The Wandering Disciple

Tampa, Florida: Tucked away in the heart of downtown Tampa is a bustling city. No its not Y’bor City, but rather its Kid City, a miniature city replica for the kids to recreate city life. From City Hall to McDonald’s, it is all here for exploration. Originally opened in the 1960’s as a place to teach safe bike riding, the facility has grown to a working city. Today there are several interactive exhibits in which the children can pretend to run the city. Kid City has a fire station, police station, post office, art museum, McDonald’s, Publix grocery store, doctor’s office, city hall, bank and more. Each of these building are equipped with dress up outfits and equipment to make the experience more realistic. In 2008, the City of Tampa decided to close the aging facility. Construction of a new children’s museum in downtown Tampa had begun and there are plans to incorporate and enhance some of the exhibits found at the original Kid City. The much anticipated Glazer Children’s Museum...

Sarasota, Florida: Excitement filled the air for Saturday night’s doubleheader between the Sarasota Reds and the St. Lucie Mets. The first game saw the Reds walking off with an extra innings 2-1 victory. Then the excitement in the air was replaced by heavy rains, flooding the fields and forcing the postponement of game two of the doubleheader. Sarasota pitcher Sean Watson and St. Lucie pitcher Blake Eager dueled in shut-out innings for most of the game. It wasn’t until the bottom of the sixth inning when Chris Valaika crossed the plate to end the scoreless tie. The Mets fought back to put a run on the scoreboard in the top of the seventh to force extra innings. But the Reds did not take long, pushing across a run in the bottom of the eighth to earn the 2-1 walk-off victory. During the intermission between games one and two, the skies opened up and heavy rains fell over Ed Smith Stadium. The flooding of the fields forced the postponement of the second game. Click on the photo ab...

St. Lucie Mets: The St. Lucie Mets are the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the New York Mets. The Mets represent the Southern Division of the Florida State League. The Mets began play in the Florida State League in 1998. Since then, they have earned five league championships (1988, 1996, 1998, 2003, 2006). They also served their role in filling the organization with major league talent as well as providing a rehab facility for the entire organization. The Mets play there home games in the 7,347 seat Digital Domain Park. The ballpark opened in 1988 and is also the spring training home of the New York Mets. Click on the photo above to view my St. Lucie Mets photo gallery which includes game photos and player photos. Updated November 27, 2010

Sarasota, Florida: The Sarasota and Dunedin Blue Jays combined for 18 runs and 22 hits during Saturday nights game at Ed Smith Stadium. In the end, the Reds held off a late inning surge from the visiting Blue Jays to win the game 10-8. The Blue Jays took an early lead in the first inning, striking for two runs out of the box. But the Reds battled back in the home half of the first, picking up three of their own to take the lead. The Reds then added an insurance run to their total in the third inning. But then the Blue Jays struck again, adding two runs in the top of the fourth to tie the game. The Reds grabbed the lead back in the bottom of the fourth but did not last long as the Blue Jays tied the game again in the top of the fifth. It was the bottom of the fifth when the Reds got some separation from their opponent. The Reds pushed across two runs in the bottom of the fifth and three more in the bottom of the sixth to hold a 10-5 lead. The Blue Jays rallied in the eighth innin...

Dunedin, Florida: The Dunedin Blue Jays are the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. The Blue Jays are currently in the Northern Division of the Florida State League. Organized in 1985, the Blue Jays are the second oldest team in the Florida State League. Many major league stars have gotten their start with Dunedin, the list of players includes Roy Halladay, Adam Lind, Travis Snider, Vernon Wells and many more. Dunedin Stadium, formerly known as Knology Field, is the home of the Dunedin Blue Jays. This 5,000 plus seat stadium hosts the Blue Jays for their 70 game home schedule. The Blue Jays have yet to record a League Championship, but they have two Division Titles in their possession. They were the division champs during the 2006 and 2008 seasons. Click on the photo above to view my Dunedin Blue Jays photo gallery. The page contains game photos, player photos and photos of Dunedin Stadium. Updated November 26, 2010

Orlando, Florida: Since opening day in 1973, Sea World Orlando has been dedicated to the conservation and education of marine life. This effort is evident through the many animal exhibits that are carefully designed to resemble the animals original habitats. The 200 acres of park is home to hundreds of different species of marine life. The icon of the park is the family of Orcas known commonly as Shamu. The park is home to seven of the famous killer whales. Katina, Tilikum, Kayla, Trua, Nalani, Malia and the newest edition born in October 2010. The breeding program at Sea World Orlando has resulted in sixteen births in its history. When this collection of whales are not performing in front of thousands in Shamu Stadium, they can be viewed from the observation window in the rear of the stadium. One of the most plentiful mammals that live here are the dolphins. Sea World in home to over 40 various breeds of dolphins. The dolphins can be found performing in the shows at the Whale...

Sarasota, Florida: The Sarasota Reds wrapped up the four game series against the Brevard County Manatees with an 8-6 win on Saturday night at Ed Smith Stadium. Both clubs exchanged runs but when the dust settled, the Reds squeezed out a victory. The Manatees jumped out to an early lead in the top of the second. But the Reds answered with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning to lead 2-1. Brevard County battled back to tie the game 2-2 an inning later. The Reds pushed across three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to retake the lead. The big inning gave them a 5-2 lead. The Manatees strung together a big inning of their own in the top of the fifth. They struck for 4 runs to take a 6-5 lead. But the Reds offense pushed another offensive charge in the bottom of the sixth. The Reds pushed across three more runs to take the lead once and for all, 8-6. The bullpens combined to keep further runs off the scoreboard and the Reds walked away with a 8-6 victory to t...