I went with a local photography group the other night to Ybor City in Tampa to photograph the neon lights. I wanted to go because this kind of photography is definately outside of my comfort zone and I need to broaden my subject matter.
It didn't appear to be the best neighborhood, especially after dark. I must have had 15 requests to photograph a drunk, one man stopped me and wanted to know how to spell "boulevard" (after 15 unsuccessful tries, I said the way he wrote it looked just fine) and another man asked if I would like to go in the back and "smoke something" with him. I found myself thinking that I was still photographing wildlife, but of another variety.
Anyway, here are some of the results. This colour in this display really caught my eye and I was taking pictures of it before I realized what it was!
We are very lucky here in that Tampa Electric Company (TECO) operates a lovely place for nature during the winter, easily accessable and free!
A by-product from the production of TECO's electricity is warm water which is released by the power plant into an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico. The increased temperature of the water is a haven for manatees in the winter when the temperature of the Gulf drops to a very chilly 62 degrees F. Normal summer temperature is 86 degrees F.
There is also a very nice boardwalk out into the water where a variety of birds can be seen.
I've taken still pictures of the manatees and they really just look like grey blobs in the water. I thought video might give a better picture of these beautiful animals. The boardwalk, although I'm sure is safe, tends to jump around when people walk on it so the video jumps too as the people pass.
Every city has it's history and Tampa is no exception, we have the pirate, Jose Gaspar. Every year, in February, there are festivities in honor of him named, Gasparilla.
There is a staged 'invasion' where the pirate ship storms into Tampa Bay and is accompanied by hundreds of private modern boats, anyone with a boat joins the fun. When they arrive in Tampa, the mayor hands over the key to the city to 'Ye mystic krewe' and a big parade on the street follows. Most of the people get dressed up like pirates and collecting the beads thrown from the floats makes everyone a participant.
On a more realistic? note, I would like to add is that his treasure was never found. A man in Fort Myers claims some school children found a rock with a carving of an old ship in it. By the time he got to the site, there was only a hole in the ground.
When we were in Key West about 20 years ago, we talked to Mel Fischer who was a modern day treasure hunter (he brought up the Santa Margarita and millions of dollars of treasure). He assured my son that there was treasure indeed and the odd piece often washed up on the beaches of southwest Florida, especially after a bad storm.
That's another great thing about living here, you just never know what you'll find when you go out.
Anyway, here are some pictures of the parade.
There were men pirates
And lady pirates
Pirates with guns
Pirates with swords (and beer)
And what would my post be without a picture of a bird
I caught this little guy happily fishing for what looked to be some kind of water worms in the Hillsborough River yesterday. He would stare intently at the water, then move his head from side to side, letting first one eye check out the situation, then the other. Sunddenly with a huge splash, he would capture his victim, then stroll though the water savoring his treat.
This is a wonderful park, unromatically named, "Trout Creek", nevertheless, it's an amazingly beautiful place! Unfortunately, my telephoto lens developed a problem and focus is almost impossible.
Ibis White Heron When I got there I heard the most amaging music!! A man playing a chinese flute beside the very still water! [ See the heron in the middle?? My father very generously offered his telephoto lens, so hopefully, I'll get some better photos!
Definately a beautiful place. I think I'll go back tommorrow!
We have been wanting to have a picnic for about a month and finally today everything came together and we were able to go. I thought you might like to come too!
Here's the picnic table, all set and ready to eat!
Here's someone else that wanted to join us.
While we eat, we can look at the Hillsborough River.
I guess Arthur was something less than impressed with my response to his question about what we were having for lunch - fried fish sticks with leftover rice and mixed vegetables. So, happily he veto-ed the menu and we went to the Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City instead. The exterior and interior tiles are all hand painted. In fact there is a tile painting establishment right across the street that still paints them in the old Cuban tradition.
The food, the service and the atmosphere is astounding. They came first with hot Cuban bread, right out of the oven, a very nice red wine and a plate of garbonzo bean soup. Arthur had herb encrusted Panamanian fish with yellow rice and I had a sampler with pork and beef, an Empanada with fried bananas and rice. The desserts looked amazing, but we had no room for anything more than tiny cups of Cuban coffee. Ybor City is the historical home of the Cuban cigar making industry. Much of the Cuban culture came with the cigar makers and now we have this incredibly beautiful and interesting section of historical Tampa.
I've had a tour of the restaurant before, the portraits hanging upstairs and the wine cellar downstairs are just spectacular.
My Opera
