FL Day 5 - Circuses, Sea Haggs, and Some Finger Lickin' Good Ribs

Today started with a light breakfast and coffee at the Green Cup Cafe in Fort Myers. It's a cute little cafe specializing in healthy, locally sourced meals and drinks. I'm usually a little weary of "health" food, but the coffee was unusually good for a standard cup. I also got a very good gluten free muffin, which was just as good as any gluten packed muffin.

After breakfast, we got sidetracked by a small art gallery next to the cafe called Another Time. They specialized in lots of steampunk styled pieces, gears everywhere. I was surprised by how much my dad liked it in there. I guess my love of weird art and antiques had to come from somewhere. My dad was really into all the weird clocks, but my personal favorite thing there was a lamp made to look like an old diving helmet.

From there, we made our way to Sarasota to see the Ringling Museum. I had no idea what I was in store for. The former estate of John Ringling, one of the eponymous Ringling Bros., the Ringling now contains two circus museums, an art museum, lush gardens, and Ca' d' Zan, the exorbitant home of John and Mabel Ringling designed by Dwight James Baum. I expected one circus museum, because that's what my dad remembered from when he went with my siblings about 19 years ago so everything else was a real treat. An inside tour of Ca' d'Zan would have cost extra but admission still covered three museums and the garden so I felt like it was a still quite the deal. Especially since it was only $5 for students. Thank goodness I held on to that ID and still look like a child.

We started by going to the circus museum which had a big collection of vintage circus posters (surprisingly impressive works of art), artifacts from different classic performers, a timeline of circus history, and interactive exhibits to give you better pictures of what actually goes into a lot of the stunts. I know the Ringling Bros. Circus recently declared it's end due to animal rights complaints and low attendance, but taking a step back in time you can see what a magical thing it must have been to see all these artists, acrobats, and animals from around the world in the days before televisions and computers could let you see all that from your house. Things like animal abuse, worker abuse, and characters reliant on racial stereotypes are all unfortunate parts of circus history (broadly speaking, not just for Ringling Bros.), but it was also one of the most important hubs for human creativity, ingenuity, and diversity for much of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This is all made for a very complex and interesting history to wade into, and, while it leaned more into celebratory aspects (which, to be fair, makes sense), I found the museum to be fascinating and full of interesting and wonderful things.

One of the things my dad and I liked best was a giant model replica of a town being visited by a circus, complete with different tents, little posters, dressing rooms, and of course a circus train. I think for my dad in particular it brought back a lot of memories.

In terms of artifacts for actual performers, I thought the most impressive thing was a clown car used by the famous clown Lou Jacobs. The fully functional little car only measured twenty three inches in length, which somehow the six-foot-one Lou was able to contort himself into. They had videos of him doing it underneath the car and it was just incredible to witness something so seemingly impossible.

Speaking of seemingly impossible, they also had a video of the very aptly named Crazy Wilson doing a stunt called the Wheel of Death. I have no idea how you ever learn that you can do something like this:

After the circus museum, we went to the Old Circus Museum which was smaller but more spacious so they had a lot of the really big ticket items like a human cannonball car, a circus train and actual tent sized posters for the "freak show". They also had a special exhibit all about the Ceicille B. DeMille film, The Greatest Show on Earth, which featured Charleston Heston, Betty Hutton, actual Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey circus performers, and Jimmy Stewart dressed like a clown.

After the double dose of circus museums, my dad and I walked around the gardens of the shockingly large estate clowns and elephants built. The big highlights from the grounds for me were getting to see the outside of Ca' d'Zan, Mabel Ringling's rose garden, and the family burial plot. Surprisingly much fewer rings of fire in that last one.

Next up came the Art Museum, which started as the private art collection of the Ringlings but has expanded to include new acquisitions, a modern art wing, and a center for Asian Art.

We started out in the Searing Wing which features the special exhibits, the modern art, and something Joseph's Coat. Rather than a coat, this incredible piece of art is a 24 foot square aperture in the roof of a room which is rigged with LED lights to change colors at sunset to play with your perception of the sky itself. It's about as cool as a big hole gets without being the Grand Canyon.

Most of this wing didn't allow photography, but I was able to find some decent pictures online of my favorite works from this wing: Tom Wesselman's Great American Nude #74 and Trenton Doyle Hancock's Knowledge from Samantha. They both had a good mix of surrealist and pop art vibes which I was really into.

One of the special exhibits was on the photography of Alfred Eisenstaedt, one of Life Magazine's first photojournalist. These beautiful black and white photos captured so many different important moments from the first half of the 20th century with artistry and wit. My favorites (which I found online lest a museum official sees this and think I snapped pics where pics were not to be snapped) included a dancing chimpanzee from the Tarzan films, Hitler meeting Mussolini, the Emperor of Ethiopia Haile Sellassie I with a really big umbrella, and my personal favorite entitled Harry Truman's Boyhood Teachers After Learning He Was President.

