The Wandering Disciple

A tunnel take drivers of the Colonial Parkway underneath the historic district of Colonial Williamsburg. The 23 mile Colonial Parkway connects Virginia's history triangle. The Colonial Parkway starts in Jamestown, passes through Williamsburg and ends in Yorktown. (Photo: April 24, 2004)

Windmill's like these can be spotted throughout Amish country to help power the homestead.  The Amish do not rely on traditional electric service, so they use wind power and propane to help power their appliances.  Here at Amish Village, visitors can look into the lives of the Amish through a homestead, farm, schoolhouse and more.  (Photo: April 23, 2004)

An American Alligator takes a nap in the heat of the day at Busch Gardens. The alligators are just one of several hundred animals you can observe at Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida. (Photo: March 26, 2004)

The streets of Beverly Hills come alive at Universal Studios Florida. Beverly Hills is one of the regions of the park recreated to resemble its real life counterpart in California and provide a realistic backdrop for production. (Photo: September 20, 2003)

A giant propeller like the ones found on Titanic greets visitors to the Titanic Experience in Orlando. The museum takes visitors from the shipyard, to the maiden voyage and through the recovery. (Photo: September 20, 2003)

The P-51 Mustang “Betty Jane” performs maneuvers during the Wings of Freedom Tour stop at Venice Municipal Airport. Operated by the Collings Foundation, P-51 joins the B-17 Flying Fortress and the B-24 Liberator in the cross country tour to highlight World War II aviation. (Photo: January 25, 2014)

Race cars and racing memorabilia are everywhere at the NASCAR Cafe at Universal Orlando's Citywalk. The NASCAR themed restaurant features a menu filled with burgers, sandwiches, wings and more.  (Photo: September 20, 2003)

The Grinch and Sam I Am stop to pose for a picture at Seuss Landing at Islands of Adventure. Here the colorful characters of Dr Seuss come to life with enjoyable theme park rides and shops. (Photo: July 18, 2003)

A monarch butterfly lands on a bush along the nature trail at Myakka River State Park. (Photo: November 30, 2013)

From the porch of her Cross Creek home, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings wrote many of her most popular literary pieces. A typewriter and the Florida wilderness gave way to stories that would entertain readers for generations. (Photo: November 10, 2013)

An osprey flies high over northern Sarasota. Osprey's like the one here can be found throughout coastal Florida. (Photo: April 11, 2012)

Over 230 stairs take you on a 120 foot descent into the base of an ancient sinkhole at Devil’s Millhopper State Geological Park. The sinkhole is the highlight of the 67 acre state in Gainesville. (Photo: November 9, 2013)

Opened in 1913, the George Peabody Hall was home to the University of Florida’s Teacher College. The education program would later be relocated and in 1990 it was renovated and became the school’s Registrar’s Office. Peabody Hall was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. (Photo: November 10, 2013)

A Native American tribal ritual is depicted here in this diorama at the Florida Museum of Natural History on the University of Florida campus.  The history of the Calusa, Seminole and Miccosukee tribes and be seen here at the museum.  (Photo: November 9, 2013)

The Paynes Prairie outside Gainesville seems to stretch on forever as seen here from the observation tower at Paynes Prairie State Park.  The 21,000 state park is home to many species of animals including a herd of bison and wild horses.  (Photo: November 9, 2013)

A JetBlue Airbus A320 with the New York Jets special livery is on final approach to Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport. The Jets aircraft is one of three special livery jets operated by JetBlue. (Photo: January 14, 2014)

Firefighters with the Sarasota County Fire Department perform a high level rescue during a training exercise at the University Town Center Mall project. Crew performed a rescue of a victim from the roof during an emergency simulation with the mall's construction staff. (Photo: November 6, 2013)

The Collings Foundation's B-17 Flying Fortress "Nine-O'Nine" departs Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport during the Wings of Freedom Tour. The Wings of Freedom Tour travels the nation to demonstrate Word War II era aircraft including the B-17 Flying Fortress, the B-24 Liberator and the P-51 Mustang. (Photo: January 25, 2013)

A Great Blue Heron in flight over Lemon Lake at Amberjack Environmental Park near Rotonda, Florida.  (Photo: January 12, 2014)

A roseate spoonbill flies high over Lemon Lake at the Amberjack Environmental Park.  The park is 225 acres of scub habitat with over 5 miles of hiking trails including two boardwalks overlooking Lemon Lake.  (Photo: January 12, 2014)

