The Wandering Disciple

Tampa, Florida: Over 2,000 animals call Lowry Park Zoo their home. From the toucans in the aviary to the elephants on the safari, animals from all continents feel right at home on the zoo’s 56 acre property. The zoo is a member of the National Association of Zoos and Aquariums and a center of Florida wildlife conservation and biodiversity as recognized by the State of Florida. The zoo is divided up into geographical regions with each region featuring native animals. As you first enter the park, you will come across the free-flight aviary. Once you pass through the doors to the aviary, you are free to roam amongst the cage less birds. You will be immersed in the colors of the birds as they fly freely all around you. You will encounter toucans, macaws and other birds as you journey through the aviary. Wallaroo Station is the zoo’s children area. The children can feed goat and sheep in the petting zoo. This area of the zoo is also home to the New Guinea singing dogs, emus, bats,...

Sarasota, Florida: The Sarasota Red defeated the Clearwater Thresher 3-1 on Wednesday afternoon during Camp Day at Ed Smith Stadium. The Reds took the lead in third inning. Jake Kahaulelio singled to short to get things started. Kahaulelio then stole second to move into scoring position. Denis Phipps then drove him home with an RBI single to left, giving Sarasota a 1-0 lead. Sarasota added two more runs to their lead in the fifth inning. Justin Tordi drew a walk to put a runner on the base path. Mariekson Gregorius then singled on a bunt, moving Tordi to second. Jake Kahaulelio followed with a double to right, scoring Tordi. Kel Jones drove home the second run of the inning with a sac fly to score Gregorius and give Sarasota a 3-0 lead. Clearwater picked up their only run of the game in the eighth inning. Joel Naughton singled to lead off the inning. Yonderman Rodriguez followed with a walk and Javis Diaz later singled to center to load the bases. Fidel Hernandez drove home...

Sarasota, Florida: John Ringling was the most well known and successful of the Ringling Brothers Circus family. Through-out his journeys across the world with the circus, he developed a rather large art collection and decided he wanted a place to display his works of art for all to enjoy. This became the backbone of the Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota. In 1921, John and Mable Ringling began spending their winters in Sarasota and decided to build home there. They purchased twenty acres of waterfront land on the banks of Sarasota Bay and the Ringling legacy in Sarasota was born. They first began construction of the Ringling residence in 1924. The Ca d’Zan, or house of John, was built as a Mediterranean revival structure featuring elements from the Doge’s Palace in Italy to Madison Square Garden in New York City. Designed by New York architect Dwight James Baum and built by Sarasota developer Owen Burns, the Ca d’Zan was completed in 1926 at the price of $1.5 million dollars. T...

Port Charlotte, Florida: A franchise high five errors and a lack of offense support led to the Charlotte Stone Crabs being shut out by the Dunedin Blue Jays 11-0 Saturday night at Charlotte Sports Park. The Blue Jays offense wasted no time getting started as Darin Mastroianni led off with a single to right and then later advanced two second on a throwing error by Jose Mejias on a pick-off attempt. Eric Thames cleared the bases with a home run to give the Blue Jays a 2-1 lead. Dunedin stuck again the top of the third. Once again it was Darin Mastroianni getting things going by hitting a routine fly ball to right…well routine on any other night as Reid Fronk committed the second error of the night and the out was easily turned into a triple. John Tolisano followed with a RBI double to center and the Blue Jays took a 3-0 lead. It was the fourth inning when things went from bad to worse as the Blue Jays struck for six runs in the inning. The Stone Crabs assist Dunedin by committing ...

Port Charlotte, Florida: Despite Ian Paxton going deep twice, the Charlotte Stone Crabs lost to the Dunedin Blue Jays 7-4 Friday night at Charlotte Sports Park. Dunedin opened the game up with back to back singles by Darin Mastroianni and Scott Campbell. Mastroianni later scored thanks in part by a fielding error by Matt Hall and the Blue Jays took a 1-0 lead. The Stone Crabs tied the game in the bottom of the third on a solo home run by Ian Paxton. Dunedin answered back and retook the lead off a home run by Jesus Gonzalez to put the Blue Jays ahead 2-1. Charlotte battled back to tie the game in the fourth when John Matulia reached base after being hit by a pitch and later scored on an RBI double by Cody Cipriano. The Stone Crabs took the lead for the first time in the fifth as Ryan Royster led the inning off with a walk and Ian Paxton followed with a two run homer, his second homer of the night, to give the Stone Crabs a 4-2 lead. But the Blue Jays offense wasn’t finished as they...

Port Charlotte, Florida: The Charlotte Stone Crabs defeated the Daytona Cubs 10-2 on Saturday night at Charlotte Sports Park. The Stone Crabs got things started in the first by Emeel Salem drawing a walk. Salem advanced to second on a ground out by Greg Sexton and then drove home on an RBI single by Matt Fields to give the Stone Crabs a 1-0 lead. The Stone Crabs opened things up in the third by putting five runs on the board. The inning kicked of with back to back singles by Christian Lopez and Shawn O’Malley. Emeel Salem drew his second walk of the night to load the bases for the Stone Crabs. But they didn’t stay loaded long, Greg Sexton hit a bases clearing triple to score all three base runners. Sexton later scored on an RBI single by Matt Fields. Cody Cipriano grounded into what was thought to be a double play, but Cipriano reached second thanks to a throwing error by Daytona’s second baseman Nate Samson. Shawn Williams kept things going with a walk. Cipriano and Williams...

Tampa, Florida: Busch Gardens Tampa celebrates its fiftieth anniversary in 2009. The park opened in 1959 as a complimentary park for guest as they await tours of the brewery. Throughout the years, the park has continued to grow and today is a 335 acre theme park that provides wild rides and wild life. The last fifty years have seen the face of the park change numerous times. Rides have been added, rides have been removed. Many more animals and habitats have been added to the park, making it one of the best zoological parks in the country. The brewery and beer operations have been shut down and the park now focuses strictly on being a theme park. A museum has been established during the anniversary celebration. Located across from the Crown Colony House, the museum takes a look back over the last fifty year. There are pictures of the old attractions, props and costumes from the shows and many more pieces of history. Changes continue to take place in the park and who knows what ...