The Wandering Disciple

Venice, Florida: The holiday season ramps up in Venice with the Venice Holiday Parade leading the community into the holidays. For 44 years, the parade has brought together citizens of the community to usher in the holiday together along the parade route. This year’s parade did not disappoint. Thousands of spectators lines the parade route which stretched through downtown Venice. They were entertained by over 3,000 participants representing over 120 community organizations all with one message, a happy holiday season for all. The Venice Holiday Parade is considered the official start of the season for Venice. It occurs annually on the Saturday following Thanksgiving and kicks off all the festivities the region has to offer. Click on the photo above to view the 2019 Venice Holiday Parade photo gallery .

The greens of the autumn forest get a pop of color thanks to a pair of colorful birds grabbing a bite to eat at the Audubon bird feeder at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. This feeder is a popular place to see the colorful Painted Bunting. Here the Painted Bunting shares the fever with a bright red Northern Cardinal. (Photo: November 29, 2019)

An alligator opens its mouth wide while sunning itself at Everglades Wonder Gardens. The alligators are one of the key attraction at this historic roadside attraction. Since 1936, this Old Florida attraction has been letting tourists get close to gators and other wildlife that live in the colorful botanical gardens. (Photo: November 29, 2019)

Bonita Springs, Florida: Not to long ago, family road trips were a staple of family travel. Parents would load the kids up and hit the road, stopping at roadside attractions along the way. This nostalgia is captured at Everglades Wonder Gardens, one of Florida’s original roadside attractions. This tropical oasis of tropical gardens and wildlife has been entertaining travelers for over eighty years. Back in the 1930’s the Tamiami Trail was the only road to connect the bustling cities of Tampa on the west central coast with Miami on the southeast coast. The Piper Brothers saw this as the perfect place to open their reptile garden along a stretch of road on the edge of the Everglades. In 1936 the opened a roadside attraction that allowed travelers to take a break from the drive and get close to some native wildlife. Since then, the attraction grew but still managed to maintain that vintage roadside attraction feel. That is evident the moment you walk through the doors of the h...

A Happy Thanksgiving from Donten Photography to you and your family. Enjoy your holiday with friend and family. Today's holiday photo of the day is a wild turkey roaming the forest at Myakka River State Park. (Photo: November 23, 2019)

Like a pelican flying over the shoreline, enjoy this bird's eye view of Lido Beach from the roof a gulf view condominium. From this viewpoint, the waters of the Gulf of Mexico seems to stretch all the way to the sky. (Photo: September 3, 2015)

As the temperatures drop and the Gulf of Mexico begins to cool, manatee begin moving into sheltered waterways in search for warmer waters. Their warm water migration leads them to places like the warm water discharge of the TECO power plant in Apollo Beach. Here in the winter months, you can find manatees by the hundreds frolicking in the warm water. (Photo: February 21, 2015)