The Wandering Disciple

A Bald Eagle watches over its nest from an adjacent tree at Cedar Point Environmental Park in Englewood. The park is home to a nesting pair of Bald Eagles which can bee seen from the park's hiking trail. Click on the photo to see more photos from Cedar Point . (Photo: December 30, 2012)

One of the many watering hole you can find on the Marsh Trail at Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge in South Florida. The refuge consist of 35,000 acres of tiny islands providing habitat for all types of plants and animals. Click on the photo to view more photos from Ten Thousand Islands NWR . (Photo: December 9, 2012)

The Cypress Bend Boardwalk takes you deep into the swamp at Fakahatchee Strand State Park. The 1.2 mile round trip journey takes hikers on leisurely walk though the dense canopy of a cypress swamp with plenty of wildlife along the way. Click on the photo to see more photos of Fakahatchee Strand State Park . (Photo: December 9, 2012)

A Muscovy Duck walks along a lake in Sarasota.  Typically found in Central and South America, small colonies of them can be found in North America.  (Photo: September 26, 2013)

On Saturday September 28, Smithsonian Magazine is hosing Museum Day Live!   For one day only, several hundred museums nationwide will feature free admission for guests.  To participate, guests must visit the event website and print an admission ticket.  The ticket will allow up to two guest per household to get into a participating museum of their choice.  To see participating museums and to get your complimentary ticket visit the Museum Day Live website by clicking the event logo.

The bright colors of Sarasota Bay provide a stunning backdrop for the luxury condos that line the bayfront in Downtown Sarasota. (Photo: September 11, 2013)

John Ringling's train car "The Wisconsin" on display at the Circus Museum at the Ringling Museum. Built in 1905, The Wisconsin delivered John and Mable Ringling throughout the country. Today visitor's to the museum can glimpse into Ringling's life on the rails. (Photo: September 19, 2013)

Heavy tropical moisture, a tropical low and a stalled frontal boundary created the perfect combination for heavy tropical rainfall over Florida early this week.  The rain started Monday and is expected to continue through Wednesday with over 6 inches of rain that has already fallen resulting in localized flooding.  Click on the photo to see more photos of the Englewood flooding . (Photo: September 24, 2013)

Completing the vision to connect the Atlantic and Gulf coast of Florida with a highway through the swamp would requiring an engineering marvel. This marvel would be in the form of the Bay City Walking Dredge. Built in 1924, this piece of equipment help build the Tamiami Trail highway which traverses the Everglades and Big Cypress Swamp while linking both coasts. Today the last remaining walking dredge can be seen on display at Collier-Seminole State Park. (Photo: December 9, 2012)

An F-16 Fighting Falcon sits on display at Freedom Lakes Park in Pinellas Park.  The F-16 was in operation for ten years including two stints with the 56th Tactical Training Wing at MacDill Air Force Base.  The aircraft was retired from the Air Force in 1991 and was dedicated to Freedom Lakes Park in 1998.

An F-22 Raptor from 49th Fighter Wing at Holloman Air Force Base sits on static display at Wings over Homestead. The Raptor is built by Lockheed Martin and Boeing for the United States Air Force. Introduced in 2005, there have been 195 Raptors built at a cost of $150 million each. (Photo: November 3, 2012)

The Statue of Liberty and many other New York landmarks are recreated at the Legoland Florida theme park.  The famous building bricks are used to symbolize many of the nation's great cities including New York City, Washington DC, Las Vegas as well as the State of Florida and much more.  (Photo: October 27, 2012)

Walt Disney World Speedway roars to life with the Richard Petty Driving Experience.  Here race fans can get a first hand look at life as a race car driver with ride along packages or driving school.  (Photo: September 29, 2012)

Sarasota, Florida: The Fall Instructional League continues with a Thursday afternoon match-up between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Baltimore Orioles. The Fall Instructional League is a short camp that allows prominent minor league players the chance to play under the watchful eyes of the team’s coaching and coordination staff. This is one last chance to make an impression with the staff before the offseason. In addition to the regular minor league prospects, today’s game featured a rehab appearance by Tampa Bay Rays All-Star Reliever Jesse Crain as he puts the finishing touches on a return to the field in time for the postseason push. Click on the photo above to view my Rays/Orioles photo gallery .

Take a wild ride with the Great Goofini at Disney’s Magic Kingdom. Goofy pilots a stunt plane through chaos on this family roller coast in the Storybook Circus portion of Fanstasyland. (Photo: September 29, 2012)

A 12-inch canon points skyward at Fort Desoto Park. Built in conjunction with Fort Dade on nearby Egmont Key, Fort Desoto was designed to help fortify Tampa Bay. Construction was completed by 1906 and the fort remain operational until 1910 when the troops were relocated to Alabama. The fort was opened and closed a few more times before ultimately being turned over to Pinellas Parks and Rec in 1948. Today the park features a museum for the fort, camping and plenty of beach access. (Photo: April 8, 2012)

An F/A 18 Hornet performs during the 2012 Florida International Air Show in Punta Gorda.  This Hornet is from the VFA-106 "Gladiators" located the NAS Oceana.  (Photo: March 25, 2012)

Sarasota, Florida:  With the minor league season finished, several prominent minor leagues returned to camp for the Fall Instructional League.  The short camp allows players to continue developing with the coaching staff while playing a series of exhibition games against other clubs.  The Rays and Orioles faced off in the first  game of the camp on Monday at Ed Smith Stadium. Click on the photo for pictures from the Rays/Orioles game .

Bradenton, Florida: Coming of their first win as a team, the Englewood Crabs found themselves in the semi-finals of the 2013 Gold Glove Championship where they would face the top seed, Fish Hawk Wolves. The Crabs played hard but ended up losing to the Wolves 15-3 and were eliminated from the tournament. Later in the evening, strong storms settled over the park and the tournament was cancelled before an overall winner could be crowned. Click on the photo above to view photos from the Crabs/Wolves game .

