9 minute read
Summer Travel: Discover Sarasota
Skip the beaches and explore downtown Sarasota for a unique - and art-filled - urban getaway.
BY MARCIA BIGGS
It’s summer, it’s hot and you’re craving a weekend vacay away from the sun, the sand and beach crowds. Find a sitter for the kids and take a short drive south over the Skyway Bridge, where Sarasota offers a city-centric adventure perfect for a short getaway.
During the winter season when its population swells, Sarasota is alive with performing arts from the world-famous Sarasota Ballet, Sarasota Orchestra and Sarasota Opera, to top-notch plays at Asolo Repertory Theatre, the Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe, and national acts at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall. During summer months, things slow down as the performing arts halls go dark, but there are still plenty of reasons to visit with one being the laid-back atmosphere and lack of crowds.
Cultural arts fans can still get their jam on with visits to the worldclass collections of the John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art, or the Sarasota Art Museum which partnered with Ringling College of Art and Design to transform the historic 1927 Sarasota High School into a contemporary art museum.
On a recent visit, I opted to stay downtown in the Rosemary District at The Sarasota Modern, a Marriott Bonvoy Tribute Portfolio boutique hotel centrally located on Boulevard of the Arts just off Tamiami Trail. From here, you can park your car and not see it until you leave, which is a big plus considering downtown parking can be difficult at times.
The 89-room hotel has a clean minimalist design with contemporary furnishings and views of downtown. A beautiful pool area with hot tubs and an outdoor bar offers respite after a long day. Sarasota Modern also is within walking distance of bustling Main Street, with its abundance of restaurants, bars and shops, and the performing arts district.
During an early evening stroll I headed downtown and was captivated by the livable/walkable urban core of Sarasota, its clean streets, modern buildings, and abundance of downtown condos, outdoor cafes, art galleries and boutiques. On North Palm Avenue, I discovered a mix of trendy restaurants, boutiques, small art galleries, antique and home décor shops.
I had to pop into the much heralded Art Ovation Hotel, a fourstar Autograph Collection hotel that welcomes the public with its revolving arts exhibit in the lobby. A sophisticated lobby lounge beckons to quench your thirst with armchair and sofa seating and curated cocktails. The public can sign up for curator-led Art + Wine Tours ($15) which include the lobby gallery and guest level elevator lobby galleries while enjoying a glass of wine. The rooftop pool bar with its lively weekend crowd offers expansive views of downtown, and the highly acclaimed Tzeva restaurant serves authentic Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine.
Just across the street, locals love the Florida Studio Theatre, a multistage live theater complex that once was the home of a historic women’s club. Here you’ll find a diverse mix of entertainment from cabaret style musicals and improv to comedy shows. Florida Studio Theatre stays open during summer, so be sure to check out the schedule.
A great way to get a feel for downtown Sarasota is to hop aboard a Discover Sarasota Trolley Tour. During the summer, air-conditioned narrated City Sightseeing Trolley Tours ($49) are offered Thursday through Sunday. During season, tours increase and include haunted tours, architecture tours and public art tours, among others. To discover the downtown arts scene, I can personally vouch for the fun and enlightening Art Crawl Trolley Tours that will start up again in fall. These tours let you get on and off to wander as you please, then return you to the starting point where you can park for free.
Asolo and Ringling
Although the Asolo Repertory Theatre is dark during summer, I was lucky enough to catch one of the final performances of the 2023-24 season, Dial M for Murder, what a delight! Starting its 66th season this November, the acclaimed theater next to the Ringling Estate presents the best in national and regional acting and directing with both classic, new and re-imaged plays and musicals.
Don’t confuse this venue with the Historic Asolo Theater, the jewelbox theater with the interior dating back to a 1798 palace in Asolo, Italy. This lovingly restored theater with its access from the visitors’ entrance of the Ringling Estate boasts ornate decorative panels and gilded stage boxes reassembled from the original palace. Shown here are small productions, films and live concerts. A family-friendly Summer Circus Spectacular runs through August 17 presented by the Circus Arts Conservatory of Sarasota.
A must on any visit to Sarasota is the renowned 66-acre bayfront Ringling Estate with the magnificent collections of the John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art, the Circus Museum and the historic residence Ca’ d’ Zan. I never tire of visiting the Museum of Art with its stunning array of European art that includes Late Gothic and Italian Renaissance works from Northern Europe, sculpture, furniture and decorative arts.
