Dixie Highway

The canal at night

2011-05-18T22:23:00.007-04:00

Playing with long exposures with a Canon PowerShot SX120IS

Easter Sunrise Service at Fort DeSoto Park

2011-04-24T10:23:00.000-04:00

We arrived at the park at dawn. There was music and singing as we carried our beach chairs towards a large group of people.

The preacher asked us, "Why are you here? What does Easter mean to you?," and then continued a short sermon as the sun rose above the horizon.

Easter means a lot to me, because...He came back for me (and you, too). Happy Easter! Enjoy the day knowing you are loved no matter what.

Last Flight of Space Shuttle Discovery

2011-02-24T23:00:00.095-05:00

Mission number STS-133 is to be the last flight of Space Shuttle Discovery. They're taking supplies and crewmembers to the International Space Station. We were concerned about a delay, due to a computer reboot. From 10 miles away it was hard to tell when the countdown ended. We couldn't hear the sound of ignition. It was a hazy day and things looked distorted. At first we saw smoke, then a bright light from a flame.

It was a thrill to see the space shuttle emerge from the smoke and fire. Space Shuttle Discovery rose silently.

We heard the sound of wind about half a minute after lift off. It sounded like an approaching subway. There was a low rumble in the background.

The rumble built up to a loud roar. I could feel it. The ground shook. The length of the flame looked incredible.

Discovery ascended like a brilliant diamond into the sky. It was hard to take your eyes off of it long enough to shoot photos.

There was a puff of smoke and flames as the solid rocket boosters seperated from the space shuttle. It looked like a distorted flower in the hazy atmosphere. Then three points of light were visible. Two points dropped away from the brighter light of the space shuttle engines. We watched until the lights disappeared.

Here's where we camped along US 1 in Titusville. A young mother we met near our camp said that she had her kids write down the names of the states they saw on license plates. They counted 33 different US states and Canadian provinces.

We continued shooting photos of the contrail as we struck camp to leave town. The wind quickly tore the cloud of smoke apart into a zig zag pattern.

It was bumper to bumper traffic leaving the scene.

More photos of the last flight of space shuttle Discovery for mission STS-133

Our video of the launch of Shuttle Discovery

Sawgrass Lake Park in St. Petersburg

2010-10-17T23:07:00.181-04:00

Sawgrass Lake Park is in the middle of a city. It's near highway I-275, a gun firing range, and neighborhoods of single family homes. We weren't sure how big the park was or what to expect. After parking the car in an area shaded by large oak trees we followed a sidewalk along a creek. A large alligator quietly swam by.

"Did you see that?"
"What?"
"A big gator."
"No kidding. Look. There it is!"

I double checked the edge of the creek to see if there were any more lurking around. People idly walked by with dogs on leashes.

We followed the path to a bridge that went across the creek and looked in the water. A man walked up to me and asked me about my camera. He said he was looking for a camera to take wildlife photos around the park.

I showed him some of the photos I had just taken of an anhinga in the creek. He was impressed. I showed him the model number of the camera. Then he told me about the big alligator that lives under the bridge. I said that I just saw a big gator swim by, and he said that it was probably the one.

I saw the gator swimming back to the bridge and take up position directly underneath us. Then the man told me about snakes under the bridge, the mama alligator with babies, and all the cool trails in the woods. We talked for a little bit about different nature preserves in the area. After talking about snakes and gators I wasn't sure if I really wanted to go across the bridge. I saw ladies with strollers and squealing little kids running across the bridge and decided that it couldn't be that bad. I shouldn't be a sissy. So I went down the trail to where the mama alligator was.

The wetland areas have elevated boardwalks over the alligator habitats. It was like walking through a fantasy land of giant ferns.

The female alligator with hatchlings is near an observation deck.

Hatchling alligator.

There's an observation tower by Sawgrass Lake. The water is clear. You can see turtles, fish, birds, and yes, there are alligators of various sizes. It looks so peaceful, but you can hear the sounds of the city around us. There was the wooshing sound of the highway and pops from the firing range. The wildlife didn't seem to mind.

There were huge Florida softshell turtles in the lake and creeks.

The Hammock Trail is wide enough that I felt comfortable walking through the woods. Parts of the trail are dirt, boardwalk, and bricked.

We saw an armadillo.

The Hammock Trail was beautiful. In some places it almost looked as if someone had arranged the oak trees and palmettos.

There were more trails than we had time to explore. Sawgrass Lake Park is 400 acres in size. It is one of the largest maple swamps on Florida's Gulf Coast.

More pictures of Sawgrass Lake Park

Address: Sawgrass Lake Park
7400 25th St. N.,
St. Petersburg, FL 33702

Hours: 7am - sunset

Admission: free

Alderman's Ford Park on the Alafia River

2010-10-09T23:05:00.044-04:00

Alderman's Ford Park is near the headwaters of the Alafia River. This scenic bridge goes over the north and south prongs of the Alafia. There are creeks and springs that flow into the river all around the park.

Here's the view from the bridge. Most of the Alafia River water is brown. In some places it is clear enough to see the bottom of the river and appears orange.

There's a paved jogging trail that is part of a loop. It smells woodsy and spicey along the trails, but every so often there's the sweet smell of spring water. I looked around, but couldn't find a spring.

A large playground and picnic area is near the main entrance.

The light reflected like rainbows in the river.

I walked along a dried up creek bed to get down to the river. It's an interesting park to explore.

More photos of Alderman's Ford Park in Lithia, Florida.

Sunshine Skyway Bridge Picnic Area

2010-09-26T23:03:00.039-04:00

This is the picnic area at the Sunshine Skyway Bridge south rest area. We pulled in to have a picnic lunch on our way to St. Pete Beach. A large lawn with shaded picnic benches is past the rest area building. There is a lot more seating space here than on the entrance side of the rest area.

The scenic views are great! You can see St. Petersburg and Tampa on a clear day.

Swimming at Lithia Springs, Florida

2010-08-13T15:22:00.046-04:00

There were a lot of people at the park. The water was pale blue with a white sand floor. The setting around the water looks like a beach, but walk a few paces and you're in the woods.

Blue spring water peeking through the woods.

I put on my mask and snorkel, quickly got in the water, and jumped back up just as fast. Brrr! The spring water was really cold. I was determined to snorkel in the clear water, but it took a while to acclimate to the cool temperature. The first three tries I went under I found my body involuntarily coming back up. So, I took off the mask and swam around to get used to the temperature.

When I got back underwater the visibility was great. Despite all the screaming kids splashing around there were schools of fish by outcroppings of rocks. They weren't concerned about sharing space with people unless they were chased. The sand was full of small snail shells. I had heard that this was a good place to look for shark teeth, but after sifting through the sand with my hands for a while I gave up. I looked around the rocks for life and swam with the fish. It was quiet underwater. As soon as I came up I heard the noises of kids at play.

Water flowing from Lithia Springs major to the Alafia River.

The big spring is a 2nd magnitude spring, which means that a lot of water can flow from the aquifer. The flow from Lithia Springs major can go up to 50 cubic feet per second. There's a cave with a grate over it in the deep end where the water comes out of the ground. As I swam closer to the source the water got colder and the current became stronger. It felt like swimming in place. I tried to get as close as I could to the cave and got a look at it, but the current was too strong to touch the grate.

If I get a chance to take scuba lessons, a Florida spring would be a good place. The water is sweet and doesn't sting your eyes. Getting a mouthful isn't as unpleasant as a mouthful of seawater. Scuba diving isn't permitted at Lithia Springs, but there are plenty of first magnitude springs in Florida for scuba diving. Weeki Wachee is closest to where I live. Ginnie Springs may be another good spot for learning how to scuba.

Florida springs are beautiful, fascinating settings. The water is a refreshing break from the summer heat.

More photos of Lithia Springs, Florida.

Related links:
Florida Springs Database
Ginnie Springs
Lithia Springs
Weeki Wachee Springs

Lighting a cannon on the 4th of July

2010-07-04T21:42:00.032-04:00

It's really hard to keep your hand on the cannon after the sizzling starts. It's the anticipation of the BOOM that gets ya.

Alfonze is ready to take pictures, and Ehrin is about to pack the cannon.

No, we didn't shoot cannon balls. Everybody asks me that. I don't think the neighbors would have appreciated holes in their houses. The cannon was packed with a wad of foil containing gun powder. The dog ran into the house after the second BOOM.

Who needs fireworks when you have a cannon? We answered the neighorhood fireworks with BOOMs from the cannon. Baking soda was added to the gun powder mixture after dark to make sparks.

The view from The Hurricane restaurant

2010-06-27T21:14:00.037-04:00

After a great day at the beach, we went up to the roof of The Hurricane to enjoy the view.

Pass A Grille beach with Egmont Key in the distance.

The water was a clear turquoise blue. I like this beach in the summer, because you can park close to the beach, set up camp, and the water is right there. That makes a big difference when you're walking in the blazing Florida sun. There are no buildings directly on the beach and it's a beautiful setting.

The pink palace on the right on the horizon is the historic Don Cesar hotel at St. Pete Beach. To get to Pass A Grille, keep driving south past the Don Cesar along Gulf Boulevard.

After taking in the scenery from the third floor roof we went down for a walk on the beach. The colors in the clouds became more vibrant after sundown.

Boogie Boarding at Madeira Beach

2010-06-05T09:44:00.015-04:00

It was great to get up in the morning and go for a walk on the beach. The wind was still whipping up waves. After we left the hotel in St. Pete Beach we went out for breakfast and went to Madeira Beach. The waves were even bigger than the night before.

This man was fighting the fish and the waves.

We had so much fun that we stayed most of the afternoon.

Staycation at St. Pete Beach

2010-06-04T22:16:00.055-04:00

I needed to get away from it all and booked a hotel on the beach for one night. The Rainy Season has just begun and off season rates are in effect. The day before going to the hotel I checked the weather and it was supposed to rain all weekend. Drats!

It's very unusual for us to have non-stop rain all weekend. Usually small thunderstorms blow around the area. They can dump torrential rain in 15-20 minutes and then the sun comes out again.

When we got to the beach it was overcast and windy. The waves were perfect for body boarding! We had a great time.

We watched the sun go down over the Gulf of Mexico from the steps of the hotel.

Here's my view from the porch. The sunset was beautiful. I think I have about 100 pictures of these palm trees with the sunset.

The colors became even more brilliant after the sun dipped below the horizon. We went for a walk on the beach after sunset. I felt like I was far away, even though I was less than an hour away from home.

Blue Sky for Last Launch of Shuttle Atlantis for STS-132

2010-05-14T18:54:00.131-04:00

We got lucky and were able to get tickets to the NASA Causeway to view the shuttle launch from about 6 miles away. The sky was blue and it was a beautiful day for a launch. This was to be the last launch for Shuttle Atlantis. The crew of mission STS-132 is delivering a Russian module for the International Space Station.

People at the NASA Causeway before launch. The Vehicle Assembly Building is on the horizon.

Everything was go for launch until the last meeting before launch called the 9 Minute Hold. A small 1/8" ball bearing was discovered in the payload bay. The bearing had come loose from a camera. They were discussing whether or not it created a "No Go" constraint for launch. When it came time for rollcall, everyone responded, "Go." The flight director wished the crew of Atlantis godspeed, and the commander made a short speech. We saw the access arm and fuel tank beanie retracting.

There were sparks from main engine ignition, and smoke began to rise around the launchpad.

Shuttle Atlantis silently rose above the launch tower.

The space shuttle ascended into the sky on a long orange flame. It was beautiful. We heard a rumbling sound about 30 seconds after liftoff.

The rumbling sound built up to a loud roar accented by pops, bangs, and claps.

Three pinpoints of light show Solid Rocket Booster separation.

The wind started to blow apart the contrail very quickly. The top part of the cloud formed into a loop.

Here we are with the dissipating contrail on the left side of the photo.

This could be our last time at the NASA Causeway. There are only two more space shuttle missions left.

More photos of the launch of shuttle Atlantis for STS-132

Full Moon Tide at Fort DeSoto Park

2010-04-29T23:16:00.153-04:00

The tide was so far out that the water was only ankle to knee deep. The water was clear and there was a lot of sea life to see. It was like snorkeling without having to swim in the water.

A spring tide happens every month at the full and new moon and has nothing to do with seasonality. That's when the tides are at their highest and lowest levels. This evening's tide is about the season. It's a springtime low tide and sea creatures have gathered to mate. Walking at Fort DeSoto Park tonight was like walking through an aquarium.

The trail of a tulip snail was easy to follow through the clear water. Once springtime is over we'll only find remnants of their striped shells.

We found all sorts of starfish.

There were crown conchs everywhere. At low tide the smaller animals gather to find their own kind.

At high tide the predators come out to feast. We found a small octopus clinging to a pen shell.

The octopus was in a pool of water around an old stump. It must have been left behind when the tide waters receded, because we rarely find them at the beach. There were a lot of other creatures around tree roots in the water such as sea urchins, fish, conchs, and tulip snails. We nicknamed this area the habitat. It was teeming with life.

A nearby crab was hunting for munchies.

The pink ruffles on the pen shell are tulip egg casings. The little pink spots are embryos.