The next special exhibit was all about different approaches to photography of War in the Middle East. Suzanne Opton took very intimate portraits of soldiers between tours of duty; my favorite Jenneifer Krady took beautifully staged photographs of images from war encroaching on actual soldier's homes to represent the intrusive thoughts of PTSD; Palestinian photojournalist Eman Mohammed took photos right from the heart of war torn Middle Eastern villages and cities; and the last photography exhibit paired contemporary photos of soldiers in Afghanistan by Simon Norfolk with photographs from the Second Anglo-Afghan War by John Burke between 1878-1880 showing how alarmingly little has changed in regards to Anglo-American interference in the region for the past 140 years. This exhibit was really impressive, but emotionally draining because you see how damaging war is from every angle. There's really no such thing as winners, but the photographs of children in war zones were particularly gut punches that make you realize just how lucky the majority of us are to not have war be a part of daily lives when so many people don't really have any choice in the matter.

Because I was starting to get too choked up, we thought after that exhibit it might be nice to take a little break and walk outside and see the sculpture garden. The little courtyard had lots of palm trees and replicas of famous sculptures including the David, who has to be the world's most famous naked man.

After the fresh air, we went to the main wing which featured many of the original works from the Ringling Art Collection, and also allowed photography again. Most of the works from the first few galleries featured works from the Renaissance, Medieval Europe, and the Dutch Masters.

While most of the works were incredibly beautiful, I would also like to highlight these paintings featuring a strange turtle/gorilla/man, an absurdly long-bodied baby, and a painting of Cupid touching Venus' ass while also turning to stare directly into your soul.

One of the highlight from this wing of the main museum were some of the largest oil paintings ever produced by the workshop of Peter Paul Rubens. I was particularly fond of the wonderfully insane painting The Triumph of Divine Love (left) which features multiple cherubim one of which is riding a lion and one of which is full on kissing an adult woman on the lips.

Next up came the modern art, but all from periods where Ringling would have been alive so not particularly contemporary. This was still my favorite gallery in the main museum though. I was most surprised to see early paintings by Marcel Duchamp, one of the founding fathers of the Dada movement. These impressionist works look more like things that Monet would have made rather than the guy who submitted a urinal he bought to a fancy gallery.

Other highlights from this more modernist gallery were the Sirens by Edward Burne-Jones, Bathers by Jon Corbino, a really beautiful painting by Carl Marr called The Mystery of Life (probably because the original name Assuerus, the Wandering Jew didn't age well even though it's a real character from the Bible), a painting of an Indian encampment by Albert Bierstadt (one of the first notable painters of American landscapes and also one of my dad's favorites, who's to say what's the bigger accomplishment), and lastly a truly bizarre piece called Ready to Go On by Walt Kuhn featuring a man with a really big head and a hippopotamus.

From there the museum just kept going, with a gallery of sculptures and the complete salon from the Astor Mansion in New York which was bid on in an auction by the Ringlings and moved down the Eastern seaboard and was reassembled back in Florida.

After that extravagant display of wealth came more paintings from Italy, Spain, France, and the Netherlands. I was really happy to see a 15 painting collection of paintings called the Disguises of Harlequin by Giovanni Dominco Ferretti. It only seems fitting that an art museum founded by a Circus director should have some of the earliest representations of a clown-like figure. My favorite from the batch was one called Harlequin as Painter, because you know that royal figure isn't gonna enjoy the prank.

Other highlights from this wing included a far too extravagant cabinet embossed with paintings by Franz Francken, a similarly ornate harpsichord by Claude Jacquet, and a series of giant landscape paintings by the wonderfully named Juriaan Andriessen (featuring my oblivious father).

Next up came the Center for Asian Art (at this point it should be noted that we spent over three hours on this estate). We started by looking at early examples of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Earthenware and decorative arts.

My favorites from this wing were a Korean wedding chest which featured really beautiful inlaid mother of pearl figures which I really ruined with the glare from my camera (click to zoom in on it for a better look), and a series of figurines of the Chinese zodiac where for whatever reason the Ox was way better preserved than everything else.

Next up came the contemporary works from Asia (including Southeast Asia). My favorites from this selection included a hilarious photo entitled Mirror:The Ringling by Li Wei, a cubist painting by Maqbool Fida Husain called that Obscure Object of Desire, a painting by Jagannath Panda combining modernist styles and traditional Indian imagery, and a giant Gummy Bear by Arunkumar HG.

I also got this great picture of my dad presumably saying, "Yup, that's art alright"

Lastly before we departed, we realized that we somehow just walked by a giant sculpture installation of all the heads of the Chinese Zodiace made by artist and activist Ai Weiwei

Because we didn't realize we'd be spending so much time at the RIngling, by the time we got out we were both hankering for some lunch and I was in dire need of some more coffee. We killed two birds with one stone by going to a bookstore/cafe called Shelf Indulgence. We were initially suckered in by the punny name but we stuck around for the good art on the walls, the friendly ownership, and some cool books to flip through.

I also got a homemade bbq chicken sandwich and an iced coffee, both of which were pretty tasty. Much much better than a Barnes and Noble Starbucks.

