Daytripping Along Florida's Vibrant Sun Coast

It's been a mild winter here in Pennsylvania, but that doesn't mean I don't miss the warm weather.  I's such an easy trip to Florida via HIA and Allegiant, that I usually clear my schedule in early winter and escape for a few days.

This year my husband and I chose Punta Gorda, renting a house via Airbnb. The small Punta Gorda airport was easy to navigate and located a mere seven minutes from our basecamp, so that, too, was a rare treat. Our house was called "The Seahorse House," which I highly recommend. 

My husband standing in front of the Seahorse house.

Our first stop in Punta Gorda was Fisherman's Village, a cute destination with a marina, restaurants, shops and overnight accommodations. The Village was decorated for the Christmas season. As a northerner, it always feels a bit strange to see Christmas decorations when the temps are hitting the upper 70s.

Fishermen's Village is decorated for the Christmas season.

Afterwards, we visited another Punta Gorda attraction. The Peace River Wildlife Center is open to the public everyday from 11-4 p.m. and is a great way to see wild birds and reptiles. Part of their mission is to protect wildlife, including rehabilitating injured animals. 

The Peace River Wildlife Center takes in injured animals.

Punta Gorda seems to be a convenient place to live, with plenty of shopping and chain restaurants, along with mom-and-pop shops all within just a few miles. Marion Avenue, which runs through downtown Punta Gorda, features unique boutique shops, dining places and art galleries. Punta Gorda even offers a free bike loaner program for visitors and locals alike to take in the sights on two wheels.

We even found this fun tiki bar called TT's, while we were there. 

TT's Tiki Bar

The beaches of the Punta Gorda region include Knight Island, Palm Island, Little Gasparilla Island, Port Charlotte Beach Park and Englewood Beach, which is known for white sand, slews of seashells and fossilized shark teeth. Visitors can rent beach chairs, umbrellas and more and parking is only 75 cents an hour.

Also in Punta Gorda is the Babcock Ranch Reserve, a 67,618.81 acre conservation area offering activities like fishing and hiking. We took the Babcock Ranch Eco Tour  on a camo colored school bus, aka the "swamp buggy," to see the animals in the area, like wild boar, cattle, alligators and more. 

The 90-minute tour took us through the Crescent B Ranch where we learned the history of the working ranch and got up close and personal with a few critters.

Our guide holds a alligator for everyone to pet, no kissing allowed.

Another way to get up close and personal with the area wildlife is to take a glass-bottomed kayak off the Boca Grande Fishing Pier. Kayakers can take a two-hour excursion on calm waters to see all there is to see. We saw a few birds, but most exciting was the group of dolphins who came within 10 feet of us. I was afraid that I would hit them with my oar, so I hung back a bit as they frolicked in the water. I only wish that I would have been able to capture a picture of them!

We felt sure a storm was rolling in, but nothing ever came of it.

A Day Trip to Fort Myers, Venice and Sarasota

Fort Myers, Sarasota and Venice are all within striking distance of Punta Gorda; you can drive to each within 45 minutes.

In keeping with the wildlife theme, we hiked half the Six Mile Slough Preserve in Fort Myers. Slough, for the record, is pronounced "slew" and is a forested wetland with slowly flowing freshwater. The name for this area came from travelers who slogged through the area in the 1890's in covered wagons on their way to Fort Myers. They would get stuck in the low, swampy area about six miles from their destination. 

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Guests can grab a book at the Slough Preserve to understand what they're viewing.
This is an otter pond.

During our walk, we saw baby alligators and a mama guarding them. I was kicking myself for not bringing my camera with the zoom lens, so I failed to capture a good picture of the baby gators, but did get one of the mama.

Mama gator swimming towards her nest of babies.

While in Fort Myers, we visited the Fort Myers Manatee Park. Upon entry, visitors can watch a film about manatees. The manatee is native to Florida and is a large, grayish-brown aquatic mammal with a sausage-shaped body and a paddle-shaped tail. Adult manatees average about 10 feet in length and reach about 1200 pounds. They can hold their breath for as long as 20 minutes, but usually surface about every three to five minutes to breathe. Their life span in the wild averages 40 years. 

