Sarasota County boasts 35 miles of sugar white beaches and six barrier islands. South of Sarasota on Venice Beach, you can wade through gentle surf to gather sharks' teeth; you'll find more of these here than anywhere else on earth. St. Armands Key not only has inviting silky sand beaches but is also home to a 100-store shopping area with plenty of courtyards and patios. Sarasota, FL is probably best known as the winter home of the Ringling Brothers circus and still has many historic sites built by John and Charles Ringling such as the Ringling School of Art and Design and the Ringling Art Museum. The John and Mable Ringling Art Museum combines a world-class art collection, circus memorabilia and gardens filled with magnificent antique statues. The lavish Ca'd'Zan, located on the grounds of the museum, was their home. As a collector of Italian baroque and renaissance art (including huge paintings by Paul Rubens) John Ringling built the museum that he left to the State of Florida. Some other Sarasota attractions are the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, the Mote Marine Aquarium, Sarasota Jungle Gardens, Pelican Man's Bird Sanctuary, and the Gulf coast Wonder and Imagination Zone.