Sunset colors reflected on the water in tiny waves and ripples. The ultraviolet light reflected as deep blues and purples. Yellow, amber, orange, and red contrasted against the blues. The colors flickered in the water like a psychedelic festival.

People continued shelling after sunset. We laughed when a woman screamed when a fighting conch suddenly emerged from a shell she was carrying. As we drove home we saw people shelling in shallow areas with blue flashlights. It looked like blue fireflies hovering over the dark water against a sky still dimly lit with sunset colors.

More photos of April 2010 Full Moon Tides

How to Clean Sea Shells

Predawn Launch of Space Shuttle Discovery STS-131

2010-04-05T21:59:00.170-04:00

Space Shuttle Discovery lights up a dark sky just before dawn on Monday morning at 6:22am. The seven member crew of Mission STS-131 is set to resupply the International Space Station and complete 3 space walks.

I arrived around 4am. The temperature was 59 degrees F, little wind, some fog in low lying areas, and not a single cloud in the sky.

Closer to launch time, people were pressing together, sort of like at a rock concert (except without the booze, drugs and foul language). They were all trying to get as close to the fence as possible, which is at the edge of the Indian River.

At about half an hour prior to launch, a technical glitch created a NO GO situation. They were working feverishly to fix it, and had less than 30 minutes to do so. It sounded something like, the flux capacitor wasn't communicating with the disgronificator, so the converginator was disabled. Who knew?!

About 20 minutes prior to launch, under a totally clear, constellation filled sky complete with waning moon, something happened that has not happened in the prior five night launches. The International Space Station passed overhead! Oh Yeah!!! It eclipsed the moon. It was one of those times when you truly had to be there.

All of the people that pressed around me had never seen a Space Shuttle launch before. Most of them had heard that there was a launch attempt this morning and they changed their plans and came over to witness the event

At nine minutes before launch the countdown clock stopped for the Nine Minute Hold. NASA personnel at Mission Control in Houston and at Launch Control at Kennedy Space Center in Florida have one more meeting before launch to work out last minute details. The technical glitch was resolved. Everyone responded "GO!" during roll call, and the Flight Director wished the crew Godspeed. The countdown continued.

Liftoff is silent from 9 miles away. The entire area is overwhelmed by light and then the sound builds. It was so loud that the ground shook. Car alarms went off. All sorts of sea creatures surfaced out of the water in surprise. There were turtles, dolphins, and alligators, to name a few.

As the Space Shuttle sped down range, there was a separation in the contrail. I've never seen that before. There was a huge gap as if the engines had stopped for 15-20 seconds and then came back on. After the gap, there was a trail behind the Space Shuttle that looked just like a huge comet! It looked like a picture of a comet that you would see in a schoolbook; something like the ancients would have painted. It was phenominal! My pictures do not do it justice. One day, perhaps I'll be cool enough to capture a moment like that!

As the dawn painted a rainbow on the horizon, the top of the contrail was brightly illuminated by the sun. We packed up our camp and headed to the car taking glances at the sky as the sun rose.

As we sat in post launch traffic, we continued to watch the remnants of the contrail change colors in the sunrise. I've never seen anything like it.

Plant Hall at the University of Tampa

2010-02-14T14:00:00.000-05:00

The domes and minarets of Plant Hall are the iconic architectural symbol of Tampa. The building was completed in 1891 as The Tampa Bay Hotel. I've only gotten glimpses of the place when driving by, and wanted to visit.

The hotel was built by railroad tycoon Henry Plant when there wasn't much else in Tampa. It was at the terminus of the western Florida railroad line. There weren't many passable roads through the swamps of Florida in the 1880's. The railroads would have been the first Dixie Highway in Florida.

The Victorian facade and portico are awe inspiring. The Tampa Bay Hotel was open seasonally from December - April. Famous people such as Sandra Berhardt, Clara Barton, Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders, and Babe Ruth visited the hotel. It was the beginning of Florida's tourism industry.

The railroads created not only new winter retreats for the rich, but also created opportunities for the orange farmers to reach new markets. The Port of Tampa grew from the connection of steamship to rail transport. Local businesses flourished.

This fountain inscribed with the name Henry Bradley Plant is across the street from the main entrance facade. You can see downtown Tampa in the background.

Henry Plant made his fortune in the North when as a railroad employee he saw an opportunity for express parcel service, which was nonexistent at the time. He worked his way up to becoming a high profile executive. After the Civil War he purchased bankrupt Southern railroads that were devastated by the war. The restored railroad lines went to major cities of the South and connected them to the Northeast. Florida was still a new frontier.

Fletcher Lounge is a large space used today by the University of Tampa as an auditorium.

Here's a detail of the dome inside Fletcher Lounge.

The large Victorian windows of Fletcher Lounge.

I climbed a narrow spiral staircase to explore the area above Fletcher Lounge and felt a little like Alice in Wonderland. I wasn't sure what I might find around the corner. This curved hallway on the second floor runs along a rooftop. It connects the offices near Fletcher Lounge to the classrooms of the Science Department.

Grandiose staircases can be found throughout the building.

There's a lot to see here, including the Henry B. Plant Museum on the first floor, and a park along the Hillsborough River. Parking is a challenge, as it is on most college campuses. If you visit give a little extra time to find parking. It's a great place to photograph.

More photos of Plant Hall in Tampa

STS-130 Space Shuttle Endeavour Launch

2010-02-08T04:14:00.118-05:00

It was cold and windy on the water. People were huddled together under blankets. Some were on the ground in sleeping bags. Cameras on tripods were ready to take in the last night launch of the space shuttle era. It's 3:30am and the space shuttle is scheduled to launch at 4:14:08am.

They waited in the darkness for hours listening to the radio and checking for news on cell phones. The previous night had been a disappointment when the launch was scrubbed due to a low cloud ceiling. Tonight, the weather for launch was perfect in Florida, but the emergency landing sites in Europe were all experiencing inclement weather. Less than a half-hour before launch, the weather had cleared in Zaragoza, Spain. Conditions went from red to green and everyone cheered.

Rollcall was about to be called in Mission Control during the last meeting before launch known as The Nine Minute Hold. Everyone polled replies "GO." Once the countdown restarts at T-9 minutes things happen very quickly. The people sitting in the dark stand up, drop their blankets and check camera settings. At T-5 minutes the orbiter access arm slowly swings away from the space shuttle. At T-2.5 minutes the beanie cap at the top of the orange fuel tank lifts and retracts. At T-6.6 seconds the main engines start. 3...2...1...GO!

There's a small glow of amber light at the launchpad as smoke starts streaming out the sides. The light glows dark orange as the space shuttle silently lifts off. We are about 9 miles away and the sound hasn't reached us yet. The light becomes brighter as the space shuttle ascends and suddenly overwhelms the darkness like a rising sun. The entire area is lit as if by daylight and then the rumbling begins. The sound is accompanied by crackles and pops and builds into a crescendo as what looks like a star continues to rise.

Clouds above the space shuttle are illuminated in an eerie funnel shape as if opening a door to another world.

A long flame enters the clouds and the rumbling continues.

No one can take their eyes off of it. Some completely abandon their cameras to continue to watch the spectacle in the sky.

The white star separates from two orange flames as the solid rocket boosters drop away from the space shuttle. The people in the dark applaud and continue to watch as the sound fades and the light dims to a pinpoint. They gather their equipment and leave knowing that they will never see a sight quite like this again.

More of our photos of STS-130 launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour.

A Gallery of Photos: The Last Night Launch

Manatee Faces at the TECO Plant

2010-01-31T19:41:00.085-05:00

It was a cold and windy day in Tampa. When we got to the Tampa Electric Manatee Viewing Center the people looked as huddled together from the cold as the manatees. Usually you see shadows of the manatees' large bodies under water. Every so often a tail or snout will emerge. Today a large number of manatees had their heads sticking out of the water.

They were all facing the same direction like a classroom of school children facing the teacher. We have no idea what they were looking at. Their eyes are so tiny considering how huge the rest of their bodies are. I would think that the cold wind would make them want to stay under water. Maybe they were resting in the shallows. They would have been swimming in the same direction from the deeper water to the shallows and maybe they decided to stay put and rest.

This area is a winter sanctuary for the manatees. They have been in distress due to the long duration of cold weather in Florida this winter. It is the coldest winter in about 20 years. Manatees are warm-blooded mammals and can't tolerate water that is colder than 68 degrees for long periods of time. The manatees gather at natural springs and in warm water around power plants to survive the cold.

More photos of the manatees at TECO.

Launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-129

2009-11-16T21:22:00.009-05:00

"3...2...1...GO!"
The crowd cheers.
"There she goes!"
"We have liftoff!"
"Oh, yeah!"
"Woo-hoo!"

"Oh, dude."
"Mom, they're going into outer space. They're going into outer space!"
"That is unreal, man."

Rumbles, crackles and pops build up to a roar.

"Whooah..."
"Ooooh..."
"Look at it go into the cloud!"

"The boosters just split."
"Where?"
"There it is."
"Incredible."

Applause.

"Dude, that was wicked insane."
"Did you love that?"

Video of STS-129 Space Shuttle Launch

Seen from across the Indian River about 9.25 miles from the launch pad.

More photos of STS-129 Space Shuttle Launch.

Florida Aquarium in Tampa

2009-11-07T23:01:00.014-05:00

I was looking for a distraction this weekend and decided to go to the Florida Aquarium.

Jellyfish video:

The lights change colors as the jellyfish swim by.

Leafy Green Seadragon video:

The seadragons move so gracefully. They are seahorses with leafy camouflage that blends in with seaweed.

Here's the stingray tank. You can put your hand in to touch them.

Rays like to brush up against each other as they swim by. I like to learn about the creatures we swim with at the beach.

These shore birds are black-necked stilts.

A roseate spoonbill watches the people go by from the mangrove marsh habitat.

A brown duck in the cypress marsh habitat.

There's a new exhibit upstairs about home aquariums.

Goliath Grouper video:

These behemoths like to hang around coral reefs and under bridges.

Banana Flowers at Florida Botanical Gardens

2009-11-01T17:06:00.007-05:00

We went for a walk through the tropical fruit garden at Florida Botanical Gardens. The banana trees were in bloom. I never realized how many different kinds of banana plants there are.

Thousand fingers bananas are tiny. They're only about 2 inches long. Bananas are botanically classified as berries. The fruit does look like berries on these plants.

The fruit is the female part of the flower containing the seeds. The bud on the end of the stem is the male part of the flower.

Close up of a banana flower.

You can see how the fruit develops between the flower petals on the Raja Puri banana flower.

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More photos of Florida Botanical Gardens

Holiday Lights at Florida Botanical Gardens in December 2008

Ares 1-X Rocket Test Flight

2009-10-28T21:01:00.013-04:00

The 327 foot Ares 1-X rocket on Launchpad 39B at Kennedy Space Center right before dawn. The three towers around it are for lightning protection. We were about 9 miles away from the launchpad across the Indian River.

We arrived shortly before dawn to see the launch of the test flight of the Ares 1-X rocket. It is a prototype of the vehicle that will take the astronauts back to the moon. The Ares series of vehicles would also replace the space shuttles and play a part in resupplying the International Space Station.

A lot of people already had their cameras set up for the 8am launch. The amount of upper level cloud cover caused the first delay. The launch window was open until 12 noon. It was like a tailgate party and we had a good time with the people we met there.

Jim was on the phone with his Mom, who was watching live coverage on NASA-TV. She was one of our sources for updates. "Mom says" became an inside joke after a while. After all, if Mom says the rocket's going to launch in 20 minutes it really is, isn't it? People would ask, "What does Mom say now?" We also had people in the crowd with radios, and got updates from Twitter feeds on our cell phones. The time was getting closer and closer to the cut off time of 12 noon.

The countdown resumed at 11:26am, and then 4 minutes later at 11:30am...liftoff!

It was incredible to see the rocket being lifted into to the sky by a long flame.

The rocket moved so fast that we didn't hear the sound until it was way up in the sky. It started it's roll to the east when we heard the roar.

Here's a photo of our launch party with the contrail from launch on the right side. From left to right: John, Barry, Gloria, Jim, Connie, Alan, Christine.

More photos of the Ares 1-X test flight.

Midnight Ride of Space Shuttle Discovery for STS-128

2009-08-28T23:59:00.009-04:00

The light was beautifully reflected in the Indian River. For a few seconds it was so bright that it was like looking at the sun. Then the space shuttle continued to roar into the sky illuminating swirls of clouds as it went. It was an awesome sight.

This is the launch pad and the Vehicle Assembly Building earlier that night. We were a little over 9 miles away.

Space Shuttle Launch Scrubbed due to Lightning

2009-08-25T01:49:00.008-04:00

Space Shuttle Discovery was on the launch pad for mission STS 128. We were across the Indian River, about 9.25 miles away. It is unusual to have hardly any wind when you're near the open water. It gave us the opportunity to take some photos with longer exposures.

Less than 1/2 hour later the sky opened up with rain and lightning over the launch pad. Our area was dry. This photo is a still from a video we took of the lightning. The big square on the horizon is the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). The space shuttle launchpad is the light spot to the left of the VAB. At 11:43pm a lightning strike was detected 6 miles east of the launch pad.

