The city of Sarasota is the cultural capital of Florida. The Ringling Museum Complex, the official State Museum of Florida, is a major attraction with superb old masterpieces and a fine contemporary collection. Sarasota’s Downtown Cultural District contains the Sarasota Opera House (also home of the Sarasota Ballet) and numerous theaters and nightclubs. Historic Palm Avenue, filled with fine art, antiques, jewelry and fashion, was a bustling street in the early-1900s, frequented by Sarasota’s founding families. Today, shopping emporia line Palm Avenue and the corner of Main Street. Sarasota Quay also offers a variety of specialty shops, as well as restaurants and nightclubs located on the water. Just minutes from the Quay and Palm Avenue, dinner cruises and charter boats depart from the stylish city marina.
North Lido Beach is a half-mile stretch of sand shaded by towering Australian pines. The public beach offers a swimming pool, a playground and shops. At the southern end of Lido Key are picnic tables, grills, a volleyball court and a playground. St Armands Key boasts a circle ringed by restaurants, nightclubs and exclusive shops. The Circus Ring of Fame, a sidewalk of circus stars, decorates the central park space.
Located between the waters of the Gulf of Mexico and Sarasota Bay, Longboat Key offers an abundance of outdoor activities. Anglers cast lines from Longboat’s white sandy beaches, piers and jetties. Boaters can cruise to nearby islands such as City Island, which is the setting for the Mote Marine Aquarium. Next door to the aquarium, the Pelican Man’s Bird Sanctuary is a rescue and rehabilitation center for pelicans and other wild birds. Siesta Key is best known for its sandy beaches, the widest and most popular in the county. A few miles south of the main beach, snorkelers flock to Crescent Beach where sea sponges and fish can be viewed under the Gulf’s surface. The southernmost spot on Siesta Key is Palmer Pointe South, a popular getaway for boaters and hikers. More than 8 hectares (20 acres) of unspoiled beach make this one of the most beautiful spots in the Key.
Other attractions in Sarasota County include the Gulf Coast World of Science, where visitors can dig for fossils, touch live snakes and experiment with static electricity. There are 50 restored antique cars to view at Bellm’s Cars and Music of Yesterday as well as 1200 music boxes and a penny arcade. Marie Selby Botanical Gardens specializes in air plants, orchids and colorful bromeliads. 10 lush tropical acres are filled with winding trails, beautiful gardens and exotic waterfowl at the Sarasota Jungle Gardens. There are also shows featuring snakes, turtles, alligators and other reptiles. Myakka State Park and Wilderness Preserve covers more than 14,000 hectares (35,000 acres) of wetlands, prairies and dense woodlands along the twisting Myakka River and Upper Myakka Lake. The park is home to hundreds of species of plants, trees and flowers. For a close-up view, visitors can take the boat or tram leaving from the Boat Basin. There are also numerous trails, a small natural history museum and a bird walk. Oscar Scherer State Recreation Area boasts streams for canoeing, a swimming lake, campsites, nature trails, cycling paths, a recreation hall and picnic areas. Visitors can discover Sarasota’s past on Little Sarasota Bay, in Osprey. Spanish Point, which contains a late Victorian pioneer homestead, a Native American burial mound, a 19th-century chapel, cemetery and remnants of the formal gardens of a turn-of-the-century estate.