Afternoon: HOTEL CHECK-IN: 4:00pm. Rooms may be ready earlier.
PROGRAM REGISTRATION: Come over to the Road Scholar desk in the lobby between 3:30-5:00pm to register with the program staff and pick up your arrival packet that we'll review during orientation.
ORIENTATION: Begins at 5:00pm in our meeting room. We'll have an overview of the program ahead and review the up-to-date schedule, responsibilities, safety guidelines, emergency procedures, and any other administrative issues. Please be aware that local circumstances may require adjusting program elements. In the event of changes, we will notify you as quickly as possible. We appreciate your understanding.

Dinner: Dinner is a catered affair (by the hotel restaurant) in our private room beginning at approximately 6:00pm. We have worked with the chef to provide meals that are both tasty and nutritious. (There will be a vegetarian option available for you if you note a vegetarian preference on your Health & Safety form.)

Evening: GETTING TO KNOW YOU: After dinner we'll spend some time becoming better acquainted with participants and program staff. Find out what you have in common beyond a love of learning! The rest of the evening is yours to continue making new friends or just to relax and prepare for the full day of activity ahead.
You are about to embark on a new "Signature City" learning adventure in Sarasota. Whether this is your first visit or another chapter in an ongoing love affair with this lovely city, you'll encounter fascinating highlights of history and culture, people and places.

Lodging: Lido Beach Resort

Meals Included: Dinner

The Art Collection of John Ringling, Local Artist Highlights afternoon field trip, Architectural Walking Field Trip, Ringling Preview

Note: Afternoon walking through downtown Sarasota will be up to two miles at a 2.0 pace over the course of the day.

Breakfast: Breakfast is in our private room and includes a large assortment of fresh fruit, oatmeal, yogurt, bagels with cream cheese, pancakes or French Toast with warm maple syrup, scrambled eggs, hash browns, freshly brewed coffee, decaffeinated coffee, herbal teas, orange and prune juice.

Morning: PRESENTATION: .Learn about John Ringling's extensive art collection from a local artist

Break.

An architecture instructor-artist will provide an overview of historic buildings from an architectural view as well as points of interest you'll see on our afternoon narrated walking field trip.

Lunch: Lunch in downtown Sarasota. Part of the charm of this program is choosing the cuisine you prefer, whether classic North or South American, Asian, French, Greek, Indian, Italian, Spanish, and many more.

Afternoon: FIELD TRIP: Our expert-led walk will focus on significant architectural landmarks along a section of North Tamiami Trail including The Pagoda Building, designed by Victor Lundy for the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce and built in 1956. Victor Lundy was a contributor to the Sarasota School of Architecture that combined influences of the European modernist movement with local materials and the desire to minimize the distinction between interior and exterior spaces.

We'll also explore the Van Wezel Performing Arts Center, designed by architect William Wesley Peters of Frank Lloyd Wright's firm and dubbed "the purple cow" and "the purple people seater" when it first opened in 1970.

We'll then take a bus to downtown Sarasota and continue our walking exploration highlighted by the 1926 Sarasota Times Building, designed by Dwight James Baum.

Dinner: Enjoy dinner (catered by the hotel restaurant) in our private room.

Evening: PRESENTATION: This preview of what to expect at the Ringling Museum Complex during our field trip tomorrow will include a video on John Ringling narrated by Hal Holbrook.

Lodging: Lido Beach Resort

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Preview of play, Ringling Art Collection, Field Trip to Ringling Museum & Gardens, The Greatest Show on Earth

Note: The Ringling Complex: To see everything participants will need to walk up to 1 1/4 miles however, there are plenty of benches to rest on and you can explore at your own pace or with the group.

Breakfast: Continental breakfast in our private room.

Morning: PRESENTATION: Preview of the play tba.

FIELD TRIP: We begin our exploration as an expert guides you through palatial Ca' d'Zan, described as "the last of the Gilded Age mansions" to be built in America. John and Mable Ringling greatly admired the unique architectural style of the Danieli and the Bauer-Grunwald hotels in Venice, as well as palaces that face the Venetian canals. This architectural style, called "Venetian Gothic," greatly influenced the Ca'Zan's design. A comprehensive six-year, $15 million restoration and conservation was completed on Ca'Zan in 2002.