The square building silhouetted on the horizon is the VAB. I can't imagine what this must have sounded like to the astronauts waiting inside the space shuttle.

The countdown was too close (in the 9 Minute Hold) to let the storms pass and the launch was scrubbed due to the weather.

Fun in the Waves at Cocoa Beach

2009-08-24T15:31:00.008-04:00

Here's the famous Tiki Bar at the end of The Cocoa Beach Pier. We came to the east coast to see the launch of space shuttle Discovery and stayed at a hotel on Cocoa Beach. I had never seen waves so perfectly tubular and could hardly wait to get into the water! We used body boards and rode one wave after the other.

We must have hit the beach at just the right time. The waves were coming in at even intervals. There wasn't any waiting for the perfect wave. It was more a matter of getting up again to ride the next one in.

We met a lot of nice people at the beach. There were some other Floridian couples staying at the hotel. We also met a group from Australia. The hot topic of the day was where to see the space shuttle launch.

The rocket launch towers at Cape Canaveral were visible from the beach.

We walked along the Pier and took pictures of the beach at sunset. Then we went back to the hotel to nap. The space shuttle launch was scheduled for 1:36am.

Launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour STS-127

2009-07-15T23:24:00.011-04:00

Video of the launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour seen from across Banana Creek near the Apollo/Saturn V Center.

Crank your speakers up!

We traveled to Kennedy Space Center several times to see the launch of this mission, because of delays. It was delayed in June due to technical difficulties with the hydrogen fueling system. This week the delays were due to thunderstorms. The last time we were present was for Saturday's launch attempt. It was scrubbed within 10 minutes of launch. We repurchased tickets to the NASA Causeway viewing area, which is 5.5 miles from the launch pad. The tickets are orange. Some of our friends came back on Monday, but the launch was scrubbed again. They bought more orange tickets. Today NASA offered orange ticket holders a unique opportunity. We were able to view the launch from the VIP area by the Apollo Center 3.5 miles from the launch pad!

Our persistence paid off. This was a once in a lifetime experience.

More photos of the launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour for mission STS-127.

Launch Viewing Area At Banana Creek

2009-07-15T16:03:00.016-04:00

(Click on photos for larger images.)

The VIP launch view area at Banana Creek. The square building in the background is the Apollo/Saturn V Center.

It was raining as we approached Kennedy Space Center (KSC). There was hardly any traffic and no security checkpoints. We were texting our friends that we were meeting at the launch. The New Jersey Kid had rescheduled his plane ticket again. The Orlando Crew also repurchased orange launch viewing tickets to go back to the NASA Causeway to see the launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour. We met at the Launch Status Center where we watched NASA TV. A KSC spokesperson talked about launch updates, explained mission details, and answered questions.

Lightning advisories cleared personnel from the exterior of the launch pad, and people at the Visitor Center were advised to move indoors. It was raining so hard at the launchpad that we couldn't see the space shuttle on NASA TV. Yet there was hardly any rain were we were. All the while they were continuing to ingress the astronauts into the space shuttle. Then it was announced that the NASA Causeway was closed due to lightning advisories. What a disappointment.

Our KSC spokesperson was getting updates through an earbud. She nodded and smiled. "You folks are in for a treat. NASA has never done this before. Orange ticket holders are going to have the unprecedented opportunity to go to the VIP viewing area by the Apollo/Saturn V Center."

They were expecting the heavy weather to pass by launch time.

I was so excited I was jumping up and down! I've been to the Apollo/Saturn V Center many times and thought how lucky I would be to be able to see a launch from that close. The historical meaning of the location also hit me. There aren't as many people here today, partly because many gave up due to all the delays. Also, the real VIP's are arriving tomorrow for the 40th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11. Endeavour is launching from the same launchpad today used to launch Apollo 11 to land the first people on the moon 40 years ago. I got goosebumps.

The crowd at Banana Creek had some interesting toys. Here someone has a parabolic microphone. Both launchpads LC39B (left) and LC39A with Endeavour (right) are on the horizon.

Launchpad LC39B is undergoing reconstruction for use in the new Constellation Program. You can see a crane in the background. It will not be used for space shuttles anymore. This launchpad will be used to test the new Ares rocket at the end of August '09. (Update: The Ares test has been rescheduled for October '09.)

Space Shuttle Endeavour is on the other side of the tower. You can see the orange External Fuel Tank and the tips of the Solid Rocket Boosters.

Here's an interesting contraption we saw by the Apollo/Saturn V Center. We think it is a telescope on a trailer.

One of the countdown clocks shows the 9 minute hold. There are several "holds" built in to the countdown clock, which starts early in the day. These holds allow launch teams to hold meetings prior to events or steps taking place. For example, there's a hold in the clock before fueling to allow the fueling team to have a meeting first, and there's a hold before the astronauts get onboard the shuttle. The Nine Minute Hold is the last hold before lift-off and it seems like the longest one of all. The crowd cheered when the clock started running again.

Helicopter Fly By Video

At four minutes we sang the "Star Spangled Banner" and I started practising zooms, tilts, and pans with my camera. After that things happened real fast. Here's a link to the top of the post with the video:

Video of Launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour for STS-127

Launch of Shuttle Endeavour Scrubbed with Less Than 10 Minutes to Go

2009-07-12T23:43:00.002-04:00

View of Space Shuttle Endeavour from across the Banana River on the NASA Causeway. This is about 5-1/2 miles away from the launchpad. It was a sunny day with a blue sky.

Since the first 2 scrubs were all about the fueling system, I learned more about the space shuttle fueling system. We didn't leave Tampa until fueling had begun.

We arrived at the NASA Causeway about 2 hours before launch and set up camp in the shade of our bus. Florida summers are hot and the sun is fierce. We saw manatees in the water. Pelicans were diving for fish. We caught up with friends from New Jersey who returned to Florida to see the launch.

The sky was blue over the launch pad when we heard thunder behind us. There was a big dark cloud in the west. An announcement came over the PA that the thunderstorm created a No Go condition for launch. We all hoped it would blow away. The rest of the sky was clear, but if there's a thunderstorm with lightning within 20 nautical miles of the launchpad or landing strip it's No Go. They broadcast the control room roll call from Florida and Houston. We heard, "Go, Go, Go, No Go, Go, Go, Go, No Go, Go..." The No Go's were from the Weather Officers. There were a few outbursts, but for the most part the crowd quietly packed up their camps and boarded their busses to return to the Visitor Center. We received vouchers to repurchase the orange bus tickets for when the launch of STS-127 was rescheduled. Five out of seven people in our group repurchased the orange tickets.

Space Shuttle Launch STS-127 Scrubbed Again

2009-06-17T00:26:00.004-04:00

We came back to Kennedy Space Center (KSC) for another all nighter to see the launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour for mission STS-127 shortly after 6am. The launch time became earlier for each day delayed. The mission is to go to the International Space Station (ISS) to add a section on the Japanese Kibo laboratory. The launch time is scheduled to insert the space shuttle into an orbit to rendezvous with the ISS.

When we arrived at KSC we saw a lot of people sleeping in cars, campers, and tents in the parking lot. The doors to the Visitor Center were locked and a crowd of people was waiting to get in. We met a guy from New Jersey who had his Blackberry plugged into an outlet in the wall. His Dad was reminding him that it might rain again and that he should be careful not to walk away with his Blackberry still plugged in. The New Jersey Kid rolled his eyes and said, "Dad, I know I'm plugged in, and it's not raining anymore." Dad replied, "It's just that walking off with something plugged into the wall is something I might do." The New Jersey Kid was checking for news on Twitter. He was getting Tweets about the launch from SpaceFlightNow. I had set up my phone to get text Tweets from NASAKennedy and Astro_127 (Mission Commander Mark Polansky) but hadn't gotten any messages yet. The New Jersey Kid said that they had not yet started fueling the space shuttle. We waited, checked phones for news, and texted friends on their way to KSC. The fueling process began, but a hydrogen leak was detected. The leak was determined to be within safety parameters, fueling continued, and they opened the doors to the Visitor Center. We all poured into KSC in anticipation of seeing the shuttle launch at dawn.

The place was buzzing with people, music, and kids hopping around in space suits when an announcement came over the PA, "May we have your attention please..." The mission was scrubbed again. The hydrogen leak went beyond safety limits. The crowd sighed a collective "Awww..." and we all drove home.

Kennedy Space Center at Night

2009-06-13T12:08:00.006-04:00

We arrived at Kennedy Space Center around midnight for the launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour for mission STS-127 shortly after 7am the next morning. We had tickets for the viewing area at the NASA Causeway and you have to arrive about 6 hours early. The place looks different at night.

The Rocket Garden glows with colored lights. There are red lights under the upright rockets. The Saturn 1B rocket that lays on its side is illuminated in blue.

Shortly after we arrived we heard an announcement that the launch would be delayed due to a leak in the hydrogen fueling system.

It was a bummer, but we were already in line for the "Dine with an Astronaut" event at 1am. We met astronaut Mike Mullane who flew on 3 space shuttle missions. They showed a video during the meal. Afterwards Mike Mullane spoke to the group. He said that on one of his missions the launch was scrubbed and that he knows how disappointing it is, and added that's it's better to be safe than sorry. Then he took questions from the audience. The cutest was a little girl who asked, "What kind of job did you have as an astronaut, besides scrubbing the shuttle?"

Afterwards we lined up to have pictures taken with Mike. Somehow we lucked out on timing and were the last group in line for the picture taking. We had a chance to talk to Mike one on one, and I got his autograph in a book I brought to the event. It's a book called "The Home Planet" that I found in a sale pile at a bookstore years ago. It is a large hardcover book with photographs of the Earth taken by astronauts. The narrative in the book is quotes and essays by astronauts. I didn't know which astronaut we would meet that night, but it just so happened that Mike Mullane is one the astronauts quoted in the book.

We exchanged phone numbers with new friends we'd met at the dinner, and left Kennedy Space Center around 3am. We'll meet up with our friends from Orlando at the next launch attempt.

The Dali and the Don Cesar

2009-06-02T19:05:00.011-04:00

This is Day 4 and the last day of our Tampa Bay beach vacation. After brunch we went the Salvador Dali Museum in Saint Petersburg. It boasts having the largest collection of Salvador Dali paintings in the world, outside of Dali's hometown in Figueres, Spain. It is a treat for the eyes to look at the detail of the paintings and discover images inside of other images. The largest paintings are about 15 feet tall and contain all sorts of optical illusions. Our group of vacationers includes artists and photographers. It was fun to have an excuse to do something artsy.

Afterwards we went to the Don Cesar hotel on Saint Pete Beach. The Don Cesar is a historic hotel that was built in the 1920's. It is the pink palace of Saint Pete Beach and is visible for miles along the coast. They don't mind people coming in to sight see and take pictures. Parking is $10 unless you buy something at the hotel and get your ticket validated. We got our parking validated buying ice cream at one of the shops on the ground level.

At the Dali Museum we were seeing art. At the Don Cesar we were creating art with our cameras.

This is the end of our 4 day Tampa Bay family beach vacation. The vacationers went to the airport from the Don Cesar and we went home to Tampa.

Four Day Trip Itinerary

Day 1
1:30pm Tampa International Airport
Lunch - Whiskey Joe's, Tampa
Saint Pete Beach
Dinner - Brass Monkey, Saint Pete Beach

Day 2
Lunch - Billy's Stonecrab & Lobster, Tierra Verde
Fort DeSoto Park Beach
Dinner - German Crepes House, Tierra Verde

Day 3
Lunch - Palm Pavilion, Clearwater
Sea Safari Ecotour - Clearwater Marine Aquarium
Holmes Beach, Ann Maria Island, near Bradenton
Dinner - Cafe on the Beach

Day 4
Salvador Dali Museum, Saint Petersburg
Don Cesar Hotel, Saint Pete Beach
7pm - Tampa International Airport

More photos of the Don Cesar Hotel.

Unfauxhemian's blog post about our vacation

The Palm Pavilion and Clearwater Marine Aquarium

2009-06-01T23:35:00.011-04:00

It's Day 3 of our Tampa Bay beach vacation. We started out by going to the Palm Pavilion in Clearwater for lunch. Have you noticed that we can't seem to do anything before lunch? In Florida, there's nobody to tell you when to get up or what to do. You don't even have to shave or comb your hair. Just wear a hat and sunglasses and you'll fit right in.

We enjoyed the view of the beach from the veranda and just watched the world go by. I like the motto the Palm Pavilion has on their t-shirts and cups, "There's no place like this place anywhere near this place, so this must be the place." We saved the paper cups from our drinks for collecting sea shells, and went for a walk along Clearwater beach. It's my favorite beach for people watching.

We didn't really have a set hour by hour schedule. I had in mind to go sight seeing where we could retreat into air conditioning during the heat of the day. The time of day for being at the beach in the water would be later in the afternoon, and then we'd stay to enjoy the sunsets.

Nicholas the dolphin at Clearwater Marine Aquarium.