The manatee "park" is near a power plant, which warms the water so the manatees can take refuge there. You need to time this one right though. When we visited, manatees were few and far between. We learned later that it's important to check the website before visiting. This week it reads: "Manatee sightings will be rare this week. As the water temperature in the Gulf of Mexico continues to warm, manatees will not need Manatee Park as a warm water refuge. They will spend more time in the park once the Gulf temperature drops below 68 degrees."

Scene at Fort Myers Manatee Park

Downtown Fort Myers is visually interesting, thanks to its art, from 10 galleries and counting to "rusted" sculptures created by Columbian sculptor Edgardo Carmona. There you can also find boutique shops featuring art and apparel, along with plenty of restaurants with both indoor and outdoor dining.

A picture that is of particular note here is the one showing the attractive building with the yellow awnings known as "The Arcade." The Arcade was constructed in 1908 as a vaudeville house. Thomas Edison viewed films here with friends Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone. As the film industry took off, "The Arcade" was converted into a full movie house. As the interest in movies waned, "The Arcade" was transitioned into a venue for live performances. Today it is home to the Florida Repertory Theatre.

I bought this while in Fort Myers.

Florida's weather lends itself to street dining year round.

"The Arcade" dates back to 1908, when it was a vaudeville house.

Fort Myers has many shops where you can buy art, apparel and more.

The Edison Theatre dates back to 1941. Offices inhabit it now, unfortunately.

This one is called "Territorias," for dog and man marking their territory.
If you look closely you'll see they are both anatomically correct.

Venice, too, is a shoppers paradise, with bars, restaurants, art galleries and more. The area was also dotted with art, like Fort Myers, but this time the theme was mermaids and sea horses. The downtown "Main Street" district has been undergoing extensive improvements in recent years, with expanded sidewalks and new landscaping.

The name of this store is "Fine Italian Ceramics."

A bakery in Venice.

A park in downtown Venice.

We didn't make it to Venice Beach, but I am told that it's billed "The Shark Tooth Capital of the World," not because they have more sharks, but because currents in the Gulf of Mexico wash more up on the shore line. 

Finally, north of Venice, is Sarasota, where you'll discover even more ways to get your shop on. While there, we visited St. Armand's Circle, a famous shopping area with plenty of boutiques and restaurants encircling a park featuring Italian statuary. I often wondered why we don't have more choices for shopping in Pennsylvania, then I realized that tourism must sustain the variety of shopping in the sun coast of Florida.

Art Gallery at St. Armand's Circle.

Restaurants dot the landscape at St. Armand's Circle.

Italian Statuary at St. Armand's Circle

What people may not know is that John Ringling of circus fame is from Sarasota and the Italian statues in the park are from his personal collection. He is recognized here with a statue depicting him.

A statue of John Ringling in St. Armand's Circle.

Sarasota is also home to The Ringling Museum of Art thanks to John and Mable Ringling. For the price of admission, visitors can also see the Circus Museum, the sprawling gardens and the opulent Ca'd'Zan Mansion where the Ringlings lived.

Galleries inside the Ringling Museum of Art.
(Photo courtesy of the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, copyright Ron Blunt.)

Visitors to the art museum can also tour the mansion where John and Mable Ringling lived.

(Photo courtesy of the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art)

A scene from inside the Circus Museum
(Photo courtesy of the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art)

I've just touched upon a fraction of what can be seen along Florida's Sun Coast. There's so much more, but these highlights should be enough to get you started if you're interested in visiting the area. It's certainly worth the trip.

Viewing the Vast Collection of Works at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

A few week's ago my husband and I set aside two hours to visit the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Little did we know that we'd make it through half of the collection in that amount of time. Therefore, I recommend that you consider devoting about three to four hours to see everything. The good news is that the Museum features several cafes onsite where you can take a break, grab a bite and give your feet a rest.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art was founded in 1876 and developed from collections exhibited in 1876 at the Centennial Exhibition in Fairmount Park. The building, constructed of Minnesota Dolomite and modeled after ancient Greek temples, opened its doors in 1928. 