The Ringling complex contains numerous wonders and we move next to the Circus Museum, established in 1948. Document circuses of the past and today as you view colossal parade and baggage wagons, sequined costumes, memorabilia and artifacts documenting the history of The Ringling family circus, John Ringling as the Circus King, and the greatest circus movie, The Greatest Show on Earth, was filmed in Sarasota.

Next is the museum's Tibbals Learning Center with an exhibition of circus posters. Ranging in size from window to barn sized, these colorful posters were plastered on buildings, walls and fences all across America and broadcasted in no uncertain terms that the circus was coming to town. The learning center also contains the world's largest miniature circus " the Howard Bros. Circus Model" a replica of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus from 1919-1938, created over a period of more than 50-years.

Lunch: We'll have lunch at Treviso, the museum's Italian restaurant.

Afternoon: FIELD TRIP: We continue the afternoon at the extraordinary Ringling Art Museum. The incredible building housing the collection emulates the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. John Ringling engaged architect John H. Phillips to design the museum in 1925. Construction began in 1927, but was slowed almost immediately by the collapse of Florida’s land boom and later, Wall Street’s stock market crash. Financial misfortune and Mable’s death in 1929 might have ended the dream, but John Ringling instead gained a new resolve to complete the museum, borrowing money as needed, knowing that it would perpetuate the memory of his beloved Mable. The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art was officially opened to the public in 1931.
After leaving the Art Museum, explore the gardens and grounds at your leisure. All you see was given to the people of Florida, thus preserving for generations to come the exuberant lifestyle of America’s spectacular Roaring Twenties. The beautiful landscaped grounds contain over 400 species of exotic Florida trees, plants, flowers, sculpture garden figures, and Mable's historic rose garden.

Dinner: Enjoy dinner (catered by the hotel restaurant) in our private room.

Evening: EXTRACURRICULAR: Our entertainment this evening is viewing Cecil B. DeMille's magnum circus opus, "The Greatest Show on Earth" — filmed in cooperation with Ringling Bros. & Barnum & Bailey, much of it in Sarasota. The movie, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture of 1952, features lavish production values, actual circus acts, documentary footage, and "behind-the-rings" looks at the massive logistics effort that made big top circuses possible.

Lodging: Lido Beach Resort

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Selby Botanical Gardens, Sarasota Bay Cruise, See the play "The Heidi Chronicles."

Note: Walk up to one mile at Selby Botanical Gardens. Walk one block to board the boat in the afternoon. When attending the theatre this evening, the bus will drop participants off in front of theatre and will pick up in front of the theatre.

Breakfast: Breakfast is in our private room and includes a large assortment of fresh fruit, oatmeal, assorted breakfast pastries, bagels with cream cheese, pancakes or French Toast with warm maple syrup, scrambled eggs, hash browns, freshly brewed coffee, decaffeinated coffee, herbal teas, orange and prune juice.

Morning: FIELD TRIP: Explore Marie Selby Botanical Gardens with a local expert. The 9.5-acre bayfront property is an open-air and under-glass museum of more than 20,000 colorful plants, many collected in the wild on over 150 scientific expeditions to tropical rain forests by Selby Gardens research staff. Seven greenhouses are the heart of botanical research and plant identification, for which Selby Gardens is internationally recognized. Learn how the gardens are dedicated to fostering understanding and appreciation of tropical plants, especially epiphytes (plants that grow on other plants), through programs of research, conservation, education and display. Selby Gardens is perhaps best known for its living collection of more than 6,000 orchids.
Throughout the grounds of the historic Selby estate are many distinct garden areas, including the Tropical Display House with its lush rain forest atmosphere, the towering Bamboo Pavilion, Banyan Grove, Cactus and Succulent Garden and Cycad Collection. Also on the grounds is the former Christy Payne Mansion, a unique example of eclectic Southern Colonial architecture. The Mansion, on the National Register of Historic Places, is the home to ever-changing botanical art and photography exhibits. In the time remaining before lunch, feel free to see more of your favorite areas.

