Noisy Neighbors

When we first arrived in Tampa Bay, as we drove up and down the coastline, we noticed (and heard) parrots. They are very hard to see, for they nest and hide in the upper parts of the palm trees, and of course, blend right in to their habitat. Sure enough, we took a closer look, and it turns out, Florida has become home to these little fellas. We have seen them in Tarpon Springs, Dunedin, Clearwater and St. Petersburg. We have even seen them south from Sarasota to Sanibel Island, and even on the east coast of West Palm Beach to Fort Lauderdale.

Doing some further research, we found that while they are not native to Florida, as they were introduced several years ago when a large shipment of wild parrots came in directly from the wild and, for whatever reason, they got out and have been flourishing ever since. Even though they are loud, especially when they gather in large groups, it is still a beautiful sight to see them up in the tops of the palm trees and sometimes fly around in flocks.

Weekend R&R

We took the weekend off from sightseeing around the bay for a little R&R. I will be hitting the area hard starting October 5th, for the fall photography course starts with an 8-week course in Field Techniques of Light and Composition. The course includes Artistic Expression, Light, Shadows, Silhouettes, Depth of Field, Selective Focus and Wide Angle Perspectives. Stay Tuned!

Rita & Red Tide Update

The seventeenth named storm of the season, Hurricane Rita entered the Gulf of Mexico Tuesday and is predicted that it will reach Category 4 status and plow into the coastline of Texas the next few days, churning up once again the Gulf of Mexico. The reports of Red Tide has been very consistent over the past several months, and have changed very little even with the several hurricanes that have crossed the gulf.

While we were out on the Sunshine Skyway Pier fishing Saturday night, we talked with the Nighttime Security official, whom is also an avid fisherman, and told us that the "Dead Zone" has increased in size dramatically, from a typical few hundred yards, to several hundred miles along the gulf. Hopefully the water temperatures will cool soon and kill off this toxin in the waters.

Siesta Fiesta

So far in our travels, we have found Sarasota to be our favorite place to visit on the Gulf Coast, from the Mote Marine Aquarium, the crystal white beaches in Siesta Key to the unbelievable ice cream at Big Olaf's in Siesta Key Village. This was our third visit to Siesta Key, and we headed back to the Mote, and stayed several hours with the Sea Turtles, Manatees, Dolphins and numerous displays of marine animals.

After the aquarium, we headed down to Siesta Key Beach, and this beach has to have the whitest and purest crystal white sand in Florida, for it almost is like powder. The crowds are a lot less now that vacation season is over, so it's easier to go places and explore. We swam around the beaches, saw some Dolphins swim by, finding shells and Sand Dollars, and some nice big Blue Crabs, just waiting to pinch your toes and say hello.

After another beautiful sunset, we had to stop at Big Olaf's, and get some awesome ice cream. Nothing tastes better after a day at the beach to top it off with some good old fashioned ice cream. We headed back to Tampa, and during our drive up, we decided to stop at the Sunshine Skyway Pier in St. Petersburg. We went to the Bait Store at the Pier, and rented a fishing pole, bought some shrimp bait, and tried our luck to catch some fish.

We had one big bite, and it put up a huge fight, and just before we pulled it up, it broke away, taking the bait shrimp with it. From the struggle, we estimated it to be a Jewfish, for the are very common around the pier, and love shrimp. Later we saw a huge Sea Turtle swim by, along with Blue Crabs and Jellyfish. We had another bite, this time a Pin Fish, but they are masters of stealing the bait and not getting hooked. We came up empty for our first time ever fishing, but was exciting nonetheless.

(Click on the thumbnails for a larger photo)

East Coast Style

We bought tickets to see the band Coldplay several months back, and we packed our bags and headed to the Atlantic shores of West Palm Beach. We stayed the night at the Hilton Beachfront in West Palm Beach, and had the most incredible panoramic view of the Atlantic Ocean.

In the morning we headed out to explore the local surroundings of West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Delray Beach and down to Fort Lauderdale. It was a crash course in sightseeing, from the 20 million dollar plus homes, with matching boats that probably costs as much as well, to the crystal blue beaches up and down Highway 1A1.

Later in the evening, we enjoyed an evening of great music with Coldplay at the SoundAdvice Amphitheater in West Palm Beach, and arrived back in Tampa around 4am. It was an action-packed 36 hours to say the least.

(Click on the thumbnails for a larger photo)

Strolling Along The Pier

We took a drive down to The Pier in St. Petersburg to check out the Aquarium and the shops. We also found Cha Cha Coconuts - A Tropical Bar & Grill at the top of The Pier, and so far, they have the best food we have eaten here.

Around The Pier, the pelicans gather in large numbers, trying to take advantage of the free handouts of shrimp at the bait store, and was a sight to see them just walking around The Pier as if they were shopping too.

(Click on the thumbnails for a larger photo)

End Of An Era

Built in the 1960's, the old Clearwater draw bridge that connected Downtown Clearwater to Clearwater Beach is slowly being dismantled, and should be gone in a month or so. It is the beginning of a large revitalization project to improve the area that should last a few years to bring Clearwater Beach finally out of the sixty's.

It provided my first view of the beach when I came to Clearwater, and it will be missed.

Freshwater Exploring

Having been in Tampa now for over two months, we figured now was the time to see if we could find a Florida Alligator, so we headed out to Lake Tarpon in northern Pinellas County. We found an abundance of wildlife, from Dragonflies, Herons, Ibis, Egrets, Cormorants, Anhingas, Cardinals, Squirrels, Red Shoulder Hawks and numerous other smaller birds.

We walked around the south eastern shore of the lake in John Chestnut SR Park, and jackpot. He was a small gator, around 2-3 feet in length and a baby in comparison to an adult, but was an exciting find to see in the wild.

(Click on the thumbnails for a larger photo)

Running On Empty

Panic seems to be setting in around the Tampa Bay area, as gas stations are running out of fuel. I stopped at a local Mobil station here, and was shocked to find that the entire station was completely out of gas.

I went in and talked to the station manager, and he explained to me that yesterday afternoon, that cars were lining up 20-30 deep, and the station ran out of fuel around 9pm Friday night. He also said that some were just buying $2 or $3 worth, just topping off their tank, leaving those who may of had little to no gas out of luck. This scene seems to be repeating itself all over the bay area, and could be the start of things to come.

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UPDATE: Driving around the local area here at 1am on Sunday, I drove by over 24 gas stations, and not a one had any fuel to dispense. I found a Shell station off the beaten path, and it only had 93 Octane for $3.21 per gallon. Never in my 22+ years of driving have I ever seen anything like this.

Surfs Up

When Hurricane Katrina moved north into the Gulf of Mexico and headed towards New Orleans this past week, the surf along the coast including Tampa Bay left some incredible waves and large amounts of sea foam. Surfers all along the shores took to the gulf and took advantage of the surf, which is very rarely seen on the west coast of Florida.

The large waves and sea foam also washed ashore large amounts of sea shells, sand dollars and coral, and we must of collected well over 20 lbs of just about every shell known to populate the coastline of the Sun Coast.

Journey Through Tampa Bay

In honor of the "Official Grand Opening" of the blog, I put together a QuickTime slideshow of some of the photos I've shot so far titled Journey Through Tampa Bay. Hope you enjoy!   (QuickTime Format - 1.3MB)