Each year, the museum attracts approximately 800,000 visitors, with their website receiving 10 million page view annually. There are approximately 225,000 objects in the Museum, which features 15-20 special exhibitions each year.

For those who wish to reenact the Rocky scene by running up the 99 steps to get into the museum, I should note that the entrance is currently closed. I certainly didn't mind entering at the rear of the building, which is far less challenging to those of us who are out of shape.

Once inside, visitors will see the grand staircase and Saint-Gaudens' statue Diana. If it seems familiar, that might be because it was moved from New York's old Madison Square Garden.

Diana, by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, faces the grand staircase.

Two of the first paintings we encountered were influential in the art world...eventually. The oil on canvas pictured below was painted by Thomas Eakin. Titled, The Gross Clinic, it depicts Dr. Samuel Gross of Philadelphia operating on a patient, with Eakin sketching in the background. It was created specifically for Philadelphia's 1876 Centennial Exhibition, was rejected and instead appeared at a U.S. Army field hospital exhibit. The rejection prompted an art critic to comment in the Philadelphia Evening Telegraph: "There is nothing so fine in the American section of the Art Department of the Exhibition and it is a great pity that the squeamishness of the Selection Committee compelled the artist to find the place in the United States Hospital Building." Perhaps he was onto something. Today, the painting is recognized as one of the "greatest American paintings ever made."

The Gross Clinic, Thomas Eakins, 1875.

The Agnew Clinic, Thomas Eakins, 1889

Years later, Eakins was commissioned by medical students to commemorate the retirement of Dr. D. Hayes Agnew of Philadelphia. The young students then modeled for the artist in his studio. The painting portrays a mastectomy, but, at the insistence of Agnew, is less bloody than The Gross Clinic. Once again, it received a cool reception by the public until it appeared at the Chicago World's Columbian Exhibition in 1893, alongside his previous work. The medal Eakins received in Chicago recognizing his artistic achievements was a turning point in his career.

Other American collections include extensive holdings of Pennsylvania art and furniture, like the walnut desk below, designed by Philadelphia architect Frank Furness to look like one of his buildings.

Horace Howard Furness Desk, 1871

Cabinet made by American Giuseppe Ferrari (born in Italy), 1874-76.

Pennsylvania has been home to many German immigrants over the years, so it stands to reason that German Americans are well represented at the The Philadelphia Museum of Art. Below is a wardrobe (Kleidershrank) decorated with the owners name Georg Huber and the date it was made in sulfur inlay, a process in which molten lava is poured into carved channels.

Wardrobe, 1779, Lancaster County

Another gorgeous item I saw was this elaborately carved mahogany wine cooler seen below, made between 1825 and 1830, artist unknown.

Mahogany wine cooler, 1825-1830

Wharton Esherick, a Philadelphia sculptor who worked primarily in wood, is responsible for the handsome fireplace shown below.

Wharton Esherick, 1935-38, made in Paoli, Pennsylvania.

Bedstead, 1825-1835, possibly made in Philadelphia.

Those who know me are aware that some of my favorite pieces of furniture are fainting couches (I own three). Below are a few that I saw at the museum.

Sofa, 1762, England

Additional American pieces that caught my eye are the ones shown below. The first one, painted by Daniel Huntington in 1858 is titled: The Counterfeit Note and shows a shopkeeper scrutinizing a bill while a woman whispers in his ear and gestures towards a shady guy standing behind them.

The Counterfeit Note, 1858, Daniel Huntington

The second painting by John Frederick Peto is of an object rarely seen today: the letter rack. The representation of the upside down Lincoln photograph is said to suggest the country's lingering melancholy over the Civil War and the president's assassination. 

Old Time Letter Rack, 1894, John Frederick Peto

What's remarkable about the painting below by Sanford Gifford titled: A Coming Storm is that it was painted in the midst of the Civil War and was first owned by Shakespearean actor Edwin Booth, brother of Lincoln's assassin.

