The Wandering Disciple

A quick launch from Blind Pass and its off to explore the Lemon Bay.  This sheltered bay on the west coast of Florida is a popular place for boating, fishing and kayaking.  The bay is over 8,000 acres in size in Charlotte and Sarasota County. The aquatic preserve is fed from the Gulf by Stump Pass and through seven fresh water tributaries.  (Photo: May 24, 2015)

St Petersburg, Florida: Took a leisurely Saturday stroll through the colorful gardens of Sunken Gardens. This original St Petersburg tourist attraction has been entertaining guest since the 1930's, making it one of the oldest tourist attractions on the west coast of Florida. Today the four acre botanical garden is home to over 500 types of tropical plants. A nice winding path leads you through the gardens with colorful flowers and birds around every corner. Sunken Gardens is located at 1825 4th Street North. It is open daily with the last admission sold at 4 pm. Admission to Sunken Gardens ranges from $10 for an adult to $4 for children. They have annual passes available which I highly recommend. We have one and not only does it allow you to come back to Sunken Gardens, it provides free access to botanical gardens nationwide. I have updated the photo gallery with new photos from today's visit. Click on the photo above to see the entire gallery of photos from Sunk...

Largo, Florida: A hidden gem in heart of Pinellas County, the Florida Botanical Gardens is a great escape to walk along bright colorful gardens and see Florida wildlife at its finest. The lush gardens in Largo are great for traveling on a budget as admission is free. This garden rivals the neighboring pay-to-visit gardens and if you time your visit right, you can visit the neighboring Historical Village which is also free. No two visits to the gardens are the same as there is always something new in bloom. Click on the photo above to see more photos from the garden by visiting my Florida Botanical Gardens photo gallery .

Tampa, Florida: Having the zoo less than an hour from your house and being proud zoo members means an endless supply of fun and photos. One of the best parts of going to the zoo on a frequent basis is that no two trips are there same and there is always something to see and photograph. Like today's visit was the first time seeing the tapir active. And active it was as it was running around its enclosure, it was pretty fun to watch. Every trip to the zoo is like a new experience with something different to see. Click on the photo above to see the entire gallery from the 6/29/19 visit to ZooTampa.

Long before the Spanish founded St Augustine or De Soto landed on the west coast, Florida was home to indigenous tribes for over 12,000 years. From the Paleoindians through the Archaic and beyond, Florida has a rich history of life before European settles. In fact there were over forty tribes in existence during the time of the Spanish missions. Today only two tribes remain in the Sunshine State, the Miccosukee and Seminole tribes. Some of the culture is on display at Florida Museum of Natural History on the campus of the University of Florida. (Photo: November 9, 2013)

During World War II when the nation was out helping stop the Nazis from taking over Europe, Orlando was busy training the brave soldiers who would defend our country. Orlando was home to the Orlando Army Air Base and Pinecastle Army Air Field. As the armed services evolved over the years and the Air Force was created, they would merge and become McCoy Air Force Base located at the home of present day Orlando International Airport. McCoy would remain in service until 1976. After closure, the runways were transferred over to Orlando International Airport. But the McCoy roots are still visible with the airports code MCO. The military history of Orange County is on display at the Orange County Regional History Center in downtown Orlando. (Photo: July 9, 2013)

St Petersburg, Florida: The final stop of the Tampa/St Pete day was a Major League Baseball game between the Tampa Bay Rays vs the Los Angeles Angels. I have always wanted to see the Angels play. One of the hottest lineups in the MLB with Trout, Pujols and Ohtani. And in typical Trop fashion, there would be a lot to talk about. First off it was good to see more than a handful of people in the stands. The Rays offered up $5 tickets for the week and attracted a decent ground. Then we saw history with Ohtani hitting for the cyle. Finally a nice black-out and delay due to a power outage which caused the Trop to go dark for the second time this season. All and all, I love baseball and I love being out at the park. Click on the photo above to see the entire Rays/Angels photo gallery for photo from the game.

Tampa, Florida: The task of getting caught up with pictures continues and this time we are at the Florida Aquarium. It was stop 2 of 4 on the Tampa/St Pete day trip which saw stops at the zoo and aquarium, some planespotting at Tampa International Airport and a Rays game at the Trop. The aquarium provided a great break from the summer heat and an opportunity to see some of the bright colorful residents of our seas. With out ZooTampa membership, we get reciprocal benefits at the aquarium, getting us in at half-off. The aquarium was quite crowded, but we managed to get a few good photos. The first 33 photos in this gallery are from today's visit. Check out the new photos and all the aquarium photos by clicking on the photo above to visit the Florida Aquarium photos.

Tampa, Florida: On 6/13/19 we headed over to ZooTampa to photograph the animals.  Being a zoo member, we tend to be at the zoo quite a bit.  It is a little over an hour away, there is tons of cool animals to see and best of all it is paid for.   It is pretty cool to watch these animals grow and they grow fast, the Pygmy hippo Holly Berry is almost as big as a full grown hippo.  Head over to the galleries and see all the photos from the visit.  The first 68 in the gallery are new.  And also keep an eye out for a lot more content in the coming days as I am way behind in processing and have a lot stacked up.  Click on the photo above to visit the ZooTampa photo gallery .