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

From the category archives:

attractions

Tampa’s Phap Vien Minh Dang Quang and the Jade Buddha

March 10, 2010
Thumbnail image for Tampa’s Phap Vien Minh Dang Quang and the Jade Buddha

Every week/weekend in Tampa Bay has a lot of activities, but this weekend has more than most that fit my tastes. One you don’t want to miss is the enormous Jade Buddha for Universal Peace at the Vietnamese Buddhist temple in Town and Country (that area of Tampa on the west end of Hillsborough Avenue).

All [...]

Tagged as: , , , , , ,

Mount Dora, Florida

February 25, 2010
Thumbnail image for Mount Dora, Florida

OVERLOOKING LAKE DORA FROM LAKESIDE INN
Mount Dora is a small town in central Florida on the edge of Lake Dora. As you can see in the map below, Lake Dora is just one of dozens of lakes, large and small, scattered throughout this area adjoining the Ocala National Forest.
 
View Larger Map
This past weekend was my [...]

Tagged as: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Vietnamese New Years at St. Petersburg’s Phat Phap Buddhist Temple

February 16, 2010
Thumbnail image for Vietnamese New Years at St. Petersburg’s Phat Phap Buddhist Temple

 
Two of the most popular posts at Inkwatu over the few years of its existence are Wat Mongkolratanaram — Palm River Thai Temple and Songkran at Tampa’s Wat Mongkolratanaram and memories of Thailand. Wat Mongkolratanaram is a Thai Buddhist temple, but there are many other Buddhist traditions represented in the Tampa Bay area, many distinguished [...]

Tagged as: , , , ,

The New St. Pete Dali Museum and politics

February 9, 2010
Thumbnail image for The New St. Pete Dali Museum and politics

New Dali museum under construction
The new Dali Museum
The new Dali Museum being constructed right next to Mahaffey Theater looks exciting. I hadn’t driven down that way until just recently and what I saw took me by surprise. I’m not sure if this is the front or the back of the new museum–that fits with the [...]

Tagged as: , , , , ,

Gulfport Trolley Day

January 17, 2010
Thumbnail image for Gulfport Trolley Day

Gulfport Hideaway Apartments
 
A good friend recently bought a home in Gulfport, Florida. Attached to this home, in which she will be resident, are four apartments. She calls her complex the Gulfport Hideaway Apartments.
 
Her target clientele are seasonal visitors from abroad. She wanted to confirm that her visitors would not need a rental car, even to [...]

Tagged as: , , , , , , , , ,

Antiques Show at St. Pete Coliseum

January 7, 2010
Thumbnail image for Antiques Show at St. Pete Coliseum

Tomorrow, the Sunshine City Antiques and Collectibles Show opens at the St. Pete Coliseum. Here’s the details from the City of St. Petersburg Events page.
January 8-10
Sunshine City Antiques and Collectibles Show, Friday 5pm to 8pm, Saturday and Sunday 10am to 5pm, $6 adults, 12 and under are free. This nationally recognized show features nearly [...]

Tagged as: , , , , , , ,

Thai Orchids at St. Petersburg International Folk Fair 2009

November 6, 2009
Thumbnail image for Thai Orchids at St. Petersburg International Folk Fair 2009

Click on any picture in this post for larger image.
SPIFFS (www.spiffs.org/), the St. Petersburg International Folk Fair Society, is one of the beloved institutions of St. Pete. I’m honored to be their official photographer this year while their regular photographer is in the hospital.

This year, the fair has been moved from the spring to the [...]

Tagged as: , , , , , , ,

Geckofest and other festivals

October 10, 2009
Thumbnail image for Geckofest and other festivals

It’s that time of the year in Florida. The hot, humid days of late summer are just beginning to pass away. There’s the occasional cool front that comes through (we never seem to have real cold fronts). And the festivals begin. A couple weeks ago I went to the Geckofest (geckofest.com) in one of my [...]

Tagged as: , , , , , ,

Cassadaga, Florida

September 19, 2009
Thumbnail image for Cassadaga, Florida

The best non-fiction book I have read this year is The Power of Coincidence: How Life Shows Us What We Need to Know, by David Richo. I don’t say that lightly, because I read a lot of books. It’s so good, in fact, that I’ve already begun rereading it.

THE CASSADAGA HOTEL
(note the spirit orb that [...]

Tagged as: , , , , , ,

The Sea Hagg

August 8, 2009
Thumbnail image for The Sea Hagg

The Sea Hagg is a place my mother would have adored. I guess the love of kitsch, tchotchkes, schlock, “bad” art, curiosities, and the odd flotsam and jetsam of life is an inherited trait, because I know I’ve got the same affliction: the total inability to pass a seashell store without stopping!
That’s why, when driving [...]

Tagged as: , , , , , ,

fishing piers

May 6, 2009
Thumbnail image for fishing piers

Rod & Reel Pier, Anna Maria Island
weathered wood
This post was almost titled “weathered wood.” While modern concrete piers, such as the local St. Pete Pier (pictured below), Fort Desoto Pier, Skyway Bridge Pier, and Williams Fishing Pier, are wonderful and probably 100 times safer than wooden piers, and capable of extending farther out into the [...]

Tagged as: , , , ,

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 of a [...]

Tagged as: , , , , , , ,

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 of [...]

Tagged as: , , , , , , ,

← Previous Entries

Unless specifically attributed otherwise, all Inkwatu content (text, photos, music, media, etc.) Copyright © 2008-2010 Hilton Kean Jones