Bradenton, Florida: The Englewood Crabs kicked off tournament play for the 2013 Gold Glove Championship with an opening round match-up against the Riverview Rockets. The Crabs looked to avenge a loss to the Rockets at last month’s tournament which sent the Crabs home in the first round. This time, it was the Crabs who came out swinging, earning a 16-6 win over the Rockets. More importantly, this was the first win for the Crabs as a team, a great milestone for the team.  Click on the photo above to view photos from the Crabs/Rockets game .

The clear waters of the Gulf of Mexico on Boca Grande is a popular place for swimming. Gasparilla Island State Park features miles of shoreline with four access points great for swimming, shelling, fishing and more. (Photo: March 18, 2012)

Bradenton, Florida: The Englewood Crabs continued their afternoon of baseball with game two of pool play at the 2013 Gold Glove Championship hosted by Suncoast Travel Ball. Game two featured the Crabs taking on the Progress Village Hawks on Field One at Braden River Park. The Crabs fell to the Hawks 17-2 to fall to 0-2 in pool play. Click on the photo above to see the Crabs/Hawks photo gallery .

Bradenton, Florida: The Englewood Crabs headed north to Manatee County for the team's second travel ball tournament. After a month of practice following the last tournament, the team headed to Braden River Park for the 2013 Gold Glove Championship hosted by Suncoast Travel Ball. The two day tournament features two pool games on Saturday followed by a single elimination tournament on Sunday. The Crabs faced the East Manatee RiverDawgs in the opening pool play game on Saturday morning. The Crab lost the opening game to the RiverDawgs by the score of 18-1. Click on the photos to view the entire Crabs/RiverDawgs photo gallery .

Mr Potato Head comes alive and interacts with guests in the ride queue for Toy Story Mania at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Opened in 2008, riders join the characters from the movies in a series of interactive midway carnival rides. (Photo: January 28, 2012)

The quiet beaches of Lido Key attract visitors from all over the world to enjoy the warm Gulf of Mexico water. The main beach on the Key is Lido Beach and further south is South Lido Park which also has public beach. There is miles of private beach in between the public beach accesses. (Photo: August 31, 2012)

Originally created for Tokyo DisneySea Park, Duffy the Disney Bear made his United State debut in 2010. He can be found at Epcot in Florida and Disney’s California Adventure in California. (Photo: January 7, 2012)

To commemorated the twelfth anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, today's photo of the day is of the World Trade Center Memorial at George Steinbrenner Field in Tampa.  On September 11, 2001, terrorists crashed two loaded airlines into twin tower in New York, one into the Pentagon in Virginia and a fourth plane crashed into a field in Pennsylvania.  Almost 3,000 innocent lives were lost at the hands of coward terrorists.  Memorials like this one in Tampa can be found throughout the United States to help honor the memories of the fallen on that fateful September morning.  (Photo: July 27, 2013)

A Zebra Longwing feeds on the pollen of some wildflowers at the Myakka Islands Preserve. (Photo: December 4, 2011)

Towering over Anastasia Island, the St Augustine Lighthouse has been guiding ships around these shallow waters for over 180 years.  The original lighthouse was opened in 1824 as the first commissioned lighthouse in Florida.  However the Florida weather caused deterioration of the first lighthouse and new lighthouse was built.  It was first lit in 1874 and remains in operation today.  (Photo: November 13, 2011)

The eerie Warden Castle is the starting and ending point for your journey into the paranormal world aboard the Ripley’s Ghost Train. Board the train and your ghost host will take you on a trip through the haunted ancient city, hearing all the ghost tales the city has to offer. Once you return to the castle, your journey continues on foot through the Castle, one of the city’s most haunted places. (Photo: November 12, 2011)

The cut glass exhibit at the Lightner Museum features pieces from the late 19th century. The museum is home to many unique exhibits ranging from glass like seen here all the way to a mummy. There are three floors of exhibits located within the historic Alcazar Hotel building. (Photo: November 12, 2011)

One of the turrets at Castillo de San Marcos. The turrets were part of the fort’s defense system to help defend the city. The fort was built in 1672 and over its storied history was occupied by the Spanish, British, American and Confederate forces. (Photo: November 12, 2011)

A swashbuckling pirate guards the ship and its treasure at the St Augustine Pirate and Treasure Museum. The museum is the collection of former NBA owner Pat Croce and features many pirate artifact. (Photo: November 12, 2011)

A wetland is all that remains of Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose, also known as Fort Mose. Fort Mose Historic State Park is the site of the first black settlement in the United States. Established in 1738, the fort is considered a precursor to the Underground Railroad. (Photo: November 12, 2011)

Spanning Matanzas Bay connecting downtown St Augustine to Anastasia Island, the Bridge of Lions is one of the top ten bridges in the nation. The original bridge was opened in 1927 and operated for 80 years before it was temporarily closed for renovation in 2006. The newly renovated Bridge of Lions reopened in 2010. The bridge is guarded by two marble Medici Lions on the downtown side of the bridge and their return to the base of the bridge marked the conclusion of the renovation. The Bridge of Lions is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. (Photo: November 13, 2011)

The mechanical fortune teller Zoltar sits on display at Ripley’s Believe it or Not museum in St Augustine. The machine made famous by Tom Hank’s movie “Big” is just one of many unique items on display at the museum. (Photo: November 11, 2011)

Dunes line the beach at Anastasia State Park in St Augustine. The popular state park on the Atlantic Ocean features water activities and camping just minutes away from historic downtown St Augustine. (Photo: November 13, 2011)