Sarasota

I have never been to Sarasota Florida until this weekend. I needed a vacation to get away and thought Sarasota sounded like a place to go. Wow, I was surprised by the history that is found on the gulf coast.
The first place I went to visit was the John and Mable Ringling mansion. It was spectacular. I went inside and it's just one of those places you need to visit for yourself.
This is a picture of the outside of the mansion:

I also went across the causeway to see the part of town that John Ringling developed. He planned the entire subdivision. It had a center and then was divided into housing and commercial. It was a nice plan but because of the war and depression there was no money left to develop the area. In later years Ringling's plans were finally developed and it is now a booming part of Longboat Bay.
One of the most amazing sites I saw was a statute called, "Unconditional Surrender". It was taken from a portrait that was taken in New York's Time Square at the end of WWII. It was about 30 feet tall and was breathtaking and made me feel thankful again for all those that gave up so much for our freedom.
It started raining on Saturday so I didn't get to see a lot of the beach but I did get a couple of pictures of people still running and walking along the beach.
As I was driving around I noticed a long line into a little cafe called "Blue Dolphin Cafe" so of course I drove around the block and came back to see what was going on. I was able to get in and sit at the counter and ordered a seafood omlette. Yummy! it had crab, shrimp, Monterrey jack cheese, spinach and onions. It was delicious and it also came with an English muffin, fruit and home fries. I couldn't eat it all but I do recommend this place for breakfast or lunch.
Well, as you can see I tried to relax but I didn't get a lot of homework done.