This is the only day of our vacation where we actually did have something scheduled. We had a reservation for 1pm to go on a boat ride at Clearwater Marine Aquarium. It's called the Sea Life Safari Ecotour. We looked around the aquarium and then got on the boat for a tour of Clearwater Harbor. The captain did a good job of pointing out some of the historic and fabulous estates that were along the shore. It was a point of view you could only see from the water and would miss driving by on the road.

A heron and roseate spoonbills in a bird sanctuary.

They cast a net overboard and pulled up sea life. One of the scientific tasks CMA does is to take regular inventories of the sea life here. They had a large tank to put the sea life in. Then they transferred the fish into smaller aquariums to show everyone. Other sea life, like the sea urchin in the above photo, were passed around. The spines of the sea urchin were sharp.

The back of the spider crab was soft like velvet.

Then we went to an island in Clearwater Harbor to go shelling.

Someone found a large horse conch in the process of eating a whelk. I've never seen anything like it. I find sea shells like the whelk often and wondered how the mollusk inside was cleaned out leaving a perfect shell behind.

After the boat tour we got in the car to go beach hopping.

More photos of Clearwater.

Holmes Beach on Anna Maria Island

2009-06-01T23:30:00.010-04:00

We went to the Cafe on the Beach to have a snack and then set up our beach camp. This is my favorite beach to visit on a weekday. It is hard to find parking on the weekends, and it's no wonder why. The water is clear and beautiful, and the sand is as soft as powdered sugar.

In case you haven't figured it out, all the Gulf Beaches are my favorite beach!

We had fun playing in the water. Alfonze snorkeled around and showed us some of the sea life he found.

Jason checks his sunset shots.

Three amigos Alfonze, Jason, and Erika watch the sunset and take photos.

This is the last sunset of our beach vacation. Boo-hoo!

Fort DeSoto Beach and Tierra Verde Restaurants

2009-05-31T15:14:00.003-04:00

It's Day 2 of our Tampa Bay family beach vacation. We went to Billy's Stonecrab & Lobster in Tierra Verde for lunch.

Shoot, we are on vacation. Nobody's in a hurry. We enjoyed the view of the canal, and looked at the collection of trophy fish on the walls.

Later at Fort DeSoto Park we hung out on the beach. We like to go to this beach on the weekends, because you can find parking and there's plenty of room on the beach. I can't remember everything we did, but it took all afternoon. Floating in the water, walking on the beach, floating in the water some more, etc. It's my favorite beach for a quiet natural setting.

After sunset we went to the German Crepes House in Tierra Verde (1120 Pinellas Bayway, Saint Petersburg, FL 33715). They have the best beer in the world! Carlton and Jacqueline came from Berlin to settle in Florida around the same time we did. They are great hosts. The German potato salad was good, and the Black Forest Cherry Cake is as authentic as it gets.

Day 1 of Tampa Bay Beach Vacation

2009-05-30T23:31:00.013-04:00

We picked up my sisters from Tampa International Airport and went to Whiskey Joe's for lunch. It's a great place to land to get that Florida feeling right after getting off the plane. They have good food, good prices, and an awesome view of Tampa Bay from the Courtney Campbell Causeway.

After lunch we went to our house, unloaded luggage, changed into beach clothes, and hit the road for the Gulf Coast. We spent the rest of the afternoon at Saint Pete Beach. It's my favorite beach for times when you want a short walk from parking to the beach. Restaurants and shopping areas are also nearby if you park near the Pass-A-Grille facilities. Look for The Hurricane restaurant. It's a big gray building with pointed gables. The water was warm and the waves were fun to bounce around in. We even got Dee to ride waves on a boogie board.

We stayed for sunset. Alfonze and Jason are figuring out camera settings for sunset shots. Dee is discovering cochinas. Those are tiny, colorful clams that come out of the sand around sunset. The surf uncovers them, and they quickly dig themselves back into the sand.

Afterwards we went across the street to the Brass Monkey for a late dinner. We sat on the balcony outside where we had a view of the beach. The sunset colors continued to develop after the sun went down. After dark we saw a starry sky and lights from ships in the Gulf of Mexico.

Florida National Cemetery on Memorial Day Weekend

2009-05-24T16:28:00.007-04:00

Florida National Cemetery is in a beautiful setting in the Withlacoochee State Forest. We came to pay our respects and visit Paul's grave. He's buried in an area with his WWII buddies.

American flags lined the roads of the cemetery for Memorial Day Weekend. Dark storm clouds loomed in the background of the sunlit park. The American flags appeared to glow in the sunlight against the dramatic sky. We made it back to the car just in time to avoid getting soaked by torrential rain.

More photos of our visit to Florida National Cemetery.

Launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis for Last Mission to Hubble

2009-05-11T20:50:00.035-04:00

We went to Kennedy Space Center to see the launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis for mission STS-125. It will be the last servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope and the last flight of Space Shuttle Atlantis. It is a dangerous mission. The Hubble's maximum orbit is 350 miles above the Earth. Atlantis will have used up about half of its fuel just to reach orbit. This altitude is where most other satellites are located, and there is a lot of space junk to contend with that could potentially damage the space shuttle. The International Space Station is at a lower orbit and would be out of reach as a safe haven in case of an emergency. Space Shuttle Endeavour is staged on the second launch pad as a rescue mission if necessary.

Space Shuttle Endeavor is on the left and Space Shuttle Atlantis is on the right.

A model showing Shuttle Atlantis servicing the Hubble Space Telescope.

The Hubble will be captured by Shuttle Atlantis and serviced on a platform in the space shuttle's payload area. This servicing mission will bring repairs and new instruments to the telescope to allow the Hubble to function through the year 2014.

The launch of mission STS-125 has been rescheduled several times since last fall. Part of the Hubble's 18 year-old communications equipment failed shortly before the mission launch in October 2008. Rather than service an instrument that might fail to communicate with scientists on Earth, the mission was changed to include upgrades and back-ups for communications.

The tickets for the launch were sold out months ago and security was only allowing ticket holders' cars to pass through to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. We arrived around 10am and there were long lines of people waiting to get in. Once inside we immediately encountered another long line of people waiting to board the buses to the launch viewing area. At past launch viewing events people took time to look around KSC. This group was ready to get right to it.

This is the special viewing area on the NASA Causeway. It is about 6 miles from the space shuttle launch pads.

Our view of Atlantis on the launchpad across the Banana River.

We waited for hours, but the time seemed to pass quickly. Merritt Island is also a nature preserve. We saw all kinds of interesting birds, jumping fish and occasionally dolphins. People had all kinds of viewing equipment and we took turns looking through one another's lenses. We met an astronomer who has worked with images from the Hubble for years. The rocket launch area is nearby and we saw a rocket inside one of the towers. The next rocket launch in June will send a lunar orbiter to scout for landing sites on the moon, and a probe to look for possible ice formations at lunar locations that are in constant darkness.

After much anticipation the countdown began. Everyone stood up to cheer and count down. 5...4...3...2...1...

Lift off!

The space shuttle is moving so fast that the sound from lift-off isn't heard until it's in the air. It starts out as a crackling sound.

Then it builds up to a roar that you can feel.

Everyone watches as the space shuttle climbs higher into the sky. It's an amazing sight!

More photos of our trip to see the launch of STS-125 Space Shuttle Atlantis

Video of the launch of STS-125 Space Shuttle Atlantis

Turn up your speakers.

Travel Recommendations

It is great to have a Sunpass for this trip in particular, because you can drive through the tolls and pay electronically instead of having to stop to pay cash. The Sunpass is a fantastic time saver when all the toll booths are backed up after shuttle launches. I highly recommend avoiding the Bee Line Expressway (FL-528) after a shuttle launch. The toll booths back up for miles and there are no rest areas between Titusville and Orlando.

Road Directions to Gulf Coast After Shuttle Launch

To drive home to Tampa after a shuttle launch we go north of Titusville taking either U.S. Route 1 or I-95 north to SR-46 to drive east towards Sanford. Near Geneva take Oviedo Road (SR- 426) south to FL-417 south. FL-417 is a toll road that takes you around Orlando and ends directly at I-4 near Disney. I-4 continous west to I-75 and the Gulf Coast.

Visiting Kennedy Space Center

The best time to visit Kennedy Space Center is on a non-shuttle-launch-day. Traffic is usually no problem in and out of Titusville. If you want to Mapquest the Kennedy Space Center, look up Orsino, Florida.

Easter Bunny Sighting at Clearwater Beach

2009-04-12T21:54:00.001-04:00

Octopus at Honeymoon Island

2009-04-11T23:39:00.000-04:00

(Click on photo to see a larger version.)

We went for a walk along the beach at Honeymoon Island and found a small octopus in the surf.

Weedon Island Preserve Observation Tower

2009-03-29T23:31:00.023-04:00

(Click on the photos for larger images.)

We walked across boardwalks over a mangrove marsh to get to the Observation Tower at Weedon Island Preserve.

Here's a view of the boardwalk from the top of the Observation Tower. You can see the roof of the Natural History Center and the Progress Energy Plant at the horizon.

The fishing pier seen from the Observation Tower.

Take the time to stop, look, and listen as you walk along the boardwalks. You're bound to discover some wildlife, like this crab.

Ibises in the salt water marsh. They are funny looking birds with long, curved beaks.

These fruits are actually miniature mangrove plants in the making called propagules. They will continue to grow longer to look like giant string beans. Eventually the propagules fall into the water and are carried away by the tide. Those that land in a place to take hold and root become trees. The roots capture more silt and debris to form islands.

Fortunately for me, there are signs along the trails to explain such details. Now I know what those big string beans are that we find at the beach in the summer.

There is always something new to discover here.

More photos of Weeden Island Preserve.

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Directions from Tampa
Drive across the Gandy Bridge and turn left at San Martin Blvd. Keep a close eye out for it as soon as you're on the St. Petersburg side of the bridge.

Preserve Hours: Daily, 7am - Sunset
Natural History Center Hours: Wednesday - Sunday 10am-4pm (closed Monday, Tuesday, and holidays)

Night Launch of Space Shuttle Discovery STS-119

2009-03-15T23:03:00.012-04:00

(Click on photos for larger images.)

Here's a view of Space Shuttle Discovery on the launch pad shortly before lift-off. Alfonse took photos from across the Banana River on the NASA Causeway about 6 miles away.

The space shuttle launch lights up the evening sky. Nothing can prepare you for how bright the light gets. Night turns into day.

Here you see the space shuttle doing the roll maneuver that inserts it into low Earth orbit. The contrail reflected the colors of the sunset. The colored area of the cloud looked like a rainbow.

The white dots are the solid rocket boosters dropping.

The glowing sunset colors in the contrail was very unusual. It was one of the most visually spectacular launches ever. The launch was visible hundreds of miles away in Jacksonville, Tampa, and Miami.

More photos of the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery STS-119.

Launch of Space Shuttle Discovery Seen in Tampa

2009-03-15T20:14:00.007-04:00

(Click on photos for larger images.)

It was a very quiet Sunday evening in our neighborhood, except for me, hooping and hollering in the backyard with my camera. The space shuttle first appeared as a glowing red point of light going straight up. The contrail behind it glowed with bands of sunset colors. It looked amazing, even from 130 miles away!

The wind started tearing the contrail apart right away.

The white cloud is what was left from the space shuttle roll maneuver that puts it into orbit.

The Ringling Estate and Art Museum in Sarasota

2009-02-15T22:44:00.022-05:00

(Click on photos for larger images.)

The John and Mable Ringling Estate is a large campus that includes the Art Museum, Circus Museums, Ca d'Zan mansion and the historic Asolo Theatre. The Ringlings are famous for their part in the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus.

The circus overwintered in Sarasota, Florida in the early 20th century. The number of people, animals, and equipment that moved with the circus was enormous. It was like moving an entire town by railroad. When you think of a circus the first thing you picture is the performers and their animals, but there was so much more going on behind the scenes. There was a different set of tented stables for the performing horses and work horses. A large group of animals was part of a menagerie kept in its own tent as a traveling zoo. There were blacksmiths, carpenters, mechanics, cooks, set designers, and costume designers to name a few skilled workers that traveled with the circus.

The calliope is a steam powered organ. It is in the Circus Museum along with a lot of other colorful wagons and animal cages that were part of circus parades.

There were trams to take you around the park. This tram stop is in front of the Ca d'Zan mansion. Ca d'Zan means "House of John" in Venetian dialect. It was the winter residence of John and Mable Ringling and was constructed in the 1920's. It is an enormous Venetian style palace by the water.

The place is so ornate that it's gaudy, but when you think of circus people living here, it fits. This photo is of a room used as a dance hall.

The ceiling depicts couples dancing. Each segment has different characters in colorful costumes. If you look closely you'll find that one of the couples is John and Mable Ringling in costume. You can tell that the mansion wasn't just for John and Mable. The rooms on the lower floors were for entertaining a lot of people.

This facade faces the waters of Sarasota bay. The floor of the terrace is made of colored marble. There are so many details to marvel at. After we left Ca d'Zan we got on a tram headed for the famous Ringling Art Museum.

We were in awe when we stepped into the Art Museum's courtyard.

