Channelside

In Tampa, we spent a few hours at Channelside.  This area is a lot busier during tourist season, when cruise ships are docked.  There are lots of unique shops to visit, the Florida Aquarium, and the Amalie Stadium is right next door.

We spent some time in the shops, and toured the area.  We'll have to go back to see the Aquarium and try a few of the other restaurants.  One of the girls working in a store gave us a list of things to check out in the area- so we'll have to do those soon!

We ate dinner at a Mexican restaurant, and it was delicious!  It has started "cooling off" in Florida (80s, but without the humidity), so sitting on the patio and eating was perfect.

So appropriate after our stint in PR! ;)

After dinner we stopped at Wet Willie's.  KC was fascinated by this place!  It's like a yogurt store, but for adults- they have all different types of frozen drinks on tap.  You get to sample, and choose your favorite. :)

We shared our drink, and walked around the complex for a while.  The Amalie Arena's owner just bought this property, and we think it'll be a really cool place when it's hopping again!

The Ringling

The Ringling was something we heard about from Grandma Pauline, and checked out on Trip Advisor.  It looked interesting so we headed to Sarasota to visit.

The complex was large, and there were multiple buildings to see.  We started in the circus museum.  There were many artifacts and items from the circus, and we learned a lot of facts and information we didn't know.

When you walked into one area of the museum, you were greeted with this!  A replica of what the circus had looked like.  It included all the trains, tents, and people involved.  This sight was so amazing, and unexpected.  A huge room was filled with this miniature replica.  The detail, thought, and attention that went into this can only truly be appreciated in person.

Upstairs there were pictures, and a timeline of circus history.  There were also many videos you could watch, and helpful staff around to tell you a story about the Ringlings.

We're both not a fan of clowns!

Next, we went to an area filled with circus memorabilia and experiments.  You could try out tight rope walking, shooting items out of a cannon, and more.  

Mad skills ;)

Near the tightrope exhibit, there was information about the Wallenda family, and one of their performing outfits.  KC got to relive her short brush with fame- when the Wallenda family came to the Anoka County Fair, and she got to spend time in their trailer, and got a tiger whisker from them.  Thanks Dad!

After that, we went to the older circus museum.  Here were were able to see old cages and boxcars.  The intricacies and time dedicated to these boxcars were amazing.  The Ringling family train is also in this museum along with a replica of what circus camps used to be like.

Then we toured the Ca d'Zan Mansion.  John and Mabel Ringling built this house in Sarasota in the 20s because they thought Sarasota was going to become the next big vacation destination.   It's quite the place!

When you have enough money, the Prohibition doesn't apply to you!

Lastly, we toured the gigantic art museum.  John Ringling amassed many pieces of art, and they are housed in this building.

The Dali

We visited The Dali Museum in St. Petersburg.  The building's architecture was pretty amazing!!

First, we saw the M.C. Escher exhibit.  The pieces were so intricate, and you could stare at some of the tesselations for a long time.  (No photography was allowed- so these are some of the pieces we saw taken from google images.)

Then we toured the permanent Salvador Dali collection.  One of the most interesting pieces was this one- when you first looked you could only see his wife in the middle.  Then, when you walked about 20 feet back you could see Abraham Lincon's face- such a cool trick! 

Photograph of Dali painting

His largest paintings were so eye catching, and full of things happening- these are few of our favorite ones.  

Next, we toured the grounds and walked around the art festival.  There was a bus that you could paint, painted cars, and lots of other artsy vendors.  

After that, we walked around downtown St. Petersburg.  The downtown area has recently been redone, and it had a ton of outside eating areas, and lots of restaurants and shops.

We stopped for ice cream and water, since it was a steamy day- you know the essentials!