Ithaka's Odyssey: On to Sarasota, FL

Leaving Clearwater on a cool, cloudy morning, we took a short cut off the Intracoastal Waterway that took us along and parallel to the Sunshine Skyway Bridge across Tampa Bay.

The channel that led away from the ICW was narrow and only 6 feet deep, but well marked, so we decided it was worth it to cut the seven miles off of our travel distance for the day.

Arriving at our Marina in Sarasota, the Longboat Key Marina and Resort, we were parked across from the mega yacht, Entrepreneur. This is what she looked like in the day .......

..........and this is what she looked like at night with all her Christmas lights on.

The Marina is just one small part of this resort operation. This is one of the hotels and seven restaurants that are located throughout the property.

One of the many Christmas trees in the hotel lobby.

Of course no visit to a resort would be complete without going to the beach, so we went down to the beach on the Gulf to check it out.

After our visit to the beach, we caught the hotels' shuttle into the town of Sarasota. John Ringling, of the Ringling brothers circus fame, was one of the visionaries who helped develop the town in the early twenties, establishing many of the cultural and educational institutions that are located there today.

The Allegory of Sarasota and its Seven Virtues was dedicated in 2008 to commemorate the many gifts to the city by Ringling. Located in a circle, in the heart of the village, are seven marble statues, representing the Seven Virtues:

Music, Flora, Aristotle, Sculpture, Asclepius, Bounty and Amphritrite.

Of course, for those of us that are not so virtuous, there are PORSCHES IN THE PARK!!!!! On this particular weekend, the city sponsored a Porsche show and anybody who owned a Porsche was invited to bring their car down and show it off.