I always need to catch my breath when I enter Galleries 1 and 2 with their five immense paintings by Flemish master Peter Paul Rubens, part of Rubens’ Triumph of the Eucharist series, which were commissioned for an elite royal audience. I also enjoy the Chao Center for Asian Art, a standalone building with its collection of Chinese ceramics, Asian sculpture and various objects from Japan, Korea and countries in Southeast Asia.
A visit to the Ringling demands a stop for lunch or dinner at the Ringling Grillroom, with its airy ambiance and modern American fare overlooking the grounds of the estate. Dinner here is ideal for those with tickets to an Asolo Rep performance just steps from the front entrance.
Selby Gardens
It may have just turned 50, but the venerable botanical garden on the Sarasota bayfront has a new attitude with a modern facelift thanks to a commitment to environmental conservation and sustainability. Since its establishment in 1973, Marie Selby Botanical Gardens has been dedicated to the display and study of epiphytic orchids, bromeliads, gesneriads, ferns, and other tropical plants and claims the best scientifically documented collection of living orchids in the world.
Now, Selby Gardens has gone green in every sense of the word.
Phase 1 of a multi-year master plan opened in January at the entrance to the gardens, featuring eco-friendly landscaping, a modern open-air ticket center and indoor Welcome Center, and a (free) parking garage topped by a 50,000-square-foot solar array. A major stormwater management system helps to divert and clean millions of gallons of water each year before it is returned to Sarasota Bay.
A state-of-the-art hurricane resilient Steinwachs Family Plant Research Center (closed to the public) contains preserved collections of 125,000 dried and pressed plant specimens, a research library housing some 7,000 books, and a “spirit laboratory” where more than 36,000 specimens are preserved in fluid.
The new entrance also is the location for Sarasota’s latest garden-to-plate restaurant from award-winning restaurateurs Michael Klauber and Philip Mancini. The Green Orchid by Michael’s on East is a pure delight, with broad windows that bring in the light and a menu of light, fresh, and healthy dishes, mostly salads and handhelds, focused on local, regional and sustainably sourced produce, seafood, meats and poultry. Admission to the Gardens is required in order to visit the restaurant, and hours are 11 am to 3 pm daily.
The restaurant is powered entirely by the rooftop solar array, and a massive rooftop edible garden provides vegetables, greens, herbs, and garnishes for each dish. The Green Orchid is working toward becoming the world’s first net-positive energy restaurant (generating more energy than it consumes). Each plate that came to our table was bursting with freshness and beauty, garnished with colorful edible nasturtium flowers from the rooftop garden.
The day we were there, proprietor Michael Klauber was on hand with an invitation to check out the rooftop garden and we were delighted to oblige. There we found a veritable jungle of produce – tomatoes, squash, kale, snow peas – and overflowing planters filled with colorful nasturtiums. The garden is planted and maintained for Selby Gardens by Operation EcoVets, a non-profit organization that provides personal, educational, and professional growth opportunities for military veterans.
Don’t wait to plan your summer getaway in downtown Sarasota – ask about Florida resident discounts which are offered at most hotels and lodgings. And if you feel in need of a beach fix, the Bay Runner is a free openair trolley service that connects downtown and the Sarasota keys. The service runs every 20 to 30 minutes seven days a week with multiple stops along Main Street, over the Ringling Causeway to St. Armands Circle and Lido Key. Look for the Bay Runner Trolley Stop signs or visit sarasotabayrunner.com
If you go to Sarasota
For general trip planning, a good place to start is visitsarasota.com. Here you will find a complete guide to lodgings, attractions, cultural arts, museums, shopping, outdoor activities, festivals and events, and more.
Complete information on experiences at the Ringling Estate, including the Museum of Art, Circus Museum and Ca’ d’ Zan can be found at ringling.org The Museum of Art is free on Monday (but not the Circus Museum or Ca’ d’ Zan); and discounted admission is every Thursday from 5-8pm; adults $15.
Asolo Repertory Theatre, asolorep.org
Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, selby.org, includes The Green Orchid restaurant (open 11am to 3pm daily, no reservations, 941-265-8194)
Sarasota Modern Hotel, marriott.com
Discover Sarasota Tours, discoversarasotatours.com