A Coming Storm, Sanford Gifford, 1863

Beautiful sculptures can be seen throughout the museum. Many of them have roots in Philadelphia, like this bronze created by William Rush. Originally carved in wood in 1809 for a fountain that stood in front of Philadelphia's first water system (where City Hall now stands), water spouted from the beak of the bittern, a bird that frequented the banks of the Schuylkill River. Officials, concerned about the deterioration of the original, ordered it cast in bronze in 1872 and moved it in 1829 to the new Fairmount Water Works on the Schuylkill River (next to the museum).

Allegory of the Schuylkill River (Water Nymph and Bittern), William Rush

The next piece is called "The Lost Pleiad," by Randolph Rogers, and is known as his last great mythological work. It represents Merope, who, in Greek legend, is one of seven sisters forming the Pleiades constellation. Having married a mortal, her powers weakened and she was lost from sight.

The Lost Pleiad, Randolph Rogers, 1874

The following is a sculpture done by Augustus Saint-Gaudens and memorializes Maria Gouverneur Mitchell, who died of diphtheria in 1898 in Philadelphia. Her parents commissioned the monument to represent her "singularly sweet and blameless life." It's named, The Angel of Purity.

The Angel of Purity, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, 1902

The museum also holds a collection of Presidential china used by presidents from George Washington to Ronald Reagan in the McNeil American Presidential China Gallery. My favorite collection was owned by Rutherford B. Hayes. You can see these unique pieces below.

China used during the Rutherford B. Hayes administration.

There are also walls of tapestries dating back to the 17th century, which are massive, depict historical scenes and are in surprisingly good condition.

Priceless Turkish rugs were also displayed on walls because of their size.  

Among the rugs was this beautiful Turkish cradle with mother-of-pearl inlay. It dates back to 1750 and was typically pressed into use when an Ottoman prince or princess was born.

Turkish Cradle, 1750

The European collections at the Philadelphia Museum of Art include medieval sculpture, stained glass, Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings and more. Among the artists are Monet, Renoir, Manet, Degas and Pissarro--pictures that I will be taking and sharing on this blog on a return visit.

The painting below stood out to me because it was painted by a female in 1639. Her name was Judith Leyster. The Dutch artist depicts two men drinking and a skeleton looming in the background. What's interesting about Judith is that prior to the 1800s, her paintings were misattributed to male artists until they discovered her initials with a star on her pieces. (Leyster is Dutch for lodestar.) 

The Last Drop, The Gay Cavalier, Judith Leyster, 1639.

The piece below was painted by Englishman Benjamin West titled: Agrippina Landing at Brundisium with the ashes of Germanicus. 

Agrippina Landing at Brundisium with the ashes of Germanicus, Benjamin West, 1770.

The Crucified Christ with the Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist, and Angels Holding the Instruments of Passion, Painted Oak, Belgium, 1460-1490.

The piece above, which appeared to be at least 20 feet tall, was made in Belgium and dates back to the 1400s. It is painted oak and originally stood over the entrance to the choir, or altar area of a church. 

Another huge religious piece is picture below and is hinged and painted on both sides. It depicts scenes from Jesus' life and the events of his final days on earth. Altarpieces like this one were produced by Antwerp craftsmen for the broad European market. The picture doesn't do it justice. 

I'll wrap things up with a few shots from the Chinese Gallery, an ongoing exhibit that spans 4,000 years. 

Guanyin Budhisattva of Compassion, Qiao Bin 1482-1507

The glazed stoneware above was created during the Ming Dynasty and depicts Guanyin above a serpentine dragon and mythical feline. Ink inscriptions on the side point to a Buddhist Temple in the Shanxi Province.

Seated Luohan, wood, 1500s to early 1600s.

The work above, titled, Seated Luohan, is wooden and is estimated to date from the 1500s to the early 1600s. Luohans are enlightened monks who are disciples of Buddha. These sculptures were placed in Buddhist halls in groups of 16 or 18 lining the walls on either sides.

That's about it for my current visit. I'll be returning to write another blog in the spring to cover the other half of the museum we missed touring due to time. Hopefully this whets your appetite enough to consider visiting yourself.

In the meantime, you can learn more about the Philadelphia Museum of Art, its collection, hours, entrance prices and more by visiting the website at https://www.philamuseum.org/.