Here's a gilded room in the Art Museum. As amazing as it is, we didn't make it through the entire Art Museum. There is so much to see here.

You can get a map of the grounds at the ticket counter. I recommend picking out the things you want to see most and going there first. It's hard see it all in one day. You can also plan your visit using the web site http://www.ringling.org/.

As we were leaving I heard circus music playing in my head. I thought of a sign in one of the Circus Museum buildings that reads "May All Your Days be Circus Days."

Hours:
Open Daily 7 days a week 10am - 5:30pm
Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Days

Admission:
Adults $20
Children (ages 6-17) $7
Children under 6 Free of Charge
Discounts for Seniors, Teachers, and Active US Military personnel

Parking is free.

More photos of the Ringling Estate and Art Museum in Sarasota, Florida

Fort DeSoto

2009-02-14T22:43:00.009-05:00

(Click on photos for larger images.)

Today we visited the old fort at Fort DeSoto Park. Construction of the fort began in 1898. The fort is built into the side of a hill, and is not visible to approaching ships. Grass, trees and other plants cover the artillery area. It was meant to defend Tampa Bay during the Spanish American War. No shots were fired here other than practice shots. Houses and administration buildings were once nearby. All that remains of them are the foundations.

Storage of artillery materials was in the lower level inside the hill. One of the chambers has historical photos, maps, and drawings.

The data booth is behind the cannons.

You can walk along the top of the fort and look down on the cannons.

The things that look like little green houses are for ventilation of the storage chambers below.

A view of the fishing pier from the top of the fort.

A view of the beach from the top of the fort.

We usually come to Fort DeSoto Park to go to the beach. Winter is a good time to walk around or ride bikes. There is a snack bar and gift shop near the fort. Bike and kayak rentals are also nearby.

More photos of Fort DeSoto historic site.

Admission
$0.35 per car
Parking is free

Clearwater Marine Aquarium

2009-02-13T22:42:00.006-05:00

We picked up some visitors from the St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport, had lunch at Clearwater beach, and went to Clearwater Marine Aquarium (CMA). The animals here have been found injured, are rescued, and then rehabilitated to be released back to their natural habitat. CMA's specialty is with dolphins, sea turtles, and sea otters, to name a few species. Those that can't be released become permanent residents here. What makes this place different from other zoos or aquariums is that each of these animals has a name and a story.

We walked downstairs to look in the windows of the big dolphin tank. This dolphin is one of four permanent residents. His name is Nicholas. The white marks on his back are scars from sunburn. He was stranded as a calf with his mother Noelle on Christmas Eve 2002. His mother did not survive. Nicholas was too young to have learned how to hunt on his own, and has since been a resident here.

Nicholas and a trainer during the dolphin show.

Nicholas looking through the window at Winter. She was very chatty. They say that she is the most vocal dolphin here.

Winter is the most famous resident at CMA. She was found wrapped in a crab trap when she was 3 months old. She lost her tail as a result of her injuries. Winter learned how to swim side to side like sharks do. She has been an inspiration to handicapped people around the world.

A prosthetic tail was developed for her. The new technology developed for the tail has helped improve human prosthetics.

A sea turtle diving. A sign with the name and story for each animal was by their tank.

We enjoyed seeing the animals and seashell displays. Our guests from Ohio had never seen dolphins up close. It's fun introducing people to new experiences.

Admission Fees
Adults $11.00
Children (age 3-12) $7.50
Seniors (age 60+) $9.00

Parking is free.

Clearwater Marine Aquarium also offers boat tours, behind the scenes tours, and dolphin photo ops.

Florida Whelks and Hermit Crabs

2009-01-25T22:34:00.013-05:00

I never get tired of going to the beach. Every season is different. We went to Fort DeSoto Park's North Beach today and found a lot of large mollusks and hermit crabs. I usually don't see these larger specimens so close to shore during warm weather months.

(Click on photos for larger images.)

Here's a large whelk out for a stroll near the shore. The water was too cold for me to want to walk in. A lady vacationing from the state of Washington waded into the water to get it.

It took the whelk a few minutes to totally retract into its shell. Cold blooded animals move slower when they're cold. We all took pictures and then put it back in the water.

We found a lot of large hermit crabs near the shore. This one has a horse conch shell for a home.

Here's one at home in a whelk shell. This is the biggest hermit crab I've ever seen. It looked like a small lobster.

We stayed to watch the sunset and then went home.

More Photos of Fort DeSoto Park in Winter

Winter at Fort DeSoto Park

2009-01-11T22:33:00.015-05:00

(Click on photos for larger images.)

The water was a beautiful clear blue-green. The winter had cleansed the ocean from the cloudiness of the fall season. The weather is changeable in winter, as if Mother Nature can't decide what shoes to wear. It can be cold and windy at the beach. We lucked out today and had calm, sunny weather. I carried my flip flops and walked in the cool water.

There are less people around in the winter and you can see more wild life. There are many different species of birds that hang around together. If you approach them slowly they'll accept your presence as that of another big goofy bird.

Here's a turnstone sandpiper. It was turning over stones and shells to find munchies.

Wade into the water for a closer look. It's much easier to get a good look at the pelicans when people aren't swimming in the water.

The sea washes up different types of creatures and seashells seasonally. We found a lot of dead sea urchins scattered around the shore. Here's a sea urchin in the water.

It was a nice day for walking on the beach.

More pictures of Fort DeSoto Park in Winter

Bok Tower Gardens

2008-12-28T22:44:00.026-05:00

(Click on the photos for larger images.)

It was a beautiful sunny day in December when we visited Bok Tower Gardens. Christmas carols rang from the carillon in the Tower and the sweet fragrance of camelias drifted through the air.

At first I mistook the camelia blooms for roses, because their smell and appearance are similar.

The intricate details and colors of the Tower are amazing. The exterior is made of colored marble. Scenes of trees, flowers, and wildlife are depicted on colored ceramic tiles. Adam and Eve are in the tile scene at the balcony.

Marble eagles stand like sentinels around the crown of Bok Tower.

There are many places to sit and enjoy the setting.

The hill that Bok Tower stands on is at the highest point of elevation in Florida. You can see the ordered lines of orange groves for miles.

Bok Tower bears the name of Edward Bok. He was a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, and editor of "Ladies Home Journal" magazine during the late 1800's. Nearby Pinewood Estates was the Bok family's winter residence.

Bok became enamored by the natural setting around the hilltop and wanted to preserve it. Bok Tower was dedicated by President Calvin Coolidge after its completion in 1929. The estates were donated to the American people after Bok's death in 1930 as a sign of gratitute for the opportunities they had given him.

We had lunch at the cafe by the Visitors Center and then set out on a path towards the Pinewood Estates' manor house.

The mansion was decorated for Christmas.

A grand old oak tree shades the back of the house. I was impressed with how much of the architecture and decor was Spanish, considering Bok was from the Netherlands and owned a business headquarted in the Northeastern U.S. I asked one of the docents about the Spanish influence and she said that Bok traveled to South America often and admired Spanish styles.

A fountain on a patio near the entrance covered with painted tiles reminded me of the painted tiles at The Columbia restaurant in Ybor City.

I felt a little like Alice in Wonderland walking through a grove of tangerine trees cut into identical topiary shapes as we left Pinewood Estates. I thought about the words of Edward Bok over the entrance to the grounds as we departed, "Make you the world a bit better or more beautiful because you have lived in it."

Location
Lake Wales, Florida is about an hour's drive east from Tampa on Route 60.

Admission Fees
Parking is free. Admission to the grounds is $10 per person. Admission to the Pinewood Estates manor house is $8 per person.

More photos of our visit to Bok Tower Gardens and Pinewood Estates.

Wildlife at Tampa Electric's Manatee Viewing Center

2008-12-27T20:22:00.014-05:00

(Click photos for larger images.)

Tampa Electric's Big Bend power plant releases warm water into the bay as part of its production process. Manatees and other wildlife are attracted to this area in the winter. You'll see manatees here in large numbers when the Gulf water temperature dips below 65° Fahrenheit (18° Celsius).

Here's one of the viewing platforms with the power plant in the background.

There are all kinds of interesting contraptions around the power plant.

You don't have to walk far to see the wildlife. There are several viewing areas to explore.

You can find the manatees where ever there is a disturbance in the water.

Manatees are large air breathing mammals. You can see them surfacing often to breathe.

Here is a needlenose fish and a sting ray.

A pelican enjoys a spot in the sun to preen. The Manatee Viewing Center is part of the Great Florida Birding Trail.

Admission is free. The Manatee Viewing Center is open to the public from 10am and 5pm between November 1st and April 15th.

Holiday Lights at Florida Botanical Gardens

2008-12-20T22:45:00.030-05:00

We saw some interesting things at Florida Botanical Gardens as soon as we arrived. There was a tree with an odd shaped trunk aptly named "bottle tree," a fig tree with large fruit growing from the bark, and a white heron that arrived in the parking lot at the same time we did.

I wanted to see more, and followed the heron across a bridge.

The focal point of this scene is the Christmas tree in the Wedding Garden. The lines of the bridge seem to point right at it. If you look close you can see it in the midst of the palm trees. (You can click on the photo for a larger version.)

Pay attention and you might see an alligator, but don't get too close. The wildlife here is not in a zoo. It is their natural habitat.

We looked in the water and found some turtles.

The Christmas tree in the Wedding Garden.

A yellow hibiscus with colorful lights in the background.

It was interesting to see the transition between twilight and darkness as the lights came on.

Heron figures around a small pond. The white glow in the background is the Wedding Garden.

The Wedding Garden came alive with color after dark.

The gardens became a magical place.

Festive lamps on a bridge.

There are two properties adjacent to Florida Botanical Gardens that would be worth seeing in the daytime.

Heritage Village is in a natural pine and palmetto setting with historic buildings. The pines seemed unusual for Florida. It reminded me of northern pine forests.

We wandered through an open gate and peaked inside some of the buildings right before closing.

The Gulf Coast Museum of Art property has gardens with modern sculptures, classrooms, and the museum. They are closed at night, and there were signs directing us back to the light display area at Florida Botanical Gardens.

More pictures of our visit to Florida Botanical Gardens

Space View Park in Titusville

2008-11-15T22:26:00.005-05:00

The Mercury monument at Space View Park.

We drove around Titusville the next morning after the space shuttle launch. I had mapped Space View Park online and thought that it might be a good place to view a shuttle launch.

The gray rectangle on the horizon is the Vehicle Assembly Building.

The Gemini monument.

It's a nice looking park with a good view of the space shuttle launch and landing sites. There was evidence all around that there were a lot of people here last night to view the launch. I don't think I'd pick this place to view a launch, because there wasn't much parking. You would have to arrive early and camp out for hours before a launch. It might be a good location to view a space shuttle landing.

Night Launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour

2008-11-14T20:37:00.014-05:00

We went to Titusville to see the launch of Space Shuttle Endeavor for mission STS-126. It was the last scheduled night launch before the space shuttle program is retired in 2010.

(Click on photos for larger images.)

The moon rose behind the launch pad area early in the evening. We were across the Indian River about 12 miles away. Launch pad LC-39B is on the left and LC-39A is near the right edge of the photo. LC-39A has shuttle Endeavour on it ready for launch and is illuminated by spotlights .

The moon was orange and looked huge (magnified by moisture in the Earth's atmosphere at the horizon). Its size appeared smaller as it rose higher and the color brightened to white.

The launch lit the sky like the rising sun. We couldn't see the spacecraft. It looked like a big ball of white light that momentarily turned night into day.

After lift-off we saw a long amber flame as it passed by the moon. It wasn't until then that we heard the sound which started as a crackle and built into a loud rumble. The light from the moon cast a shadow behind the cloud trail. It was a beautiful sight.

The exhaust cloud over our hotel, backlit by the moon, takes on a zig-zag shape as it's torn up by the wind.

Given the political climate in the world today, I wonder when we'll be going back to the moon.

============================================

Travel Recommendation
We opted to stay the night in Titusville rather than sit in traffic. If you go to see a space shuttle launch I highly recommend avoiding State Route 528 (the Beeline) towards Orlando. It can take 4 hours just to get to the first tollbooth.

YouTube Videos - turn your speakers on

See you later, buddy 2:43
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLpGib8Zzxs

Big Rumble 1:29
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cC8eHhLIDqs

Moonlight and shuttle launch over water 1:50
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mivWhGq_4ig

NASA Video 10:01
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sKsDswXVhE

Guavaween 2008 in Ybor City

2008-10-25T23:25:00.010-04:00

(Click on photos for larger images.)

We had a blast at the Guavaween celebration in Ybor City.

There were several sound stages.

Beads were thrown from parade floats and balconies. I love the wrought iron balconies. This is in the historic district of Ybor City in Tampa, Florida.

There were some amazing costumes. I can't figure out how this guy was able fit in the cart. Then he had to drive it backwards.

Our friend had a creative spider costume.

A ghoul on stilts walks through the crowd passing an elaborate wrought iron gate.

See more photos from Guavaween 2008
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The Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City

2008-10-25T15:34:00.008-04:00

(Click on photos for larger images.)

