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Historic Spanish Point There's more to Venice than just the beach
By Dorothy Smiljanich/Tampa Tribune
Oscar Sherer State Recreation Area
Warm Mineral SpringsWhile Calusa Indians are thought to have occupied this coastal region thousands of years ago, Venice today is a small, prosperous community of 18,000 year-round residents.
First settled in the 1800s, the town began to build a reputation with the arrival of the railroad at the turn of the century. In 1925, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers chose the community as a retirement site, and the city, incorporated in 1927, was carefully planned and developed.
The foresight taken more than half a century ago is still evident. The well-preserved downtown boasts a wide and landscaped boulevard lined with small, handsome shops; the beaches, although narrow in spots, are largely undeveloped and unspoiled (Casperson Beach, just south of the fishing pier, is especially nice); and most of the surrounding residential neighborhoods are attractive and well-manicured. Some are downright plush.
The general effect is one of affluence and tranquillity - not a bad combination and one increasingly endangered along Florida's increasingly cluttered and hectic west coast.
Although many visitors are drawn to Venice beaches by the search for prehistoric sharks' teeth, the immediate area boasts other attractions, too. Among them: HISTORIC SPANISH POINT
Once in a while, it does seem as if there is something new under the sun. For Florida, Historic Spanish Point is that something new.In 1980, the descendant family of wealthy industrialist Potter Palmer of Chicago (and just about any other place he wanted to be of) donated a 30-acre tract of land on Little Sarasota Bay to the Gulf Coast Heritage Association Inc., a private, not-for-profit organization. The land was a tiny portion of the vast holdings, covering much of Sarasota County and including 60,000 acres along the bay, that had been assembled by Potter Palmer's widow, Bertha Matilde Honore Palmer. Apparently a formidable force, she died in 1918.
On Spanish Point - named for the Spanish and Cuban sailors and traders who paid regular commercial visits - are some fascinating sites. They include Calusa Indian burial mounds; Bertha Matilde Honore Palmer's formal gardens; a small citrus packing house; meandering nature trails; and pioneer family homesteads dating back to the 1800s and including cottages, a cemetery and Mary's Chapel. Reconstructed in 1986, the sweet, white clapboard chapel was named for a young girl who died during a turn-of-the-century visit.
The high point of a visit, though - and it's an incredible experience - is the rare opportunity to walk inside - yes, inside - a midden, one of the high shell mounds created centuries ago by American Indians. Something like modern land fills, these high mounds contain society's material cast-offs, including broken tools, pieces of pottery, and bits of bones and shells.
The association regularly schedules 90-minute tours of the property, and we wouldn't have considered visiting without a guide. After all, 30 acres is a lot of territory to explore alone. Then, too, access to the midden interior is possible only on the guided tours.
For more information, write Historic Spanish Point, 500 N. Tamiami Trail, Osprey, Fla. 34229; (813) 966-5214. The entrance is six or seven miles north of Venice; watch for signs on your left. Admission is $4 for adults.
OSCAR SCHERER STATE RECREATION AREA
A meandering, tannin-dark creek. A small, freshwater lake. Several hiking trails, a canoe rental outpost, and a picnic and campground area. These are among the attractions in this 1,384-acre park, which opened in 1956. An inventor who developed a process for dyeing shoe leather, Oscar Scherer was honored by his daughter, Elsa Scherer Burrows, who donated the initial 461 acres to the state in 1955 as a memorial to her father.The park includes pine and scrub flatwoods and, according to park service material, is noted for its populations of Florida scrub jays and gopher tortoises, as well as bald eagles, otters, bobcats, indigo snakes and alligators.
We spent a pleasant hour or two there and hiked the Old Fisherman's Trail that runs along South Creek, but we didn't see any of the above critters. We did, however, see a family having a child's birthday party in a picnic pavilion by Lake Osprey; a man canoeing with two youngsters; and an older couple grilling shish kebabs.
``I've never made them before, but they look pretty good,'' the woman called out hopefully.
For more information, write Oscar Scherer State Recreation Area, 1843 S. Tamiami Trail, Osprey, Fla. 34229; (813) 483-5956. The entrance is some five or six miles north of Venice; watch for signs on your right. Admission is $3.25 per car (up to eight people); canoe rentals are $3 per hour.
WARM MINERAL SPRINGS
First opened to the public in the mid-1940s, this unpretentious, 10-acre spa and resort centers on what looks like a small, palm-fringed lake, a mere 2 1/2 acres in size. But at its center, this small lake is an incomprehensible 200 feet or more deep and riddled with caverns, some as yet unexplored.From these depths flow more than 9 million gallons of mineral-laden, 87-degree water each day, according to manager Helen Skukalek. The edges of the lake are ringed with ropes that keep bathers in the shallower waters; swimming beyond them is ``at your own risk.'' Skukalek says that the water, despite its ample mineral content - some 17,439 parts per million - is clear most of the time.
Resort amenities also include whirlpool baths, massage therapy, a snack bar and a gift shop, as well as the services of a lifeguard.
Annually, the privately owned resort attracts some 100,000 guests, the majority of whom are foreign, according to Skukalek. Europeans, she notes, are more familiar with the notion of visiting mineral spas than are most Americans.
We weren't prepared to use the facilities when we visited, but we had a stroll around. Many of the swimming-suit-clad guests appeared to be senior citizens, who looked relaxed and comfortable as they lounged on the grassy slopes under shade trees ringing the lake. One of them encouraged us to give the spring a try, claiming it was good for all sorts of health problems, including arthritis and rheumatism.
``You've heard of the fountain of youth?'' he asked, smiling, as he made his way toward the spring.
For more information, write Warm Mineral Springs, 12200 San Servando Ave., Warm Mineral Springs, Fla. 34287; (813) 426-1692. The property is approximately 12 to 14 miles southeast of Venice, off U.S. Highway 41; watch for the signs on your left. Daily admission to the spring is $6.