Lunch: We'll have lunch out in one of Sarasota's characteristic restaurants.

Afternoon: EXCURSION: Enjoy a relaxing, entertaining, and informative cruise through calm waters along the shoreline of Sarasota Bay — flanked by palm trees! As the narrator tells you about some of the area’s fascinating history and folklore, gaze at magnificent homes right out of Architectural Digest. If you’re lucky, you may see local bottlenose dolphins and even manatees!

Dinner: Dinner will be in our private meeting room at the hotel.

Evening: PERFORMANCE: Theater Evening. The bus departs at 7:15pm for an 8:00pm evening performance of "The Heidi Chronicles," by Wendy Wasserstein and directed by Laura Kepley at the Asolo Theatre.

If you were a woman finding your way in the world between the 1960s and 1980s, you might think that this play was all about you. After surviving three decades of juggling her career and her personal life, baby boomer art historian Heidi Holland looks back at her quest to “have it all” and tries to figure out what’s missing now that she’s actually got it. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award for Best Play, Wasserstein’s funny and touching play still mirrors the emotional trials faced by all of us as we try to figure out the big question: What should we do with our lives? Dress is casual: for men, slacks and a collared polo shirt or dress shirt; for ladies, a nice outfit (no shorts). Participants will return to the hotel after the performance.

Lodging: Lido Beach Resort

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Famous Circus Folks, Circus Ring of Fame, Movement Class, Free Night, dinner on your own at St. Armands Circle.

Note: Morning walk approx. 1 1/2 miles round trip from hotel to "Circus Ring of Fame." For dinner on your own walk to St. Armands Circle or hotel has a free shuttle to the Circle.

Breakfast: Continental breakfast in our private room.

Morning: PRESENTATION: Famous Circus Folks Past to Present. Learn about performers from legendary animal trainer Gunther Gebel-Williams to highwire walker Tino Wallenda Zoppe.
FIELD TRIP: We’ll walk to St. Armand’s Circle where a local expert will highlight many of the bronze plaques on the “Circus Ring of Fame” commemorating 80 circus greats from around the world. You’ll also learn more about John Ringling’s role in the development of St. Armand’s Key.

Lunch: Have lunch (catered by the hotel restaurant) in our private room.

Afternoon: EXTRACURRICULAR: Stretch and Balance Movement Class. Learn tips for better posture, balance, coordination, and safer walking through progressive balance exercises. An expert will show you how to use simple movements to strengthen specific muscles for active living. Participatory learning while having fun!

Dinner: Dinner this evening is on your own. We suggest walking or taking the hotel shuttle to St. Armand's Circle, renowned as a continental marketplace. The Circle is a charming and graceful synthesis of past and present. Relax and enjoy a meal from a plethora of award winning restaurants; trinkets and treasures, from gourmet snacks to candlelit feasts.

Evening: FREE EVENING: Linger over dinner with new found friends, stroll around St. Armand's Circle, or set off to explore more of what Sarasota has to offer.

Lodging: Lido Beach Resort

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Breakfast: Breakfast will be served in the private meeting room and includes; a large assortment of fresh fruit, oatmeal, yogurt, bagels with cream cheese, pancakes or French Toast with warm maple syrup, scrambled eggs, hash browns, and freshly brewed coffee, decaffeinated coffee, herbal teas, orange and prune juice.

Morning: Have your camera ready, lights action! Private showing of several types of reptiles. Learn about the various habits of these Florida native species. There will be an opportunity to hold some of the reptiles for a personal photo.

Lunch: Box lunches are provided and available for those who need to depart early. If you wish to stay and have your lunch after the final presentation, you may eat in our private room or on the patio by the pool.
This concludes the program. We hope you have enjoyed this new learning adventure and will join us for other rewarding Road Scholar programs in the future. Best wishes for all your journeys!

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch