The Wandering Disciple

A World War II era aircraft sits on the apron of the AirTrek hangar at Punta Gorda Airport kicking off air show time in Southwest Florida. While the show is still a few weeks away, last night sponsors and the media got a sneak peak at what's in store for this year's show. From World War II to today's modern fighters to a collection of civilian acrobats, the 40th anniversary of the Florida International Air Show has something for everyone in the family. The show takes place October 16 and 17 at the Punta Gorda Airport. (Photo: September 29, 2021)

In just a few short weeks, the sound of aircraft will fill the air over Southwest Florida as the Florida International Air Show returns to the Punta Gorda Airport.  To help kick off the FIAS season, the board of directors hosted a celebration for sponsors and media to give a look at what this year's show has to offer.   Celebrating it's 40th anniversary, the 2021 Florida International Air Show will feature a star studded lineup featuring headliners from the US Air Force as well as top civilian acts.   The main event of the show will be the F-16 Viper Demo team.  Based out of Shaw Air Force Base and piloted by Major Garret "Toro" Schmitz, the demo features the F-16 Fighting Falcon showcasing the speed and maneuverability of the Air Force's fighter.  Reaching speeds of Mach 2, the F-16 has been a major contributor to the air superiority since its introduction in 1979.  In addition to being part of the single ship demo team, the F-16 is also the airc...

Baby Gronk plays with a boulder at ZooTampa. For those of you who watched the Secrets of the Zoo, you got to follow the pregnancy journey of Jamie and Johnny, the zoo's pair of endangered Indian Rhinos. Baby Gronk named after Tampa Bay Bucs tight end Rob Gronkowski was born in September 2020. If you enjoy the Nat Geo show, you can now go behind the scenes of the zoo and see the Secrets of the Zoo first hand through a private tour and witness firsthand the inner workings of the zoo. (Photo: December 28, 2020)

An anhinga sits along the lake with its wings spread in the Florida sun, drying out so it can take flight. Unlike most water fowl, the anhinga lack oil glands to keep their wings dry. So after its dive, it needs to perch on land, fluff its feathers and stretch out to dry in the sun. (Photo: December 26, 2020)

The colorful seeds of the Cardboard Cycad provide a splash of color on the forest floor. The seeds are buried deep in the heart of the plant and are rather difficult to germinate. As a result, the plants are illegally harvested causing the plant to become endangered. While the seeds may look inviting to eat, the plant is highly poisonous to animals and humans. (Photo: December 25, 2020)

A red shouldered hawk sits atop a snag at Myakka River State Park in eastern Sarasota. The park is home to many birds of prey like this hawk and much more. The red shouldered hawk sits high above on a perch in a tree or utlity pole scanning the ground below for small mammals. They soar in and catch they prey undetected. Red shouldered hawks are plentiful in the Southeastern US and range up the east coast and along the west coast. (Photo: December 25, 2020)

The US Air Force Heritage Flight is a flying tribute to generations of American air power. Formed on December 6, 2010, the heritage flight travels the country as a living tribute to those who have served and continue to serve. Each performance mixes modern day fighters with fighters from World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War. On this particular heritage flight at the 2020 Holiday Flying Festival in Lakeland, the heritage flight featured the P-51 Mustang, F-16 Fighting Falcon and the newest fighter the F-35 Lightning II. (Photo: December 5, 2020)

While this shark may look intimidating, it is actual harmless to humans. Found along the Pacific coast of the US and Mexico, the leopard shark can be found in large schools feeding on small marine life like clams, crabs and shrimp in tidal basins. Because of their non-aggressive qualities, the leopard shark is a popular aquarium shark and does well in captivity. This shark is in the Manta exhibit at Sea World Orlando. (Photo: September 18, 2020)

Walt Disney World resort is known for world class theme parks, hotel and even recreation. One of these are the mini-golf courses like the Fantasia Gardens course here. Fun and challenging at the same time, this course is themed based on the Disney's Fantasia animated film. This is one of two courses that comprise the Fantasia Gardens and Fairways course, the other course looks more like a PGA style course with bunkers and hazards. Across the property is another mini golf complex, Winter Wonderland which is a winter resort meets Florida sun. (Photo September 17, 2020)

A Cheetah chases down a runner in the daily Cheetah Run at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. Cheetahs are the fastest land mammal, reaching speeds in excess of 60 miles per hour. Each day, the staff of Busch Gardens set up a chase for their resident cheetahs, simulating a hunt and letting visitors witness the speed and effectiveness of a cheetah hunt. After watching the hunt you want to feel the hunt, take a ride on the Cheetah Hunt coaster next store and witness the thrill of a zero to sixty hunt just like the wild cheetahs. (Photo: September 17, 2020)

A Colobus Monkey takes a break from playing in the Florida sunshine at ZooTampa. Found in the Congo, the Colobus Monkey live in territorial troops and spend their time playing in the trees, rarely touching the ground. The Colobus Monkey are one of the many primates on display at 65-acre ZooTampa. (Photo: May 30, 2020)

A 3-inch 50-caliber cannon helps protect the cargo of the American Victory, a merchant marine vessel that now serves as a museum ship docked at the Port of Tampa. The SS American Victory saw service in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Today the ship is a museum ship and visitors can tour the ship and see exhibits that highlight the ships service and history. The American Victory is one of 534 Victory-class ships built and only one of four that still sail. (Photo: May 30, 2020)

In honor of Talk Like a Pirate Day, today's photo of the day comes from the newest exhibit at the Tampa Bay History Center.  Opened in 2018, Treasure Seekers is a gallery dedicated to Conquistadors, Pirates and Shipwrecks.  The interactive exhibit tells the story of the seas and also lets you board the Pirate Ship No Surrender on a fated journey to seek riches.  Will you make it to port with your treasures or sink to the bottom of Davy Jones Locker, hope aboard and find out.  The exhibit is one of the permanent exhibits at the Tamp Bay History Center, a three story museum dedicated to telling the story of Tampa Bay.  (Photo: August 30, 2021)

Football is a big thing in the Tampa Bay region. There are good games to watch all weekend long from high school games on Friday night, the USF Bulls on Saturday's and the Tampa Bay Bucs on Sunday. The region has even hosted the Super Bowl five occasions including 2021 when the home team Bucs defeated the Kansas City Chiefs to become the only team to win a Super Bowl in their own city. An exhibit highlighting all of the Tampa Bay area's sporting history can be seen as part of the history exhibits at the Tampa Bay History Center in Tampa's Channelside district. (Photo: August 30, 2021)

Look closely at the colorful fish statue outside the Florida Aquarium and you will quickly notice its not you normal art medium. In fact this sculpture was created with plastic trash collected along local beaches. Plastic trash in our waterways is a growing concern and at the current rate, there will be more plastic in the water than fish by 2050. To bring attention to this dilemma, Florida Aquarium created a collection of art with using just a sampling of the trash found in the region. The exhibit ran during the aquariums 25th anniversary last year.(Photo: May 30, 2020)

Strolling the streets of historic downtown Fort Myers on a sunny Sunday afternoon. These streets are rich in history. Once a Civil War outpost, Fort Myers was settled in 1866 by Civil War captain Manuel Gonzalez. The city would become incorporated in 1885. That was also the year that Thomas Edison stopped by while cruising the Gulf Coast and decided to establish his winter residence along the river. It wouldn't take long for his inventing colleagues Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone to join him in Southwest Florida. The railroad eventually extended south to Fort Myers in 1904 which helped the city grow dramatically. Today the city has grown to almost 90,000 residents. The historic downtown lies in the shadows of today's modern high rises and maintains a feel much like the 1900's Fort Myers and includes places either visited by the inventors like the Arcade Theater or inspired by the inventors like Ford's Garage or The Firestone. (Photo: May 8, 2020)

Time travels much slower when on island time. From the waves crashing on the shore to the wind blowing through the palm trees, every send on island time is a relaxing experience. This island spot is located on the north end of Pine Island in the small island community of Bokeelia. Founded by one of Lee County's pioneer families, Bokeelia is surrounded by water on three sides. (Photo: May 3, 2020)

When you say the word Fenway, the first thing that comes to mind is the iconic home of the Boston Red Sox. But nestled along the bay in Dunedin is the Fenway Hotel. Built in 1927, the historic jazz era hotel is rich in history. In addition to a hotel, the Fenway was home to the first radio station in Pinellas County, two colleges, a private club and the head offices of the Taoist Tai Chi Society. A major renovation/restoration took place in 2007 and today the hotel is part of Marriott's Autograph Collection. (Photo: May 1, 2021)

Nestled along the north bank of Tampa Bay is a shady oasis known as Philippe Park. Acquired by Pinellas County in 1948, the park is oldest park in the county park system. It is named after Count Odet Philippe, the first non-native settler of Pinellas County and pioneer of the citrus industry. Prior to settlement, the site was also home to Tocobaga Indians and there is a large temple mound preserved on the site. (Photo: May 1, 2020)

Planespotting is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get. Inspired by the famous Forrest Gump quote and modified by to fit Thursday's surprise at RSW. Weather in Tampa on Thursday forced the diversion of several aircraft to neighboring airport. While Southwest Florida International Airport is no stranger to weather diversions, this divert marked the first visit of the new airline to Southwest Florida. Founded by former JetBlue founder David Neeleman, Breeze began operations in May 2021. The airlines serves 16 cities with focus cities in Tampa, New Orleans, Norfolk and Charleston. (Photo: September 9, 2021)

Twenty years ago today, our world changed forever when a coordinated terrorist attack rocked our country. At 8:46, American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center. A short time later, United Airlines Flight 175 struck the south tower, confirming to the nation that we were under attack. At 9:37, a third plane American Airlines Flight 177 struck the Pentagon. Things got much worse at 9:59 when the South Tower collapsed crushing first responders and those they tried to rescue. Then in a field in western Pennsylvania near Shanksville, the brave passengers of United Flight 193 fought back against their hijackers and forced the aircraft to crash in a field rather then another American landmark. The horror continued when at 10:28, the North Tower collapsed. In less than 2 hours, 2,977 heroes were lost in these heinous acts. In the weeks, months and years many more Americans would become victims of 9/11 from diseases from contamination at Ground Zero and the follow...

The fishing vessel Rolling Tide heads under the Sunshine State Skyway on its way out to sea. Fishing vessels like these make a living bring fresh seafood from the Gulf to your plate. Ships like this are a common sight on the gulf coast of Florida. On this particular passing, there were three fishing vessels headed out to the Gulf of Mexico from Tampa Bay. (Photo: April 29, 2020)

A water tower advertising Florida's Natural orange juice towers over their factory in Central Florida. The sunshine state produces over 56 million boxes of oranges a year. Florida's Natural is just one of the many orange juice companies in the state and is known for using only Florida grown oranges in their juice. You can visit their plant in Lake Wales and learn about the process and sample some fresh Florida OJ. (Photo: April 26, 2020)

A hispanic police officer takes the hand of a black school girl in the Protector statue outside the Winter Haven Police Department. The statue which was unveiled in 2010 is a tribute to department's Honor in Service motto and reflects the diversity of the department and community. (Photo: April 26, 2020)

  A train from Mosaic sits outside the Fort Meade History Museum, a tribute to the towns history both on the rails and in the mines.  Located at the end of the Valrico Substation now operated by CSX, Fort Meade is the on the tail end of the busy line.  The town founded by the rails uses them to help transport phosphate from the mine to the processing facility.  This train sits by the historic line and is part of the train museum operated by the Fort Meade Historical Society. (Photo: April 26, 2020)

A Prime Air flight departs Tampa International Airport taking another plane load of goods to their next destination as they make their way from the warehouse to your doorstep. Amazon has a vast network of delivery methods at their disposal to make sure that the items you order make it to you hands in the fastest way possible. One way to help shrink the the travel time is by air and they rely on a diverse fleet of aircraft and several aircraft operators to maintain an efficient operation. (Photo: August 30, 2021)

A drive down Bayshore Drive in St Petersburg is one of the most beautiful drives in the Tampa Bay area. From the colorful waters of Tampa Bay, the vibrant shops and restaurants of downtown and the shady oasis of the many city parks, a drive along this stretch of roadway offers something for everyone. Spanning the eastern edge of the city along Tampa Bay, this drive is listed as a Scenic Drive. Once a year, the southern portion of the drive pictured here becomes part of the Grand Prix of St Petersburg Indycar street circuit. (Photo: August 28, 2021)

Like a work of art coming to life, this bench seems to bring to life a Salvador Dali masterpiece in the heart of St Pete. St Petersburg is home to The Dali Museum, the second largest collection of artwork in the world by the surrealist painter. While there are hundreds of masterpieces on the gallery walls inside the museum, there are plenty of Dali influences around the grounds as well like this bench and even the building itself. (Photo: August 28, 2021)

St Petersburg, Florida: When it comes to surrealism art, there is no one more renowned than Salvador Dali.  In the course of his career, Dali created more than 1,500 works of art with some of them being among the most known masterpieces in the art community.  While his works are displayed in art museums across the globe there are two museums dedicated solely to his work, the Dali Theatre-Museum in his hometown of Figueres, Spain and The Dali Museum right here in St Petersburg, Florida.    Located in the art district along the St Pete waterfront, the Dali Museum is a work of art in itself.  This iconic waterfront landmark may be the vision of the museum now, the collection was not always displayed here. It got its start in an Ohio family's private collection in the 1940's. The collection that is now on display in St Pete started when Reynolds and Eleanor Morse attended an art exhibit at the Cleveland Museum of Art which showcased works by Dali. The purchase...

During a period of devastating hurricanes over the Florida Keys, the Sand Key lighthouse suffered catastrophic damage and was almost lost to the seas. But thanks to the hard work of keeper Joshua Appleby, the lighthouse was rebuilt and fortified and continued to stand as a beacon to ships passing through the Keys. But Appleby lost his battle to hurricanes in 1846 when the Great Havana Hurricane swept him, his daughter and his grandson out to sea. To pay tribute to Appleby, the Coast Guard commissioned the Cutter Joshua Appleby in his honor in 1998. The USCGC Joshua Appleby is a 175 foot Keeper-class cutter that is one of the most technological advanced ships in the Coast Guard fleet. Based out of St Petersburg, this ship is responsible to maintaining over 400 aids to navigation from on the west coast of Florida from Tampa Bay to the Florida Keys. (Photo: August 30, 2021)

On a trip to DC way back in 2009, we stumbled across a quaint sandwich shop in the Dupont Circle area of DC. We grabbed a soup and sandwich and enjoyed a lunch filled with delicious food and live music. The food was that good in fact, we returned to other locations throughout the city while we were in town. When we returned home, we did a little research and found that Potbelly's Sandwich Shop had locations outside of DC but unfortunately none in Florida. That changed a couple year's ago when the Chicago-based sandwich chain opening their first Sunshine State location at Tampa International Airport. Sadly enough, the new location was beyond the security checkpoint making it difficult to visit, even with the TPA All-Access Pass that allows non-fliers to enjoy the restaurants in the secured area. But that all changed with the opening of a second location in Tampa near Raymond James Stadium and over the weekend we gave it a try and it was every bit as good as remembered. And it se...

In the early 1900's, mascots on the radiators of cars were becoming a popular fashion trend. In an effort of maintaining a classy look on the iconic Rolls-Royce, one of the designers Claude Johnson decided to have a dignified mascot created for the Rolls-Royce. The Spirit of Ecstasy was is a sculpture created by Charles Robinson Sykes and features a woman that appears to be flying. The final product was given to Rolls-Royce in February 1911 and initially became an add-on option for the car but by 1920 it was a standard feature of all Rolls-Royce cars. While the ornament may have evolved over the years since, it still remains one of the most iconic features of this classy sedan. This particular mascot comes from an exhibit at The Dali Museum in St Petersburg entitled "Rainy Day Rolls", a modern day take of Dali's iconic rainy day taxi. (Photo: August 28, 2021)