Team Leip Travels

Sunday, August 23, 2026

2 August 2026 Sanford: A Quick Visit to Alen and Chris in Tampa

Alex and Chris are friends from the "Wicked Manors" days when they won the family costume contest several years in a row. They have been avid followers of us on our travels and we wanted to see them so we stopped off for an hour or two. We talked non-stop about ourselves and about them too. It was raining hard as we approached Tampa. The rain finally petered out as we were leaving. We had some issues with the maps on our phones, but the scenic route that we took home was pretty and much less stressful than driving on the highway.

A new bird, a pine warbler bird #998

Downtown Tampa by the port

Moderately sized buildings

Stately homes in the wayerfront

Antebellum style

The old meets the new

Another stately neighborhood

Love the aqua

Almost to their house

The interior is fantastic

Fun art pieces

A delightful pool

My favorite picture

A reunion of sorts

The youngest, Max, is affectionately called the honey badger

It has been 4 years and 51 days since we began our Migration

Wednesday, August 19, 2026

1 August 2026 Sarasota: The Ringling Museums Part 2

The next section on the grounds was the Art Museum. The contents were many of the "objects de arte" that they had purchased on their European excursions. The items on display were wide ranging like they were bought at a series of high end flee markets. The real masterpiece was the building and grounds. Very well done and as Maggie said, imagine this at dusk, filled with tables and chairs at a swanky charity event.

Centaur space

A little bit of the old and a little bit of the new. Meselutha comes across a young woman who had dies in her prime.

Come fly with me...

It would have to take the entire pride of lions to take down an elephant

Greek masters

A young sultan and his dog

All these items were excavated on the island of Cyprus

The courtyard

https://youtube.com/shorts/M5V7l8Rfrqo

David mooning all the folks

Full frontal

This could be anywhere in Italy

Gorg!

Romulus and Remus

My favorite painting

Some Italian pieces

Terry Terra Cotta

Riding a fish with antlers

Swachbuckler

The details on the doors and windows were fantastic

Big Heads before they paper ones became popular

It has been 4 years and 50 days since we began our Migration

1 August 2026 Sarasota: The Ringling Museums part 1

John Ringling was one of five brothers famous for the Ringling Brothers Circus founded in 1870. They bought the Barnham and Baily Circus in 1907 which ran independently until 1918 when WW1 and the Spanish Flu forced the two circuses to merge into one. By 1919 there were only two brothers still alive and they decided to move the winter headquarters of the circus to southern Florida. John had the cash and the forethought to speculate in waterfront properties and purchased large tracts of land in the Sarasota area. His investments were wise and soon he became one of the wealthiest men in the world. John and his wife Maude traveled extensively and as was the custom in those days, each trip was an opportunity to snatch up antiques and artifacts from far flung areas. In 1929 he purchased the last of the touring circuses and with this purchase he controlled all of the touring circuses in the US. He passed away in 1936 after suffering financial ruin with only $311 in the bank. He bequeathed the mansion and its contents to the State of Florida and now FSU has governance