The Wandering Disciple

A butterfly takes a break in the brush along the boardwalk at the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. Located in eastern Collier county, the 17 square mile sanctuary is home to many native birds and animals. Visitors get get close to nature on the over two mile raised boardwalk which traverses through many diverse ecosystems. (Photo: October 17, 2010)

Believe was Sea World Orlando's signature Shamu killer whale show that ran from 2006-2011. The show highlighted how dreams come true if you truly believe. The show was later replaced by One Ocean in 2011. (Photo: July 5, 2008)

From the top of a bayfront condo, the turquoise water shines along the picturesque Sarasota Bay in downtown Sarasota. This photo was featured on the inside cover of the Sarasota Verizon telephone book. (Photo: May 4, 2007)

North Port, Florida: The Sarasota offense combined with a penalty happy officiating crew made for a rough night for the North Port Bobcats as they lost to the Sarasota Sailors 38-13 on Friday night at The Preserve at North Port High School. The Bobcats won the toss and elected to defer to the second half. The game looked to be a defensive battle as both teams exchanged punts on their first drives to start the game. But that was as close as it would be as Sailor offense jumped out to a big lead by scoring 24 unanswered points in the first half. The Sailors would march down the field to score on their second possession of the game. A 43 yard pass from Sage Hansard to Mack Dancer set up a 2 yard touchdown run by Marlon Mack to put the Sailors on the board 7-0. After exchanging stalling drives, the Sailors got the ball back via an interception. They marched down the field to score their second touchdown as Hansard went to the air to Marquis Zimmerman for a 1 yard touchdown pass to p...

Ten years ago today on September 11, 2001 the United States suffered the largest terrorist attack in the history of the nation. A series of four attacks at the hands of by Osama Bin Laden and his Al-Queda terrorist cell killed nearly 3,000 people. The attacks began with American Airlines flight 11 crashing into the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46 am. At 9:03 United Flight 175 was deliberately crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon at 9:37. Then the passengers of United Flight 93 fought back against the hijackers, forcing the plane to go in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Of the 2,977 innocent lives lost that day, 411 of them were emergency workers who responded to the emergency. Madame Tussaud's NYC has a permanent memorial to the 343 FDNY responders who lost their lives at Ground Zero. The display brings to life the iconic photo of three firefighters raising an American Flag over th...

Get up close and personal with these delicate giants at Busch Gardens Tampa. Here you can climb in the back of a safari truck and head out on the Serengeti Plain to get close to giraffes, zebra, ostriches and much more. On the Serengeti Safari, you will get the chance to feed giraffes and antelope while getting extremely close to the animals of the plain. (Photo: January 2, 2005)

In 1791, President George Washington appointed French architect Pierre L'Enfant to create a grand design for the new capitol city. His designed called for grid streets traveling north to south and east to west while sweeping avenues crossed through the city diagonally. Where the diagonal avenues intersected with both the north/south and east/west streets, plazas were to created to honor great citizens. L'Enfant's plan led to the Washington DC we now know, from the grand Pennsylvania Avenue to the many Plazas where visitors seek refuge from the hustle and bustle of city life. A large replica of the plan can be seen in one of the plazas created by the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and 14th Street. Freedom Plaza, constructed in 1980, has the plan forever depicted in stone across the plaza. (Photo: February 16, 2009)