The history, characters, and hidden corners that make the Sarasota coast worth knowing — not just visiting.
The unfinished hotel that stood as a ruin on Longboat Key for decades. A gorilla that saved the circus from bankruptcy. A burial that took 55 years to sort out. Here's what I found digging past the highlight reel — plus what's on at the museum this season.
Read the storyThe causeway you drive to the beach, the circle where you shop, the islands where you stay — nearly all of it traces back to one man who bet his circus fortune on Sarasota.
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