On Thursday June 22, Florida Road Trip heads to Sarasota. Viewers will explore the city’s history, from its Spanish settlers to the lush golf courses we see today. Sarasota is known for some of the most beautiful white sand beaches the Gulf of Mexico offers. Allison Godlove will show us what makes Sarasota a small city with a large arts community.
“Working as a journalist in this area of Florida for 10 years gave me an opportunity to serve the Sarasota community,” said Allison Godlove, host of Florida Road Trip. “It holds a special place in my heart because it’s where my husband and I had one of our first dates. I’ve had a great experience exploring this beautiful part of our state with Florida Road Trip.”
Known as a vacation spot, Sarasota is said to be home to Florida’s first golf course and America’s second. Now, the city is filled with more than a thousand golf courses. Viewers will learn about John Hamilton Gillespie, the man responsible for bringing golf to Florida.
“Sarasota is a city that’s full of natural beauty and history,” said Heather Bailey, Executive Producer of WUCF’s Florida Road Trip. “This episode will take viewers along as we explore the circus arts, visit botanical gardens and learn about those who made lasting impacts on the city.
Florida Road Trip viewers will also discover the uniqueness of the city, specifically John and Mable Ringling’s contributions to the arts and culture of the “circus city.” In addition to the circus, the couple also built an art museum and an art school.
Godlove will explore the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, home to 45 acres of bayfront sanctuaries. The Gardens are separated into two campuses, a 15-acre Downtown Sarasota campus, and the Historic Spanish Point campus, a 30-acre campus just ten miles south.
Florida Road Trip: Sarasota airs Thursday at 8 p.m. on WUCF TV, wucf.org and the PBS app. WUCF Passport members will also get early access, starting Thursday at 8 p.m. to next week’s episode, Florida Road Trip: Inventors.
Learn more about the show at floridaroadtrip.org.
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Funding Acknowledgement and Disclaimer
Funding for this program was provided through a grant from Florida Humanities with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of Florida Humanities or the National Endowment for the Humanities.
About WUCF TV
WUCF TV is the sole-service PBS member station for the nearly 4 million Central Floridians across nine counties. WUCF is Central Florida’s storyteller, encouraging curiosity and learning through compelling content and community engagement. WUCF produces award-winning local content like “Florida Road Trip,” which explores Florida through history, people and culture. WUCF also serves Florida’s youngest citizens, offering hours of PBS Kids content on-air, online and in the classroom, leading the state in usage for PBS LearningMedia. Throughout its ten-year history, WUCF has engaged with over 1.5 million people across Central Florida at in-person events, and over 30 million people online through virtual events and streaming content. The station is community-supported public broadcasting from the University of Central Florida. Learn more at http://wucf.org/.