photos and descriptions of what makes our world a pleasure
emphasis on Florida and the Tampa Bay area but also far beyond

April 2009

the waning Moon passes Venus

April 25, 2009

THE WANING MOON PASSES VENUS OVER TAMPA BAY   The picture above doesn’t capture the optical illusion that we humans witnessed early this past Wednesday morning. The Moon and Venus appeared to be at least 10 times larger than they really were and Venus was so bright it had pointy spokes like a child’s drawing [...]

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Dockside Dave’s

April 22, 2009

GROUPER FRITTERS AND BLACKENED GROUPER SANDWICH This is the place I take out-of-town guests to impress them with the quality of local seafood: Dockside Dave’s! It’s in my personal top 10 favorite places to eat in the Tampa Bay area. PART OF MADEIRA BEACH DOCKSIDE DAVE’S INTERIOR Why? Well… the grouper is locally caught the [...]

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Ready and waiting…!

April 22, 2009
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Tampa, FL Taken on April 22, 2009 Most images link to larger images. click on larger image for closeup

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Songkran at Tampa’s Wat Mongkolratanaram and memories of Thailand

April 18, 2009
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slideshow 1: BANGKOK’S GRAND PALACE, WAT PHRA KAEW, THE VIMANMEK TEAK HOUSE, AND THE JIM THOMPSON HOUSE   Last weekend Wat Mongkolratanaram in Palm River (Tampa) held its Songkran festival. Because of that, there have been a number of recent comments on the Inkwatu post, Wat Mongkolratanaram — Palm River Thai Temple, including one with [...]

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A progressive Vietnamese lunch-break

April 15, 2009

click here for larger image HERBAL DUCK SOUP AT BEN THANH A “progressive dinner” is an affair where a group of friends decide to have appetizers at the home of one of the friends, the soup or salad course at another’s home, the entree at another’s, and dessert at another’s. You “progress” from one home [...]

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More flowering trees

April 11, 2009

click here for larger image That’s a picture of “just” a bougainvillea. (How could anything so magnificent be “just” anything?) I say, “just,” though because they’re such a common plant here. They’re blooming right now and they’re breathtakingly gorgeous. Flowering trees and bushes in bloom are a sure sign it’s spring. Recently, there was an [...]

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4th Street Shrimp Store

April 8, 2009

click here for larger image The 4th Street Shrimp Store, which has a first rate website complete with menus and history and photos, is one of those places that’s all dolled up like a tourist trap but isn’t really: it serves pretty good seafood and is crowded with locals at all times. It is a [...]

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SPIFFS 2009 International Folk Fair

April 4, 2009

click here for larger image This past weekend, March 27-29, was the St. Petersburg International Folk Fair Society (SPIFFS) 34th annual International Folk Fair at the Vinoy Park on the waterfront. The weather was beautiful but very breezy, but that just made for great surf to watch when taking a break and feasting on some [...]

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European Goodies Polish Deli

April 1, 2009

click here for larger image European Goodies, a Polish deli (4701 49th St. N., St. Petersburg, FL 33709; 727-526-1118) is just south of Zeko’s. 49th Street is, generally, one of the “blue collar” sections of St. Petersburg. That’s prized ethnic-food territory, for it is here–and along 34th Street that runs parallel to it–that, mixed among [...]

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