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:

beaches

Remembering where we are

March 28, 2009

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There are times when the sound of the gulls echoes just right; when the humidity, temperature, and strength of the breeze is just right; or when perhaps you see some little visual reminder; and, you remember just where you are, living on a peninsula between a huge bay and an even [...]

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Arbors Records

February 25, 2009

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FIRST ANNUAL ARBORS RECORDS INVITATIONAL JAZZ PARTY
 
Recently, I had the opportunity to photograph backstage at the Arbors Records First Annual Arbors Records Invitational Piano Jazz Party at the Sheraton Sand Key Resort on Clearwater Beach. There’s a lot of jazz in Florida and a lot here in the Tampa Bay Area. [...]

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Sunken Gardens

February 18, 2009
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(Note: all the individual pictures in this post link to larger images in Flickr; just click on the smaller images you see here.)

CHILEAN FLAMINGOS
A BOTANICAL EXPERIENCE
That’s the “tag line” for the St. Petersburg Sunken Gardens. It’s well chosen. The afternoon I first visited the St. Petersburg Sunken gardens, was following a particularly stressful job interview [...]

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Arts and Crafts

February 4, 2009

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FRAN SIMS BEADED HANGING (SHOWN HORIZONTALLY)
Arts & Crafts
Whenever I’ve felt like “running away from home” (from responsibilities, from humdrum, grinding routine) I’ve fantasized about quitting all jobs and surviving by selling homemade art (water colors, photos, prints, whatever) along the side of the road. So far, I’ve not actually done that, [...]

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Spinners Rooftop Revolving Restaurant

January 17, 2009

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GRAND PLAZA HOTEL

Most locals have their favorite beach hotels and/or beach cottages they like to escape to occasionally for a few nights’ stay, even if they live within just a few minutes of the beach. One such place, for me, is the Grand Plaza Hotel (5250 Gulf Blvd., St. Pete Beach, [...]

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Low Tide

December 31, 2008
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seashell exposed by the low tide

After all the holidays there’s an emotional let-down. The money is a little tighter due to special expenses. There’s physical and mental exhaustion. We are depleted in almost every way. We are experiencing “low tide.”
The human mind seem hard-wired to notice patterns, to have creative interpretations of the environment around [...]

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Lighthouse Books

December 6, 2008

 
If you’re reading this blog, the chances are pretty good that you’re reading lots of other blogs, and if you’re doing that, the chances are even better that you’re a Reader (upper case “R” in case you missed it) and you read real books, too, and reading books has been an important part of your [...]

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Nitally’s Thai-Mexican Fusion Cuisine

December 3, 2008

 
NOTE: Nitally’s has relocated to bigger and better quarters at 2462 Central Ave., St. Petersburg, FL. Same good food, just more of it and more space and parking too!
Nitally’s Thai Coffee House (1040 4th St. N., St. Petersburg, FL 33701) offers something I have never heard of before, nor could I find it anywhere on [...]

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Escape to Tahiti

October 22, 2008

 
Have you ever wanted to run away from home? Join the circus? Run a hot dog stand (we’ve talked about this before)? Sail away to Tahiti (you know: Bernstein’s “Trouble in Tahiti,” going native like Gauguin, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Bali Hai“)? Of course; me too. Usually, my escapades are limited to day dreaming over a [...]

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Pho 97

September 20, 2008

Blogger Quests
Every so often, a blogger—especially a food blogger—takes a photo of which they are enormously proud. An example is the first photo. It’s a snapshot I took of a banh mi sandwich from Pho 97 restaurant, here in St. Pete (3090 34th St. N., St. Petersburg, FL 33713; 727-526-1997). The moisture on the pickled [...]

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O’Maddy’s Bar and Grille Waterfront Dining

September 17, 2008

 
Just writing about O’Maddy’s Bar and Grille, thinking about sitting looking at the water while sipping a beer and munching on their Caesar salad topped with a double order of Vegas Hot fried chicken tenders raises the probability, considerably, that that’s where I’ll wind up eating supper tonight! O’Maddy’s, and similar places, are why some [...]

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John’s Pass Village & Boardwalk (the Friendly Fisherman & Hubbard’s Marina)

May 14, 2008
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Old on top of new
Once, when visiting the Roman Catholic cathedral in Mainz, Germany, I learned—and could easily see—that it was a place of worship in continuous use from the 800s right up to the present. Renovation upon renovation over the centuries juxtaposed vastly different styles of architecture: Romanesque, Gothic, Baroque, and 19th and 20th [...]

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Caddy’s on the Beach

May 5, 2008

Back before there were lots of high-rise condos littering the beach, there were mainly just little cottages to stay in and mom-and-pop snack shacks where you would eat. In both instances, you could literally walk from the back door onto the beach. Those places are a rarity now; when you find one, it’s precious. Caddy’s [...]

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