Rotonda, Florida: One of the hidden gems of Charlotte County, Amberjack Environmental Park is a great place to take a hike and enjoy the wildlife of the scrub habitat. The 225 acre park near Rotonda is home to various species of plants and animals including bobcats, gopher tortoise and many species of birds. The park features over five and a half miles of trails. There are two boardwalk overlooks that provide a closer look at the birds wading in Lemon Lake. Below is a map of the trails provided by Charlotte County.  We decided to take a hike at Amberjack on a brisk Sunday morning. I recently read an article in the Englewood Sun Herald about the abundance of birds at the lake so we decided to check it out. We hiked the Red and Pink Trails, both providing views of Lemon Lake. On our trip we saw Roseate Spoonbills, Great Blue Herons, Great White Egrets, Anhinga, Wood Stork and a bunch of ducks that were too far away to identify. We also crossed over one southern racer ...

A bee is hard at work pollinating the colorful flowers at Historic Spanish Point.  (Photo: November 3, 2013)

A Sandhill Crane crosses a field at the Babcock Ranch in eastern Charlotte County.  Visitor's to the ranch can take the Babcock Wilderness Adventure, a buggy ride deep into the ranch where you can see an abundance of wildlife. (Photo: October 25, 2013)

The intricate details of the stage at the Tampa Theatre shows the elegance of the theater era from years gone by.  Built in 1925, the theater was built with a Mediterranean theme.  It has entertaining patrons with films on the big screen ever since.  (Photo: October 19, 2013)

Firefighters from the Sarasota County Fire Department stretch a line from a fire engine during a training drill at the Sarasota County Operations Center.  Crews simulated a working fire with injuries during mid-day to test the response of the first responders as well as the reaction of the building occupants.  (Photo: October 21, 2013)

Two JetBlue aircraft sit at the gate at Sarasota-Bradenton International after harsh winter weather in the northern third of the county created a travel nightmare nationwide.  Airlines like JetBlue were forced to suspend operations in the northeast to recover from the epic weather events.  (Photo: January 6, 2014)

Beneath the moss covered oak trees in downtown Sarasota lies some of the regions prominent families. The Rosemary Cemetery is the final resting place to many of the cities founding families including the Gillespie, Browning, Higel and Burns families to name a few. The historical importance of those buried here has placed the Rosemary Cemetery on the National Register of Historic Places. (Photo: October 14, 2013)

The lights of the Sarasota Opera House light up the theater district in downtown Sarasota.  Opened in 1926 as Edwards Theater, saw celebrities like Will Rogers and Elvis Presley perform on its stage.  After a renovation in 1982, the facility became the Sarasota Opera House.  It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.  (Photo: October 12, 2013)

A base runner for the North Port Power slides under the tag by the Englewood Crabs third baseman during a scrimmage game at Englewood Sports Complex.  (Photo: October 5, 2013)

Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Jesse Crain makes a rehab start in the fall instructional league. Crain, an all-star reliever, was signed by the Rays in an attempt to add depth to the Rays bullpen. (Photo: September 19, 2013)

Tampa Bay Rays minor league pitcher Jose Alonzo and catcher Nick Ciuffo talk things over on the mound during an Instructional League game against the Orioles. (Photo: September 16, 2013)

A replica of the Castillo de San Marco dominates the St Augustine Atrium at Gaylord Palms in Kissimmee.  In addition to the fort, other St Augustine landmarks like Flagler College and St George Street can be found within the atrium.  (Photo: December 26, 2013)

Happy New Year and welcome to 2014 and another year of great photography by Donten Photography. As we head into 2014, we will continue to add new and exciting locations while welcoming new readers on a regular basis. Things continue to rapidly grow and evolve here at the site. Thanks to loyal readers like you, we are closing in on the three million readers mark. At the close of the year there have been 2,941,613 visitors that viewed our photos. There are now 720 galleries containing 19,901 photos published on the website. And these numbers do not count the number of visits and views to the Facebook pages in which there are no statistical records. In 2013 we brought you stories from our Staycation featuring day trips to Sarasota, Tampa and Orlando. We brought you stories and photos from a weekend camping trip to Gainesville. We ended the year with a trip to Gaylord Palms in Kissimmee. In addition, we featured plenty more trips and lots of baseball and aviation photos. T...