The Wandering Disciple

Sanibel, Florida: Thousands of native and migratory birds call the 6,400 acre wildlife refuge located on Sanibel Island their home. J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge has been a well known spot for bird lovers, photographers and biologist to observe many species of birds that flock to this unique ecosystem each year. The refuge got started in 1945. Developers look to purchase the mangrove property in an attempt to develop it into a tourist hot spot similar to Miami Beach on the east coast. Knowing how environmentally important the land was to the ecosystem, political cartoonist Jay Norwood “Ding” Darling led an effort to protect the land. The successful effort led to an executive order by President Harry Truman that created the Sanibel National Wildlife Refuge and spared the land of any development. Following the death of Darling in 1967, the refuge was renamed J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge” in his honor. The 6,400 acre refuge consists of several ecosyste...

Osprey, Florida: This thirty acre peninsula on the edge of Little Sarasota Bay has been home to humans for over 5,000 years. From early prehistoric natives in 3000 B.C. to the wealthy Palmer family in the 1900’s, much of their way of life has be preserved in this living museum. Through careful excavation of the middens on the property, it has been determined that life on the point dates back to around 3000 B.C. The site was occupied prehistoric natives from the Late Archaic period through the Late Woodland period. Excavations indicated that the prehistoric natives lived on the land until around AD 1100. The point remained vacant until 1867 when John Webb moved his family here from New York. Webb learned of the area from a Spanish trader he met in Key West. IN honor of the trader, Webb named the land Spanish Point. They began to grow citrus and built a packing house to shop the fruit to markets in Cedar Key and Key West. The Webb family marketed Spanish Point as a getaway from t...

Homosassa, Florida: In the midst of dense tropical foliage lies home to many of Florida’s residents. Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park provides a walk into the habitats of the animals that call Florida their home. The park is home to bobcats, panthers, bears, birds of prey, manatees and many more Florida natives. The vision of the park began in the early 1900’s when the train that traveled through Homosassa would stop at the springs. Guests would disembark the train and marvel that the clear waters and abundance of fish that called the springs home. In 1940, the site was purchased and operated as a petting zoo style attraction. In 1964, the land was bought by the Norris Development Company. Although the master plan of the company was to build a city here, the beginning of the project led to what is now present day Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park. The project began with the dredging of the creek, which exhausted much of the money that was set aside for the project. Then on a trip ...

Homosassa, Florida: This small state park in Homosassa sits on what was once a thriving sugar plantation during the Civil War era. The plantation and mill were owned and operated by prominent Floridian David Levy Yulee. Today the park has what remains of the sugar mill along with picnic facilities. Yulee practiced law in St. Augustine and became the delegate to the United States Congress for the Florida Territory prior to Florida becoming a state. Once Florida was admitted to the Union in 1845, Yulee became the Democratic representive for Florida in the United States Senate. Yulee served one term in the Senate before being voted out of office in 1850. He was later reelected in 1855 and served until 1861 when Florida seceded from the Union. Once he was voted out of the Senate, Yulee began a 5,100 acre sugar plantation in Homosassa, Florida. The plantation in which Yulee called Margarita, was operated by over a thousand slaves and produced sugar, syrup and molasses. In 1851, a su...

Dunedin, Florida: Located on the Gulf of Mexico in Pinellas County lies the picturesque Honeymoon Island. With over 2,800 acres of wildland and 4 miles of beaches, the island is home to many Florida native plants and wildlife. The island was once much larger, but was split in two by a major hurricane in 1921. The result was two islands, Hog Island and Caladesi Island separated by Hurricane Pass. Hog Island was later purchased by Clinton Washburn, an New York developer in 1939. Washburn built cottages and marketed the island as a honeymoon getaway for newlywed couples. The island was then renamed Honeymoon Island. The island remained a prominent vacation spot until World War II when the cottages fell into disrepair. The State of Florida took possession of the island and it became part of the Florida State Park system. The cottages were removed and the island was attached to the mainland via the Dunedin Causeway. This resulted in more than 900,000 annual visitors to the park. ...

Osprey, Florida: In a rapidly developing area of central Sarasota County lies a 1,400 acre wildlife habitat that welcomes of 130,000 visitors annually. Oscar Scherer State Park has been in operation since 1956 and is home to many of Florida native wildlife. In 1955, Elsa Scherer Burrows passed away and left the family’s 460 acre ranch along the South Creek to the state of Florida in the name of her father, Oscar Scherer. One year later the park opened to the public. The park expanded in 1991 due to an effort to protect the Florida Scrub-Jay by realtor and current Sarasota County commissioner Jon Thaxton. With the efforts of Thaxton and the Nature Conservancy, the park added 922 acres from Palmer Ranch and grew to 1,384 acres. Then in recognition of National Public Lands Day 2008, local developer Lee Wetherington donated 16 acres from the Willowbend subdivision to bring the park to its current day size of 1,400 acres. Oscar Scherer State Park consist of several Florida landscapes i...

Welcome to Around the World in Pictures. My name is Jim Donten and I am the photographer and author of the site. I have enjoyed digital photography since my first digital camera in 2003. Since then I have accumulated a large collection of digital photos. I have also been published numerous times by the Charlotte Stone Crabs, Sarasota Reds, Cincinnati Reds and most recently the Verizon Yellow Pages 2009-2010 (inside cover and three other pages). In addition to taking pictures, I also enjoy traveling, history and sports (mainly baseball). I enjoy visiting theme parks, nature trails and catching minor league baseball. Everywhere I go, I travel with my camera and am always trying to capture the moments through the lens. I began using my Kodak 3.2 megapixel digital camera very heavily once we got it in 2003. Suddenly a love for photography was born. I enjoyed the ease of digital, you could take as many pictures as you wanted without the expense of film or processing. I mainly shot v...