Day 101 - January 10, 2013: Hernando de Soto and on to Sarasota

After spending a windy night on the mooring ball, we cruised a short way to the DeSoto National Memorial and took the dinghy to shore. This park chronicles the explorations of the Spaniard DeSoto, who was on his second trip to the Americas looking for treasures and gold. He came over with three ships and over 600 soldiers and spent several years trekking through Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, Alabama, Tennessee,  Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana clashing with Indians much of the way. He died of disease without ever finding so much as a gram of gold. The remaining 300 of his soldiers made it  out alive by building small boats and escaping through Texas to Mexico.

Hernando DeSoto Visitor Center

We cruised past Anna Marie Island to Longboat Key and Sarasota. Just north of the city, we saw the mansion where the Ringling family (of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus) spent their winters. We will visit there tomorrow.

Ringling Mansion

The Sarasota skyline looks typical of the large cities we have seen on the Gulf Coast, and we hooked a mooring ball at Marina Jack's, just south of the The John Ringling Causeway. We took the dinghy in at night to walk the shops in town.

Sarasota Skyline