Weekend Update's comin' down the tracks...July 26, 2008.
Some of our Weekend Update crew took our "Summer Vacation" theme quite seriously this week and took a week off from the Weekend Update. We do have three great segments for you this week: SummerInFL takes us to the Ringling Museum, Denise nbodyhome Preskitt shares a bit of her trip to SoCal with us and guest contributor Mac Daddy sent us some eye-popping photography of Cedar Point's thrill rides.
Ringling Museum
Sarasota, Florida
SummerInFL has had a busy summer this year as she visits many of Florida's non-Disney attractions. This week, a visit to The Ringling Museum on Florida's west coast proved to be a photographic gold mine.
The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art is the state art museum of Florida, located in Sarasota, Florida. It was established in 1927 as the legacy of Mable and John Ringling for the people of Florida. Florida State University assumed governance of the Museum in 2000.
Designated as the official state art museum for Florida, the institution offers twenty-one galleries of European paintings as well as Cypriot antiquities and Asian, American, and contemporary art. The museum's art collection currently consists of more than 10,000 objects that include a wide variety of paintings, sculpture, drawings, prints, photographs, and decorative arts from ancient through contemporary periods and from around the world. The most celebrated items in the museum are 16th, 17th, and 18th century European paintings, including a world-renowned collection of Peter Paul Rubens paintings and cartoons.
Aside from the art museum, the estate of Mable and John Ringling also features Mable Ringlings rose garden, completed in 1913. The rose garden is located near the original Mary Louise and Charles N. Thompson residence within the beautifully landscaped grounds overlooking Sarasota Bay. The estate also contains the Cą d'Zan ("House of John") - the waterfront residence they designed and built in 1926 - and a museum devoted to the history of the American circus.*
The Circus Museum
The world's larget "miniature circus", complete with 8 main tents, 152 wagons, 1,300 circus performers and workers, more than 800 animals and a 59 car train, the model is 3,800 square feet and it took Howard Tibbals more than 50 years to complete.
Inside another museum building, they also have larger circus props and vehicles.
Mabel Ringling's Rose Garden
Unique statues at the entrance to the Cą d'Zan Mansion. (Ringling Mansion)
A Tiffany lamp.
John Ringling's bedroom. The bedswere bought at auction for $36,000 each, in the 1920's mind you.
The back terrace of the mansion, right on Sarasota Bay.
And finally, the Art Museum.
The official website of the Ringling Museum is here. Additional visitor information on Sarasota can be found here. More of Summer's fantastic trip report can be found here. Thanks for sharing with us, Summer!
Disneyland Resort and environs
Southern California
Denise nbodyhome Preskitt traveled to California for a several week stay. Judging from her photos, it looks like she had quite a trip.
I was able to visit the Dream Suite which was beautiful (though I miss the Gallery).
Joe Rohde at the NFFC Convention. He is a very nice and personable man. I was very happy to finally meet him as I'm a huge fan. He stuck around after lunch, tellingsome stories of his travels to us.
Tony Baxter, NFFC Convention.
Disneyland Train Station from the Lily Belle.
Laguna Beach
Walt Disney's gravesite (Little Mermaid Statue)
The group I was with had a tour of the El Capitan, and then saw Wall-E. I'd not been to the theater since Monsters Inc., so it was a real treat to be back! The second photo is inside the soda fountain.
More of Denise's comprehensive and photo-filled trip report can be perused here in the MiceChat Disneyland forum. Denise's website is www.mousesteps.com.
Cedar Point
Sandusky, Ohio
MiceChatter and contributor Mac Daddy submitted the following photos from his trip to Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. These beautiful images prove that amusement park rides can be true works of art when seen through the lens of a great photographer. What a fantastic eye you have, Mac Daddy!
The Cedar Point website is here. More of Mac Daddy's trip report can be viewed here.
And that brings us to the end of another week. Our photographers have just enough time to reload their cameras before we see you all again next weekend. Thank you to all of our wonderful readers, and as always, a huge thank you to our amazing team of global photographers, spies, and gossips:
Jack Hollywood 1939 Wixom
TDLFAN
Denise nbodyhome Preskitt
SummerInFl
PhotoMatt
Fishbulb
sir clinksalot
MickeyMaxx
A very special thank you to our wonderful guest photographer Mac Daddy for sharing his vision with us.
Your Editor - Rixter
If you have interesting theme park shots that you would like to share with the readers of the Weekend Update, please send a message to dustysage@aol.com, it is readers like you who make MiceChat such a special place.
Don't miss a single one of MiceChat's Featured Blogs (including the Weekend Update). Add our feed to your favorite feed software or site: http://feeds.feedburner.com/Micechat-Featured
*Some factual information sourced from wikipedia.com.
Total Comments 9
Comments
-
Great pictures!Posted 07-26-2008 at 09:12 AM by WheresMickey
-
I have been to Walts grave a few times and that is not a Little Mermaid statue, it is a girl but nothing to do with Mermaid.Posted 07-26-2008 at 09:51 AM by Jerm -
Very nice Update indeed... thanks for the many great photos.Posted 07-26-2008 at 09:58 AM by TDLFAN -
How did they get photos of the circus museum and display? When I went there they didn't let me at all.Posted 07-26-2008 at 12:29 PM by Mr. Yeti -
Great update. Now Sarasota's on my list of places to go too!Posted 07-26-2008 at 10:10 PM by gawama -
The Ringling Museum looks really interesting. And WOW on Mac Daddy's pictures - you make Cedar Point look GOOD!
Denise, what did you think of the Dream Suite? Did you like it as well as the one in WDW. Now you've been to both!Posted 07-27-2008 at 10:22 PM by Dustysage -
Dusty -
The Dream Suite at DL is supposed to be 4x as large as the one in Cinderellas Castle (where I stayed) here in Orlando. I would have loved to stay at the DL one! (but I do very much miss the Gallery).
DenisePosted 07-27-2008 at 11:20 PM by nbodyhome -
Mr. Yeti - The Circus Museum allowed photos as along as you didn't use flash. The only location that you couldn't take photos in at all was inside the Art Museum and even then it was only certain displays that didn't allow for it.Posted 07-28-2008 at 05:42 AM by SummerInFL - Oh okay. I think the guy who told me must have been mistaken.Posted 07-28-2008 at 10:40 AM by Mr. Yeti