Properly fueled up to get back on the road, we went to a place called the Sea Hagg in Bradenton, a nautical themed curiosity shop. Sculptures of mermaids, hunky mermen, pirates, and weird fish with legs abound. We were only allowed to take photos outside where all the folk art sculptures and stuff were, but inside there was tons of antiques and oddities ranging from sea glass to shark's teeth to strange oil paintings. I bought my cousin a beer coozie that said Sea Hagg on it because that's what her older brothers used to call her growing up because that is what older brothers are for.

While we were in Bradenton, we tried to find where my grandparents used to lived when they moved down here to retire. I was very young when we visited them so I don't remember much other than my grandfather raising me up to pick oranges from tree. I used to call him the Juice Man because he made his own OJ. I also used to call Darth Vader the Juice Man because he was on the Pepsi box. I was a weird kid.

All those orange juice related memories made us want to go the Tropicana Factory which also happened to be in Bradenton but when we got there it was closed so all we got was this sad photo from the parking lot.

From there, we went to Tampa, where I would be saying goodbye to my dad in the morning. Until then though we decided to make the most of our one night there. We started off in Ybor City, a neighborhood in Tampa famous for its nightlife, its cigars, and being one of the first southern cities owned and operated primarily by immigrants. Our first stop there was our third odd curiosity and arts shop of the day, Dysfunctional Grace Art. Co. They claim to be the only shop in the area "where death and dysfunction dance in a graceful ballet". They had a really odd range of items from taxidermy giraffes to jackalope skeletons to a fake alien in a casket to antique dentist drills and homemade ouija boards.

My favorite things there though were taxidermy frogs and toads drinkin' and shootin' pool and a preserved "huge ass beetle". That's just good scientific classification.

We weren't quite in the mood for dinner yet so we decided to drink ourselves an appetite at Tampa Bay Brewing Company. I got a flight of their Jack the Quaffer porter, their Moosekiller Barleywine, a Guava Belgian Strong Ale, and Nevin's Sorrow, a barrel aged blend of imperial stout and barleywine. I liked the porter most and the barleywine was good on its own, but I really didn't like the Nevin's sorrow. It was just too strange a combination even for me. The guava ale was also weird but in a way I found more enjoyable.

After our drinks, we went to a place recommended to us by the cashier of the Dysfunctional Grace Art Co. called Al's Finger Lickin' Good BBQ. She did not steer us astray. It turns out Al's has been frequently ranked as one of the BBQ places in all of Florida. Tonight was also Mac and Cheese night, and it must have been pretty damn good because by the time we got there they were all sold out. I got a quarter slab of ribs with two sides. Without the mac and cheese, I got yellow rice and baked beans. I don't know what the heck kind of sauce they baked the beans in but my dad and I both agreed we'd never had better even after a few decades in Beantown. The ribs were also incredible, easily the best I've had outside of Memphis. The sauce was sweet and savory, the meat was slow cooked in a pit right outside the restaurant, and it was fall off the bone tender. My dad didn't get ribs but he sure wished he had after even just smelling mine. He hasn't been to Memphis, so for him it was the best BBQ he'd had ever had. To top it all off, the men and women behind the counter were about as nice as could be and we had a time comparing Boston winters to the cold spell they'd been having down here. I think we won in terms of bad weather. It was a pretty great way to end the day and to send my dad off in style.

Favorite Random Sightings: The Lucky Screw; The Men's Room Barber Shop; Hamburger Mary's

Regional Observations: In all my drivin in all these states, Florida is the only place I have ever seen Roadside signs for Discount Vasectomies. Maybe some things are worth paying full price for.

Albums Listened To: My Mother's Brisket and Other Love Songs by Rick Moranis (yes, that Rick Moranis); My Music (just Scotty Doesn't Know by Lustra, i don't know why it was under that album name); Mystery to Me by Fleetwood Mac (one of my favorite albums by them, very underrated); Myths, Legends, and Other Amazing Adventures Vol. 2 by the Aquabats! (there is no Vol.1. I love those guys); Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats by Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats (a very good album that can't quite live up to it's amazing lead single); Nebraska by Bruce Springsteen (I like this album, but my dad resents it because he feels like if any actual folk singer had put out that batch of folk tunes no one would have cared. He's probably right but I don't think that makes it bad); Nefertiti by Miles Davis; Negotiations and Love Songs 1971-1986 by Paul Simon

People's Favorite Jokes:

An old man is sitting with his wife watching TV. She gets up to go to the kitchen and make a sandwich. The husband asks her if she'll make one for him too. She says, "Sure, what do you want on it?" He says "can I get roast beef?" She says sure. He asks, "Can I get Swiss cheese?" She says sure. He asks, "Can I get lettuce and tomato?" and she says sure. She comes back with two ice cream sundaes, and he says "You forgot the whipped cream!"

Songs of the Day:

It's not the best sound quality but do you have grown men dressed like superheroes and children surfing on a pizza because the aquabats are a damn fun band. I don't know how they've maintained this energy for over 20 years

Now that's toe-tappin' music