Merry Christmas!!!!! (from detroit?)

Ok, so you’re reading this and saying to yourself, “why has it been so long since he’s updated” Well, it’s because I’ve been a very busy boy in the past few weeks, as you’ll see if you keep reading. Continuing where I left off, I spent thanksgiving in Sarasota with my great aunt pearl and great uncle doyle. It was a nice thanksgiving with Amish food and beautiful weather (70’s every day) While I was there, once I found out that the Ringling circus museum was near by I made sure that I left time in my schedule to see it. So, on sat. Morning my friend Justin (the drummer on the show) rode his k1200 up from his folk’s place and we went to the John Ringling estate. We had just enough time to tour his house and the circus museum. Now, John Ringling was quite a character and his house reflected everything that he was and had built. Within the first 10 seconds of when I walked in the house as part of the tour, it all made sense, the plush, flashy, fantastical sensationalism that embodies the word and event that is the circus. The first room was a receiving room with art on the walls, a silver tea set on a fancy table, all hardwood floors, dark red velvet enrobing the large vertical panes of multicolored glass; the whole room decked out in gold trim. As we continued through the house it was opulent, even by today’s standards, but when you put yourself in the mindset of the 30’s American, this place was utterly grotesque in its lavishness. But then, the over the top sentiment in the décor and style fit perfectly the man who developed the most circus in the world. Of all the rooms, I believe my favorite was his wife’s bedroom. It was decorated entirely by her, so obviously it not only stood out from the rest of the house but also created this quaint oasis of solitude. When you walk in from the powder room the color motif, a mellow pea green immediately surrounds you. Then there’s a wood border where the wall meets the ceiling and all along this border there are various forms of exclamation marks lining all 4 sides. Curiously no one, including the tour guide could figure out what they meant. Everything was simply elegant. After that we got a bite to eat and enjoyed the view on the outside veranda. Apparently back in the day John would often have the circus band play as his yacht was arriving up to the veranda. Afterwards we headed to the circus museum. It truly was a treat learning about the heritage and legacy that I’m now a small part of. They had everything from the Lou Jacobs’s clown props to old circus wagons used in the old circus parades which were once such a memorable part of the circus coming to town. A personal favorite for me was a vintage bandwagon that was part of their museum. I thought about having my picture taken while sitting on it, but I didn’t want to be accused of jumping on the bandwagon. We also learned a few interesting tid bits of circus lore, for example back in the days of tents, they needed a lot of help for setup and take down, so they would offer free tickets for anyone who world come and work a few hours, of course this was a good way for kids to get free tickets and for John Ringling to get the rest of their family there. After the day was over I had a much better understanding of how smart a business man he really was. So, on my last evening there, I got to sample some of the local seafood fare when my aunt and uncle treated to a meal at the Anne Marie Oyster bar. It was excellent, all except for the lobster bisque. You see, I’ve been noticing that the more I cook the more critical I’ve about food; the food I cook as well as others. Perhaps my palate is just becoming more educated, I don’t know, but in any case this lobster bisque missed the mark. It had good potential but missed the mark in that it was WAY too salty. (I let the cook know; hopefully he’ll fix it for future customers) In any case, it was a nice evening before I headed back to circus life. Later that evening is when I headed over to west palm beach where I was to park my RV for the up and coming weeks in Puerto Rico (hereafter referred to as PR ;-) ) ok, layover over (echo, echo, echo) time to fly back to my home on wheels…….till next time