We went to the original Columbia Restaurant for lunch. It was founded in 1905 in the historic district of Ybor City in Tampa, Florida. It is the oldest restaurant in Florida.

The menu features Spanish and Cuban cuisine. Their signature dish is paella. It was awesome!

There are several dining rooms with unique decor.

The exterior of the building is surrounded by an architectural arcade with twisted pillars.

The exterior walls are covered with painted tiles.

I highly recommend a visit if you are in Tampa.

See more of my photos taken in Ybor City.

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Weedon Island Preserve in St. Petersburg

2008-10-19T22:04:00.012-04:00

(Click on the photos for larger images.)

It was an hour before sunset when we got to Weedon Island Preserve. It is supposed to be a great place for bird watching. I thought we might be able to see birds coming in to roost for the evening. Some of the features in the preserve are boardwalks through mangrove marshes, canoe trails, hiking trails, and a large observation tower. We parked by the Center, and wandered around looking for a map of the trails. We found a map and a visitor guide. There were several trail heads, but it was a guess as to where any of them led. After studying the map we saw that the walking trails were all less than a mile long, and we would probably be able to get back to the car by sunset no matter which direction we roamed. So, we set out to find the observation tower to look the place over.

We walked along what seemed like endless boardwalks. The place was very quiet and I started to get the creeps. It's almost Halloween and the boardwalks seemed like a good setting for an episode of "The Twilight Zone." I didn't want to get lost in the dark along neverending boardwalks. I felt relieved to see other people and started asking passers by where the tower was. No one seemed to know and the usual response was "I think it's somewhere over there." We continued on and found some observation platforms off the main path.

Here's a photo of what we saw at one of the observation platforms. There was a large open area of water. White herons were wading through shallow water. A flock of big white birds flew into the mangrove marsh. We watched fish in the water and enjoyed the quiet setting.

Back on the boardwalk we saw creepy little things scurrying around. I brust out, "Eeeioo, what are those things?" They were crabs. It was hard to get a photo, because they were quick about getting away from people with cameras. We stopped, listened, and moved very slowly to get this photo. We continued to walk quietly and listen. That's when we started to see other wildlife in the tangled mangrove roots. There were birds, a racoon, a rabbit, and gaudy spiders that looked like they were decked out for Halloween.

This spider looks like it's wearing a tiki mask. Alfonze put his camera in macro mode and got so close to the spider that I was afraid it would jump out and bite him. The spider never moved at all.

A picnic area at the end of the Bay Boardwalk trail.

Open flatwoods area. I was surprised to learn that cabbage palms are more closely related to grass than trees. This open area is full of cabbage palm fronds growing low on the ground.

We never did find the observation tower, because the boardwalk to the tower is closed for repairs. Once it ceased to be the object of our search we were able to discover the beauty of the landscape and experience seeing wildlife up close.

More photos of our visit to Weeden Island Preserve.

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Directions from Tampa
Drive across the Gandy Bridge and turn left at San Martin Blvd. Keep a close eye out for it as soon as you're on the St. Petersburg side of the bridge. We missed it and had to turn around.

Preserve Hours: Daily, 7am - Sunset
Center Hours: Wednesday - Sunday 10am-4pm (closed Monday, Tuesday, and holidays)

Birds at Fort DeSoto Park in October

2008-10-04T23:48:00.015-04:00

Click on photos for larger images.

We went to the beach at Fort Desoto Park late in the afternoon. There weren't many people, but there were a lot of birds. I like the natural setting here. There's always something new to discover.

The big birds with the orange and black beaks were an unusual sight. They're called black skimmers. Florida is their winter habitat. The smaller birds with the black crest on their heads are sandwich terns. They develop lighter feathers on their heads in the winter. They look funny, as if they're balding.

Here are some black skimmers doing their thing - skimming across the water. It was interesting watching them in flight. I approached the flock slowly to get a closer look at the birds without startling them into flying away. If I got too close to one of the black skimmers it would open up its wings and glide sideways while keeping an eye on me.

It was a windy day and sand was drifting around. This sand dollar is on sand that looks like fluffy popcorn. The fluffy areas are dry windblown sand stuck to wet sand near the shore.

Rays of light and long shadows just before sunset. I set out to go for a walk.

Pelican and sea gull silhouettes. The pelican is about to dive into the water.

More photos of Fort DeSoto Park in October.

Two Space Shuttles on Launch Pads

2008-09-20T21:01:00.015-04:00

(Click on the photos for larger images.)

We went to Kennedy Space Center with friends and went to the LC-39 Observation Gantry. Both lauch pads had space shuttles on them. Space Shuttle Endeavor is on the left and Atlantis is on the right.

Space Shuttle Atlantis will be the next space shuttle launched in October. Mission STS-125 will be the last time a space shuttle will service the Hubble Space Telescope. It is a dangerous mission, because of the high orbit of the Hubble Space Telescope. It is almost twice as high as the usual space shuttle missions in Low Earth Orbit.

Space Shuttle Endeavor is being readied on Launch Pad LC-39B. It is a safety precaution in case a rescue is needed for the crew of shuttle Atlantis. It is the 18th time since the space shuttle program started in 1981 that both launch pads have space shuttles on them.

Shuttle Atlantis is on Launch Pad LC-39A.

An inflatable model of the Orion capsule. Orion is part of the Constellation Program that will carry on after the space shuttle program ends in 2010. The Constellation Program will take people back to the moon.

This is the T-38 training jet. It is so small compared to the space shuttle that it's hard to imagine that this aircraft is used for space shuttle pilot training. Right before a launch or landing you can see these birds in the air making passes at the runway. They check to see if the weather conditions are alright for landing the space shuttle.

Retired Shuttle Explorer near the Shuttle Launch Experience ride. The wait wasn't too long, and it was a fun ride. There are cooling stations along the line and videos of astronauts talking about their experiences. You enter the building to watch a multimedia presentation on about 5 screens about what goes into preparing the crew and the space shuttle for a launch. Then you go into another room where you line up to get on the ride. There is an option to bail out of going on the ride and watching it as a movie instead. Then the doors pop open and you get into what looks like a space shuttle payload bay full of seats. Everything tilts back, so that you're lying on your back, like the astronauts before launch. After that...well, I don't want to spoil it. You'll have to go experience it for yourself.

More photos of our visit to Kennedy Space Center.

Related Links:
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Kennedy Space Center
Latest Hubble Space Telescope Pictures
NASA: Constellation Program
NASA: Shuttle Operations

UPDATE: The launch of Shuttle Atlantis for mission STS-125 to the Hubble Space Telescope has been delayed. Here's more info:

"Hubble Trouble" by Mchawk at NowPublic.com, Sept. 29, 2008
"Mission to Hubble: Servicing Mission 4 Essentials" latest news from NASA, Sept. 30, 2008

St. Pete Beach after Hurricane Ike

2008-09-13T23:38:00.006-04:00

(Click on photos for larger images.)

We went to St. Pete Beach a few days after Hurricane Ike brushed past the Gulf Coast. The storm's center did not make landfall here, but there was a storm surge from the wind. The tide was out and you could see that the beach had eroded. There was a slight step down into the water where it used to be a gradual slope.

The concession stand and seawall at Pass-A-Grille in St. Pete Beach. A lot of the sand that used to be by the seawall was washed away or piled up in odd places.

Sand and sea shells covered the steps.

This is what the beach looked like on July 2nd this year.

There were piles of shells here and there. We found a lot of cool sea shells. I think this is the most uninhabited conch shells that we've found in one day at the beach.

More photos of St. Pete Beach after Hurricane Ike

Near the Sunset Grill in Ruskin

2008-08-29T23:11:00.003-04:00

Tide Out at Anna Maria Island

2008-08-27T20:44:00.005-04:00

What a beautiful day at the beach. There were only a few people here today. We think it's because kids are back in school. We had no problem finding parking.

Sweet Spot of the Florida Summer

2008-08-06T21:18:00.004-04:00

August is the sweet spot of summer on the Gulf coast. We were at Anna Maria Island riding waves today. The water at the beach is cooling slightly, making it feel so refreshing. There aren't as many tourists, and it's easier to find parking. I think I was in the water for an hour before I got out. Later on my arms and legs felt heavy from all the water play. I'll be sleeping good tonight.

Shelling at Sunshine Skyway Bridge Rest Area

2008-07-27T17:07:00.007-04:00

(Click photos for larger images.)

These photos were taken at the Sunshine Skyway Bridge south rest area. The tide was out and people were walking through the shallow mud flats looking for sea shells.

Here's a closer view of people shelling. They are the dots in the distance of the first photo.

A live conch in the water slowly strolls around on a cinder block.

Take a look over the rail and you might see a stingray.

This scenic rest area is a fun place to explore. It's a great spot to have your picture taken with the Sunshine Skyway Bridge as a backdrop. Exit at the South Skyway Fishing Pier and go to the rest area. It is accessible from both sides of I-275.

Ideas for Decorating with Sea Shells

2008-07-11T22:46:00.000-04:00

We saw these sea shell displays at the Don Cesar hotel.

Don Cesar - The Pink Palace of St. Pete Beach

2008-07-11T21:53:00.014-04:00

(Click on photos for larger images.)

We went to the Don Cesar hotel for lunch today. We've driven by it many times on the way to the beach. Having guests from out of town was the perfect excuse to finally go inside and snoop around. It is a beautiful hotel that was built in the 1920's and hosted the rich and famous celebs of the day like F. Scott Fitzgerald (author of The Great Gatsby), Lou Gehrig, and Al Capone. It dominates the landscape around the St. Pete Beach area.

The foyer.

A grand piano and opulent chandelier down the hall from the foyer.

Here's a peek out a window on the 5th floor.

The pool area and beach.

A pink tower, pool, and the spa area.

Tropical garden.

A view of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge from a terrace.

We had lunch at the Sea Porch Cafe, and then went to the beach at Passe A Grille.

More photos of the Don Cesar hotel, the pink palace of St. Pete Beach.

Biggest Whelk at St. Pete Beach

2008-06-29T21:51:00.012-04:00

(Click on photos for larger images.)

I found the biggest lightning whelk I've ever seen at St. Pete Beach. The skinny end of the shell was sticking out of the sand, and my foot came across it underwater. I grabbed it with my hand and recognized what it was. The whelk was fighting me trying to dig its way deeper into the sand. I hung onto it, dug it out, and burst out of the water with my trophy. We took some photos and then swam out to deeper water to release it back into the ocean.

Grandma Apple in the water with Alfonze.

St. Pete Beach is a friendly place for handicapped people. Parking is free if you have a handicap sign for your car. Grandma Apple is 80 years old and has bad knees. It was a short walk for her from the parking spot to the beach. The terrain at the shoreline gently slopes into the water, which made it easy for her to get in and out of the water.

Here's a another lightning whelk that Alfonze found. Later we found a live pear whelk and several olives. I don't think we've ever found so many live mollusks in one day.

More photos of shells found at St. Pete Beach

Clearwater Marine Aquarium

2008-06-22T16:34:00.012-04:00

We had fun visiting Clearwater Marine Aquarium (CMA) with Abigail and Grandma Apple. It's always interesting to see animals up close that you can only get a glimpse of in a natural setting.

Clearwater Marine Aquarium has a team of first responders to marine life emergencies and specializes in giving medical treatment and rehabilitation to injured animals. The goal is to re-release the animals back to their natural homes. Those that have injuries that make them unable to be released become permanent residents here.

Here is Nicholas the dolphin waving goodbye after a dolphin show. Nicholas was stranded with his dying mother as a calf. He is a permanent resident at CMA.

The most famous CMA dolphin named Winter had injuries so severe that she lost her tail as a calf. Winter was not expected to live, but she refused to give up. She learned to swim without a tail! Today she is an inspiration to amputees and disabled children. The research and development that went into producing a prosthetic tail for Winter has improved the technology for human prosthetic limbs.

These dolphins cracked me up. They were taking turns poking their heads out of the water to look at the people. Their bodies moved straight up and down in the water like yo-yos. Dolphins are such characters.

Clearwater Marine Aquarium is located just over the big white bridge on Route 60 (Clearwater Memorial Causeway) on the right side as you head west towards Clearwater Beach. There are signs along the road. You can't miss it. Drive around the building to the front entrance with the canopy. I highly recommend a visit.

Related Links:
Clearwater Marine Aquarium - Read stories about the individual animals and see release videos.

Astronaut Hall of Fame

2008-06-14T22:36:00.011-04:00

(Click on the photos for larger images.)

After watching the space shuttle land we went to the Astronaut Hall of Fame.

Apollo 14 command module. Three men flew to the moon and back in this spacecraft in 1971. There are scorch marks at the base from re-entry.

Inside the Apollo 14 command module. You can see the astronauts' seats and some of the controls. From this angle they would have been lying on their backs, feet up.

A tire from the Apollo moon rover.

It is amazing to think that we sent men to the moon when journalists still used manual typewriters. There were no laptops. That technology came later as a result of the space program.

A display showing the space shuttle design process.

The Hubble telescope. The space shuttle delivered and repaired the Hubble from the highest orbit ever flown.

Prototype of a Coke machine for the space shuttle.

