s such a treat to spend Memorial Day with family, especially veterans!
Julie,
If you enjoyed Water for Elephants, if you haven’t already, check out The Night Circus.
http://erinmorgenstern.com/the-night-circus/
I read Erin’s letter to readers in store and immediately had to purchase the book.
Its an incredibly quick read, and a great story!
I loved that book, too!!
What a fun weekend! Glad you guys got some quality time with family. Also, where is your dress from?! (You had to have known that question was coming. Ha! ;)) It’s so cute!
BCBG but I got it on RueLaLa 🙂
Even though I grew up in Southwest Florida I never went to the Ringling museum. It looks beautiful. My favorite Florida museum is the Dali in St. Pete. Did you ever check that one out?
No and I regret it! I need to go back!
Happy birthday to your Mimi!
What a fun way to spend your Memorial Day!! The Ringling sounds like a lot of fun!! And wow, I never thought I’d say this about deviled eggs, but those look so pretty!!
That looks like a great weekend with lots of delicious food! The museum looks like a lot of fun too, especially the biggest miniature circus!
Your post is great timing! We are headed down to visit my mom and sister in Sarasota this week. I really want to visit the Ringling museum. I was worried that it may not be too kid-friendly (I have an 8 year old and twin 5 year old boys)…but glad to hear that the Tibbals Learning Center is a fun place to bring the kids! We’re staying on Longboat Key…so we’ll have to check out Euphemia Haye on “date night” too! Thanks for the tips 🙂 Glad that you had a nice Memorial Day with your in-laws!
I think they will love the interactive part of the circus museum!
Wow sounds like a busy and packed Memorial Day! Nothing better than lots of family around you 🙂
Memorial Day eats are SO hard to avoid! Those deviled eggs look amazing though – I’ve been CRAVING them lately!
I have actually visited the Ringling museum when I was in town for a wedding. I found it incredibly interesting and had no clue what circus life was really like and what it took to put on a show.
So fun!! That museum looks like so much fun, glad you enjoyed your holiday weekend!
Happy Birthday, Mimi! Ya little youngster!
That sounds like it was a super fun place to go!
Happy Bday to Mimi!
I like visiting museums!! It’s refreshing and there is always something new to learn 😀
I just love a good BBQ! To this day, I’m not quite sure what an ice cream box cake is.
Pretty pictures! Looks like you had a fun weekend. I LOVE your blue dress.
What a fun weekend! I feel like it’s always hard to get back to every day life after a holiday ha!
I’ve been to that museum, and loved it! definitely a great place to check out in the area 😀
I didn’t know there was a Ringling Museum! My great-grandma used to be in the Ringling Bros. Circus! Hopefully some day I’ll be able to check out the museum.
Love your cross necklace! where is it from?
What a super packed and fun weekend. I am looking forward to our trip this summer to visit family and this museum will have to be put on the list.
What is pea salad?
Looks like an awesome holiday celebration with tasty treats!