Aviator helmets of famous astronauts.

Here I am in the shuttle landing simulater.

There are so many artifacts to see. I've been here twice and each visit I discovered something new. An admission ticket from Kennedy Space Center includes admission to the Astronaut Hall of Fame.

More of my photos from the Astronaut Hall of Fame

Related links:
Astronaut Hall of Fame
Kennedy Space Center

STS-124 Shuttle Discovery Lands

2008-06-14T22:01:00.003-04:00

We were in Titusville to see Shuttle Discovery land across the river from the landing strip at Kennedy Point Park. The large building in the distance is the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). There was a small group of people gathered. One guy had a radio tuned in to NASA's live feed. Once we heard that the shuttle was crossing the Yucatan peninsula on its way to the Gulf we all got up out of shaded picnic pavillion to look around in the sky. It was a hazy day, and we were trying to spot anything in the air. There were a lot of military aircraft like weather planes, T38 shuttle training jets, and such flying around. Suddenly a commercial jet came from a nearby airport flying really low. It made a thundering noise and my first thought was that something was terribly wrong. As the jet got louder we heard the double sonic boom from the space shuttle. The jet continued flying low and to the north. The problem was that the shuttle was also flying north to turn around and line up with the runway. The guy with the NASA radio said, "That guy is in so much trouble." The commercial jet was in the wrong place, but nothing bad happened. We finally saw the shuttle once it was over the runway. It was interesting, but not as dramatic as a launch. It looked like an airplane landing from a distance.

Just Chillin' at Honeymoon Island

2008-06-10T00:27:00.013-04:00

(Click on the photos for larger images.)

It was a beautiful day at Honeymoon Island in Dunedin, Florida. People were enjoying the bench swings at the beach at the north parking lot. Further down the shoreline you can see a group of people shelling. It seemed like you could see every kind of blue imaginable in the water and the sky. The hustle and bustle of the working week was washed away by the beautiful scenery and the sound of waves breaking on the beach.

We saw rocks all over the beach so, we turned around to head to the south beach parking lot. We hoped to get away from the rocky terrain.

Here is the view to the south (from the beach at the south parking lot). You can see the white sand of Caledesi Island and the high rise hotels of Clearwater in the distance. There's a ferry to Caladesi Island from Honeymoon Island. The two islands used to be connected until a hurricane seperated them in the 1920's.

We rediscovered the rocky terrain in the water along the shore. You can see people teetering along as they try to walk over the rocks to get in the water. Once you get past the rocks the sand is smooth, and there is a sandbar nearby.

Here is a live whelk found at the sandbar.

The beach was beautiful, but the rocks made it difficult to get in and out of the water. Alfonze developed a technique of laying down and floating over the rocks using his hands to "walk" over them. I had a hard time walking on the rocks, even with beach shoes on. Despite the inconvenience of the rocks it is still a nice beach and I would come back again. The facilities are modern, clean, and well lit.

I'd like to go to Caledesi Island, which was voted #1 Beach in North America this year by Dr. Beach. It is only accessible by boat. Honeymoon Island will be a great place to explore in the winter when we are walking rather than swimming at the beach.

More photos taken at Honeymoon Island

Related Links:
Caladesi Island State Park
Honeymoon Island State Park

STS-124 Shuttle Discovery Launch

2008-05-31T17:39:00.014-04:00

(Click on the photos for larger images.)

We picked a spot across the Indian River from the launch pad near Kennedy Point Park in Titusville, Florida to view the launch of Shuttle Discovery.

Shuttle Discovery clears the launch pad.

The space shuttle cuts through the clouds.

Close-up of Shuttle Discovery.

The path of Shuttle Discovery from the Earth to the roll that aligns it for LEO (Low Earth Orbit).

Travel Recommendations

We opted to spend the night in Titusville rather than fight traffic at 5:45pm, right after Kennedy Space Center closes. Titusville and the immediate area around it called The Space Coast doesn't really have the infrastructure to support the massive amounts of people who travel there for shuttle launches. Restaurants are also over capacity, so we take a cooler loaded with food and water. It is great to have a Sunpass for this trip in particular, because you can drive through the tolls and pay electronically instead of having to stop to pay cash. The Sunpass is a fantastic time saver when all the toll booths are backed up after shuttle launches. I highly recommend avoiding the Bee Line Expressway (FL-528) after a shuttle launch. The toll booths back up for miles and there are no rest areas between Titusville and Orlando.

Road Directions to Gulf Coast After Shuttle Launch

When we do drive home after a shuttle launch we go north of Titusville taking either U.S. Route 1 or I-95 north to SR-46 to drive east towards Sanford. Near Geneva take Oviedo Road (SR- 426) south to FL-417 south. FL-417 is a toll road that takes you around Orlando International Airport and ends directly at I-4, which takes you west to I-75 (today's Dixie Highway) and the Gulf Coast.

Visiting Kennedy Space Center

The best time to visit Kennedy Space Center is on a non-shuttle-launch-day. Traffic is usually no problem in and out of Titusville. If you want to Mapquest the Kennedy Space Center, look up Orsino, Florida.

Related links:
Kennedy Space Center
NASA: Astronomy Picture of the Day
NASA: Space Shuttle
Sunpass

How to Clean Sea Shells

2008-05-10T21:53:00.014-04:00

Materials:

* protective eyewear
* rubber gloves
* bucket of water
* tool to remove barnacles
* small brush for scrubbing
* plastic bowl for bleach solution
* plastic tool for use in bleach solution
* mineral oil or baby oil
* soft cloth for polishing shells with oil

How to clean sea shells:

1) Use protective eyewear while cleaning shells. Barnacles tend to fly off unexpectedly, and bleach can injure eyes.

2) Scrub with a small brush in water. Remove barnacles with your fingers or a small tool.

This is assuming there is no live animal inside the shell that needs to be removed first. I don't harvest live mollusks. Some places in Florida limit how many live animals you can take. Others prohibit it.

Don't dump sandy water down the drain or toilet. Sand will clog drain pipes. Dump sandy water out in the yard.

3) Soak in a 50/50 solution of bleach and water. Use rubber gloves to protect your skin from the bleach. Use plastic tools for moving shells around in the bleach solution. There is no set amount of time. Usually a few minutes is all it takes to remove the outer layer of debris on the shell.

Take care to dispose of bleach solution properly.

4) Rinse the shell in water and scrub more if necessary. Then allow the shell to dry.

5) Polish with mineral oil or baby oil. This will bring out the color of the shell. Don't use food oils used for cooking, because they will eventually become rancid and smell bad.

Here's an example shell.

Before: This crown conch was covered with mud. Underneath the mud was a thick layer of algae. I used a bucket of water and a fingernail brush to scrub it. I dug out the mud that was packed inside the shell with a small screwdriver. Bleaching removed the outer layer of algae, but the shell still looked dull. Some color was showing through the inside, so I persisted with the clean up. I tried sanding it with fine sandpaper, but stopped. I didn't want to ruin the fine details on the shell.

After: I continued to soak the shell in water after bleaching, and scrubbed some more. After allowing the shell to dry I started polishing with mineral oil. The texture of the shell made it hard for the mineral oil to soak in, so I held it over a bowl and dumped the mineral oil all over the shell. That is when the color finally started to show up.

After: The top of the shell was a dull beige color before the mineral oil bath. I was so amazed when the stripes appeared. I'm glad I didn't ruin the details with sandpaper. The crown looks like fine porcelain.

Related links:
Seashells.org
The Shell Factory, Fort Myers, Florida
The Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum, Sanibel, Florida

Sea Shells from Fort Desoto Park

2008-05-04T21:25:00.009-04:00

Sea Shells by Sunshine Skyway Bridge

2008-05-04T15:30:00.005-04:00

We found these shells at the Sunshine Skyway Bridge south rest area.

Funny Sign in Ruskin

2008-05-03T18:00:00.002-04:00

Now hiring sausage biscuits.

Tomato Festival in Ruskin, Florida

2008-05-03T16:30:00.001-04:00

Here are some cool old tractors. These photos are from the heritage area at the Ruskin Tomato and Heritage Festival.

Water pumps.

Spinning, weaving, and knitting.

Blacksmith

Skins and tents.

Lithia Springs Park, Florida

2008-05-01T20:44:00.021-04:00

Lithia Springs is the source of the Alafia River.

The swimming area at the big spring.

One of the smaller springs. The water is clear blue-green and smells sweet. There were many different kinds of fish. They must be used to being fed by people, because a group of fish swam towards us as soon as we came to the edge. Alfonze remembers swimming in springs like this when he was a kid. Back then he saw water moccasin snakes with heads as big as your fist slithering into the water. (((Correction: Snakes with heads as big as a 10-year-old's fist.)))
Maybe that's why the smaller springs are fenced off now with no swimming signs posted.

The banks of the Alafia River look like another world. It looks dark and sinister compared to the springs. We found a sign by the river that said "Don't feed the alligators!"

Light shimmers on the surface of the spring water.

Palm trees strike poses that look like cobra snakes.

The water from the springs smells sweet and is clear, but it was slimy to touch. I'm not sure I would want to go swimming in it. I was fascinated with the natural terrain around the springs and the Alafia River. You don't have to walk far to get to those areas.

The entry fee to Lithia Springs Park is $4 per car.

Click here to see more photos from Lithia Springs Park.

Big Whelk Shell Found at Fort DeSoto

2008-04-27T21:25:00.010-04:00

We found some great shells at Fort DeSoto today. The shell on the left is a whelk and is over 7" long. The shell on the right is a fighting conch and is about 4" long. The whelk was buried in the sand. The whiter, sun bleached part of the shell was all that was sticking out of the sand. Both shells were unoccupied. We found a lot of shells today that I've never seen before.

Emerson Point Preserve on Snead Island

2008-04-26T20:44:00.024-04:00

(Click on the photos for larger images.)

This view is from the observation tower. The Sunshine Skyway Bridge is in the background and a boardwalk through the marsh is in the foreground.

Boardwalk through mangrove marsh.

Blanket flower.

Wild pointsettia.

I was impressed with the variety of wildflowers.

View of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge near the head of the Beach Trail. There are a lot of small beaches in nooks and crannies among shade trees along the Beach Trail. It's a quiet, secluded setting. You feel like you're on your own private beach, even though there are other people along the trail.

Fishing off the Beach Trail.

A mangrove tree growing in salt water. The roots look like stilts. Mangroves are island builders. Sand and debris get caught up in the roots. Material accumulates to support other plant life, and voila! The island gets bigger.

Strangler fig. These trees seed as parasites on the bark of other trees, usually palm trees. The roots grow and touch soil. The strangler fig eventually covers the host tree with root shoots. Creepy, isn't it?

This was an interesting place to explore. There is no admission fee. I think it is one of the best kept secrets in Manatee County. It's not on any of my maps, and there's scarcely any information on the web about Emerson Point Preserve. I thought something interesting might be out here because there is an Indian mound noted on a map and it looked like there might be some cool sandbars or beaches at the point of Snead Island.

The Portavent Temple Mound is at the first parking lot near the entrance. Stop there to get map of the park and see the ancient Indian mounds. The Portavent Temple Mound is the largest Indian mound in the Tampa Bay area.

Directions to Emerson Point Preserve from Palmetto, Florida:
Go west on 10th Street West, cross the bridge to Snead Island, right on Tarpon Avenue, then left on 17th Street West which ends at the Preserve entrance.

St. Petersburg in Sunset from Bahia Beach

2008-04-16T22:09:00.003-04:00

Driving Home from Tennessee

2008-04-13T11:15:00.002-04:00

Signs promoting Rock City and Ruby Falls are all along I-24 between Nashville and Chattanooga. One of these days I'd like to stop there and take a look.

Spring colors along the highway.

Driving through the mountains.

Houses on top of a mountain in Chattanooga.

Redbud Tree

2008-04-12T11:40:00.007-04:00

Here's a close up of the flowers on a redbud tree. We went for a walk this morning along a stream near Abigail's house. The M&M sisters ran around looking for frogs. We could hear them croaking, but couldn't find any. It was nice to see spring flowers like tulips and daffodils.

Nick-A-Jack Lake Rest Area on I-24

2008-04-10T18:00:00.012-04:00

It's Grandma Apple's birthday, and we're on our way to Nashville from Florida. Nick-A-Jack Lake is just past Chattanooga on I-24. Part of I-24 goes into Georgia for a few miles, then back into Tennessee. Nick-A-Jack Lake is nearby after returning to Tennessee. The rest areas are gorgeous. There's one on each side of the highway. This is the westbound side.

Here's a scenic view from the bottom of the hill at the rest area.

There are picnic shelters and tables available. A Tennessee visitor information station is in the parking lot.

The redbud trees were in bloom all over the South. Wisteria vines were in bloom near Atlanta. They grew like weeds all over the trees along the roads. Wisteria has light purple flowers that hang from bunches like grapes.

Sonic Boom

2008-03-26T23:09:00.002-04:00

Shuttle Endeavor landed in Florida tonight. We watched NASA TV on cable to see the approach to Florida from the Gulf. Then we went outside to look for it. We saw the previous shuttle come in for a landing from our backyard. Whether or not we can see it from Tampa all depends on what approach it takes as it comes down. The sky was clear and we saw some airplanes, but not the shuttle. As it approached Florida's west coast just south of here we heard the sonic boom. There were 2 booms, like a double click. It was a low-pitched, soft boom-boom. I was outside and felt it in my chest.

Shuttle Endeavor Reaches the International Space Station

2008-03-14T00:30:00.005-04:00

Shuttle Endeavor reached the International Space Station tonight around 10:45pm. They are showing live footage on NASA TV. First the shuttle did a roll maneuver to enable the astronauts on the space station to see the underside of the shuttle to inspect the heat shield. Then the shuttle docked with the space station. They seemed to go through endless checkslists to check the seals before opening the hatch. Once they opened the hatch to let the shuttle crew onboard the ISS you could tell the veteran astronauts from the rookies. It was funny. The veterans started floating around to get aquainted with the people and surroundings. The rookies floated through the door and hovered in one spot.

STS-123 Shuttle Endeavor Launch

2008-03-11T02:30:00.033-04:00

This is the first night launch in 5 years. It is scheduled for Tuesday morning 2:30am EDT. We opted to view the launch from the grounds of a hotel across the Indian River. We met a lot of interesting people. Many were seeing a space shuttle launch for the first time. Two former fighter pilots who work at Johnson Space Center in Houston explained what was happening before launch. There were a lot of aircraft flying around Kennedy Space Center. Some were weather planes flying in and out of the clouds. There were several space shuttle training aircraft making passes at the runway. One of the pilots we met explained that if the training aircraft had any trouble trying to land, then the launch would be scrubbed. Otherwise, the space shuttle would also have trouble landing in case of an emergency after lift off. There were fighter aircraft flying around the area and helicopters with spot lights checking the coast line.

I was not prepared for how bright the light from the launch was. The shuttle launch turned night into day. I hurried to close the iris on my old Minolta camera before taking more photos.

The shuttle looked like a brilliant star that lit up the entire area. It was moving so fast that the low rumbling sound of lift off took a few seconds to reach us after the shuttle was off the ground.

Then shuttle Endeavor disappeared into the clouds. There was a brief moment when the clouds and vapor trail were lit up like a mushroom. It was eerie looking.

The hotel parking lot was a mess as people piled into their cars to leave. We were glad to go back to the hotel room to spend the night rather than sit in traffic.

I highly recommend avoiding SR 528 (Bee Line/Beach Line Expressway) after a space shuttle launch. We didn't know any better the first time we saw a launch. It took us 2 hours to get to Kennedy Space Center from Tampa, but it took 6 hours to get home. Now our strategy is to either drive north of Orlando, then head south toward Tampa, or to spend the night in Titusville. We also bought a Sunpass, which lets us drive through the tolls instead of stopping to pay cash.

Seeing a space shuttle launch is a spectacular sight, but the best time to visit Kennedy Space Center is not on a shuttle launch day. The new technologies developed at NASA are fascinating. Come the day before or after to take tours and see the sights.

Related links:
Kennedy Space Center

NASA: Astronomy Picture of the Day

NASA: Space Shuttle

Sunpass

Tampa Electric's Manatee Viewing Center

2008-03-03T17:59:00.007-05:00

Our visit to the South Florida Museum last weekend peaked our interest in learning more about manatees. This is one of the lookout platforms at Tampa Electric's Manatee Viewing Center. The water around Apollo Beach is warmed by the power production process at Big Bend Power Station. Manatees seek refuge in this canal when the water temperature in Tampa Bay gets below 68 degrees Fahrenheit. You can see hundreds of manatees here in the winter time.

There were manatees everywhere! Here are 2 manatees sticking their noses out of the water for a breath of air.

Where ever we could see a swell in the water there were manatees. They played by rolling around in the water together. Sometimes 4-6 bodies would be rolling around on top of each other. There was a lot more to see, but it was a work day, and we couldn't stay long. There's another walkway with a butterfly garden and another viewing platform. It's an interesting place to explore and the cost of entry is free!

Sunset at Cochina Beach on Anna Maria Island

2008-03-01T21:55:00.010-05:00

The vivid sunset colors behind the darkened trees reminded me of Tiffany's stained glass windows.

After dark we looked up at the stars to try to find some of the constellations that we learned about at Bishop Planetarium earlier in the day.

South Florida Museum in Bradenton

2008-03-01T21:11:00.009-05:00

The first thing we saw as we walked into the South Florida Museum was a huge mastadon skeleton that was found in Florida. Walking from the sunshine outside into the darkened gallery was a stark contrast. It was quiet, except for the songs of birds and other woodland sounds. You get the feeling that you've stepped into another world. On the other side of the gallery is a diorama of a paleo Indian hunting a bison. We continued walking through the exhibits of prehistoric human and animal artifacts. Another diorama shows a seaside community of Indians where you can hear people chatting, children playing, and ocean sounds.

Next we went to the Bishop Planetarium for a presentation on how to identify stars and constellations. Now I know why I'm having a hard time finding the Big Dipper. The lights around Tampa obscure a lot of stars. We used to live in the countryside in Michigan. The North Star is also harder to find, because it is closer to the horizon in Florida than it is in Michigan. Up north the North Star appears directly over head.

It was time to feed the manatees when we left the planetarium. We walked upstairs through a Florida marshland scene with a one room house. There was a Florida panther in the marsh and I was surprised at how small it was. I expected the panthers to be as big as tigers. We left the marsh to walk through a hallway with an under water scene. It included a cross section of the ocean floor showing creatures that lived in the sand. On the other side we found the Parker Manatee Aquarium.

Feeding time is presentation time. The resident manatee is Snooty, who was born and raised in captivity. His tank buddies are rescued manatees that will eventually be returned to the wild. Manatees are air breathing mammals that live in the water. They are often injured by boats.

Snooty is sticking his head out of the water to get the attention of the lady doing the talking and feeding. She is feeding the manatees heads of romaine lettuce and fielding questions from the audience. Occasionally Snooty playfully puts his fins up on the edge of the tank. Someone asked if the manatees had bad breath. She said it was not as bad as dog's breath, but that you don't want to be around when they have gas. They are vegetarians. Big ones. Lots of veggies can generate lots of gas. We didn't smell anything evil while we were there.

The manatees have huge bodies and small heads. We walked downstairs to get to the window to watch the manatees underwater. The expressions on their faces reminded me of dogs or teddy bears. There were all kinds of toys in the pool. At feeding time food becomes the toy of the moment.

We left the South Florida Museum late in the afternoon and went to Anna Maria Island to go for a walk on the beach.

Parasurfers at Fort DeSoto Park

2008-02-17T15:50:00.024-05:00

We've never seen so many parasurfers in one place. This was at the eastern point of the island. There was a lot of traffic around Fort DeSoto Park, and we thought that maybe there was a parasurfer event or race going on. We inquired about the increase in traffic at the bike rental shack, and found out that this is the beginning of Spring Break traffic. The parasurfers were here because of the weather. They were enjoying the breeze.

A parasurfer leaps into the air.

A parasurfer in front of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.

After watching the parasurfers we went to the north beach to go for a walk. The air temperature is warm enough, but the water is too cold to go swimming. It was fun walking along the beach and kicking around in the water. The sand was like powdered sugar and the water was crystal clear.

These two guys walked by eating chips out of snack baggies and were mobbed by seagulls. They weren't feeding the birds. The seagulls must have been attracted to the crunching sound of the snack bags.

They tried running away and the seagulls followed. I've never seen anything like it. Seagulls can be obnoxious beggars. We've brought picnic food to the beach, but were never mobbed like this. Note to self: Don't bring chips to the beach in bags that make crunchy noises.

Tiffany Glass at the Morse Museum

2008-02-16T15:52:00.006-05:00

We visited The Morse Museum of American Art in Winter Garden, FL. They have a large collection of art glass by Louis Comfort Tiffany. The pieces are from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The color and detail of the windows is impressive. There are many different styles of art represented: Art Nouveau, Arts & Crafts, and "Hudson River School" style paintings to name a few. There are other American artists and different media such as paintings, jewelry, pottery, and furniture. The Tiffany collection is the heart and soul of the museum. The additional pieces by other American artists and media bring the historical setting to life.

Many of the windows were salvaged from mansions in the Northeast before demolition. I tried to imagine the types of settings they were in. It would be interesting to see some of the other architectural pieces that the museum has collected. The Morse Museum rotates its collection seasonally.

Most of the trip was on I-4. The electrical towers along the road in the photo have wooden pallets and old satelite dishes attached to the tops of the towers to encourage birds of prey to nest there. There have been birds in the nests in January and February. Today I saw a bald eagle flying along the road.

The Gamble Plantation

2008-02-10T22:38:00.031-05:00

We visited the The Gamble Plantation Historic State Park Ellenton. The Gamble mansion is the only surviving antebellum plantation house in South Florida. The house was the home of Major Robert Gamble. The grounds were an extensive sugar plantation. The house is one of the only surviving tabby block constructions. Tabby is made from crushed seashells and lime. It was built around 1840.

The heat and humidity in Florida takes a toll on buildings, furniture, and textiles. They eventually decompose. The house is being renovated to prevent further deterioration. The Florida Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy bought the mansion in 1925 to prevent it from being demolished. The Gamble Plantation's tie to Civil War history is that the former Secretary of State of the Confederacy, Judah P. Benjamin, sought refuge here after the war. He is an interesting character. Benjamin was born a British Citizen in the West Indies. He attended Yale, was a lawyer in Louisiana, and became the second Jewish U.S. Senator. After fleeing the U.S. he became a barrister in England and Queen's Counsel.

Some of the floors, like in this hallway, had floor coverings made of varnished sail cloth. The decorative patterns were painted using stencils. It was a precursor to linoleum type coverings.

The original contents of the house deteriorated long ago. Replacement furnishings styles are from between the years 1840-1857. This shelf reminds of one at Grandma Apple's house.

Portrait of George Washington and South Carolina Confederate Battle Flag on the wall of the office.

The office.

The workroom.

The Gamble Plantation was one of the first sugar plantations to use steam powered machines. There were 200 slaves working the plantation.

There was another house on the grounds from the late 1800's called The Patterson House, but we didn't get a chance to tour it. They also had a festival with craft booths and food. There was a lot to see, and we'll probably go back some time.

STS-122 Shuttle Atlantis Launch

2008-02-07T21:46:00.014-05:00

We went to Kennedy Space Center to see the launch of STS-122 Shuttle Atlantis. Since didn't have tickets for the unobstructed view of the launchpad, we went to the parking lot to view the launch and beat the crowd out of the parking lot. There weren't very many people in the parking lot, but those we saw made a tailgate party of it. Some folks lounged in camp chairs in shady areas. There was a guy laying on a beach towel on the pavement. We talked to some people who were sitting in and around a pick-up truck near our car. One of the guys was from Monroe, Michigan. We used to live near Monroe. There were also people on top of vans with cameras.

Shuttle Atlantis launch. The shuttle's booster rockets are visible at the top of the flame. They are two white cylinders. You can click on the photos for larger versions.

Shuttle Atlantis roll sequence.

Shuttle Atlantis roll close-up. The pinpoint of light at the end of the cloud is the shuttle.

The mission of STS-122 is to deliver the European Space Agency's Columbus Laboratory to the International Space Station. We walked through some lab modules in the International Space Station (ISS) exhibit. They're shaped like soup cans that are big enough for people to walk through. It is a big deal when one of these modules gets installed. It's like adding a new room to a house. Previous missions prepared hardware on the ISS to install the new module. European Space Agency astronaut Léopold Eyharts flew to the ISS with the crew of STS-122. Flight Engineer Daniel Tani, who flew to the space station on the STS-120 mission, will be returning home with the STS-122 crew.

Frost Recovery

2008-01-18T17:46:00.002-05:00

The 2 plants that turned black from frost bite are sprouting leaves at ground level. Yippee!

First Frost

2008-01-04T17:29:00.003-05:00

I witnessed my first frost in Florida. We had freezing temperatures overnight for the past 2 nights. They made a really big deal about it on TV news. Having formerly lived in the deep winter freeze in Michigan, I couldn't figure out what the big deal was until I saw the aftermath. Local agriculture is affected by frost, because they have frost tender crops, like strawberries and oranges, ripening in the fields. The farmers ran irrigation sprinklers to cover the crops in ice. They lose some fruit, but the plants survive. Some of the farmers had crops wiped out.

My neighbors had tender plants covered with sheets, blankets, and towels. It looked funny, as if they left their laundry all over the yard.

I lost 2 plants that were cuttings from Grandma Apple's garden. They turned black. I didn't know which plants needed to be covered. I was a little sad, because the plants are common in Florida, but can't be found for sale at stores. Oh, well. C'est la vie. I didn't come to Florida to have a big hot weather garden anyway.

Busch Gardens during the Holidays

2007-12-30T22:34:00.004-05:00

Busch Gardens all dressed up for the holidays.

An antelope finds a solitary corner to take a break.

The elephants gather around right before an interactive show. They playfully waved their trunks around as if waving at the people.

Holiday lights at dusk.