tampa downtown market

We had a Friday off and we couldn't decide where to go. There is always stuff to see downtown especially on Fridays during the market.

The woman selling orchids encouraged us to take more photos.



And I encouraged Doyle to try the crawfish pie.



We met Phil at the market then walked around downtown.



I first saw this place after Thanksgiving. It was empty. I think it would be a great place for a model shoot.



We tried to find the best angle for this statue. Of course Doyle ended up on the ground.





We ended back at Franklin Street and had lunch. Phil had to leave and Doyle and I walked through the market again. He got pasta and stuff for dinner.



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the trouble with getting older

I figured posted the layout would be the easiest way to tell you about it.

friday & special olympics

I have an iphone app called momento. It helps me keep track of my feeds and little snippets of the day. This way I can go back and recreate the day in case I forgot anything. Here is what happened on Friday. Which was also the day for Special Olympics Summer Games.

7:05 AM Mentioned to Bonnie that my period was late. Guess what showed up this morning?


9:09 AM I have just purchased WAY too many kits. All are downloaded but need to be logged and organized. Damn sales. I cannot resist.

9:38 AM Checked-in at Publix
Getting lunch. Spending the day shooting Special Olympics.

I got a neptune salad sandwich and dirty chips. I brought water to drink.

10:23 AM Checked-in at Thomas E. Weightman Middle School
Pasco County Special Olympics



I waited for a while and checked out the camera settings Doyle told me to use. The class was late getting there. They only had to walk. We ate lunch right away because there would not be much time once everything started. I should have brought a chair or towel. I sat on the ground and got some ant bites. At least they were not fire ants.



11:49 AM Cramps and I think my herpes just came back. Is this Friday the 13th?



This was the first time I got to see the parade and the opening ceremonies. The kids had to stand on the field during some speeches. Then we went back to the tent and waited. And waited. There was an Olympic Village but it is filled with craft tables and little games that do not interest Andy.



2:28 PM Biking has started. I found a chair to sit & shoot. Need to pee.



Andy had a good peer this year. Katherine really kept by Andy and made sure he did not get into trouble. Though all he wanted to do was wander and ride his bike.

2:37 PM Relay races on the same tracks as bike races. What?

I'll never understand how they schedule things. Some bike races were held right away. The majority have to wait until the end of the day.

2:45 PM Andy had his first race.



Andy loves to ride his bike but he is not competitive. And they have staggered starts so there is no real competition.

3:30 PM Andy is done with both races. Need to wait for others then ribbons.



4:07 PM Leaving the school. Andy got 2 red ribbons. 2nd place.



The first thing he does is get rid of the pins. He does not want them poking him. He really does bot care about the awards.

4:35 PM Checked-in at Chick-fil-a

Andy did not got into the play area. Too many loud kids?

5:26 PM Checked-in at McDonald's

We had to get fries for Ryan.

7:01 PM Andy & I have red noses even with sunblock. Andy's neck is burnt. I forgot to cover it. I feel parched.


I put aloe on Andy's neck. We were both tired.

stunned

Thursday night I had a couple of people added me to their flickr contacts. I had not heard of these people but I checked out their stuff and added them as contacts too. Seems like the polite thing to do. Then a couple more added me on Friday morning. What was going on? I really don't get much activity on my flickr account. When I post my project52 photos, I do get more page views but usually less than 50.

So I had to check this out. I noticed more comments on the lego photo above. Then I checked the page views. Over 300! What was going on. So I reread the comments and someone posted "Congratulations on Explore!" Explore? What is Explore? Oh, it's the part of flickr that I never look at. I should, there is awesome work there. Then again, I would rarely get out of there. Anyway, this photo was posted there and as of this morning has been viewed over 500 times.

I am happy. And a little intimidated. I am thinking that more people will be looking at me expecting more great shots. Oh the pressure.

downtown tampa

Two weeks ago.



We had our weekly photo meeting this morning. We were ready to leave and as usual, Doyle & I talked in the parking lot. Since I was half way downtown, I decided to finally cash in my groupon for the TMoPA. Doyle decided to come along.



I had never been to TMoPA and had only seen it from the street. I expected a bigger place. But the exhibit was probably a good size to go through during lunch. We were done quick enough and decided to walk around. I wish I had the forethought to bring my camera. Doyle had his film camera and I had my iPhone.



We walked to Curtis Hixson Park and up to the amphitheater. Then down to the Cass Street Bridge. We walked across Ashley to this public art piece. But then I could smell Five Guys so we stopped for lunch.



We walked to the Tampa Theatre. What a gorgeous building! Doyle wants to buy the fifth floor for only $300,000. We talked to the box office lady about tours. She said that they allowed cameras but didn't like continuous clicking. She gave us a name to contact someone about a private tour.



Tampa has changed some of the public art pieces. The new program is called ArtLoud and I think it might be a good idea for a photo walk.


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ArtLoud

Since some people think their families are more important than me, I had to do the walk alone. It was probably for the best because there were no cameras ready when I almost stumbled backwards into a moving car. Then again, if Doyle was here, he would have been the one to lie on the ground to get the shot. And he can get up much better than me.



I chose to follow the ArtLoud Sculpture walk. There were no good maps to download so I did my best. I found that some of the sculptures were not new but relocated ones like the harp fountain and the equilibrist. The harp fountain is now located on the grounds of the federal courthouse. I was really expected to be yelled at for taking pictures. A guard yelled at John when we shot Sacred Heart. But no one showed up this day.





A few of the sculptures are north in a quieter area of downtown. Some might even call it scary. Where else will you find wig shops and Soul Train Clothes? No one even bothered to give me funny looks because no one was around.





I was having trouble finding the last one because the map showed it around the block. Then I slapped my forehead when I realized it was the heart that Doyle & I shot on Tuesday. With the Downtown Market going on, it was impossible to get the whole thing.



I had margherita pizza from Pizzaiolo Bavaro. It is small and noisy and the service is slow. But the tea was fresh.

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downtown st petersburg

Friday morning was cold. But photo walks are not cancelled for cold. I made the trek across the bay hoping being near the water would make things warmer. But the wind was stronger bear the water so we ventured inland.



I have been a few times to St Pete. The drive is too long to venture over more often. There are still many places I have not scene.



This time we walked south along Beach Street. Although I live shooting the red chairs, I didn't want to follow Jeff and the rest of the group up Central Avenue. Sherry, Jessica and Derek walked with me. We soon lost Sherry as she tends to wander off.



I wanted to see the Dali Museum. I expected a more elaborate design. The front of the building is deceiving plain. Only the sign hints as what lies ahead. I will have to come back and go through the museum.



We walked back against the wind. Jeff was there first so of course he picked the Grayl's Hotel. The place is small, food just OK, and the service is slow. I am glad I put extra money in the meter.



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back to the butterflies

Allen wanted to go back to the Butterfly Rainforest. He was told the blue morpos will open their wings when the weather is cooler. I had intended on saying no but Norm asked and well, I said OK. I should have known he would ask me to drive.



We met at First Watch and I watched Norm and Dick eat breakfast while I tried to ignore the headache looming. The weather was gray and ready to rain. "My mood is very dependent on the weather. I was a bitch back in Michigan." It was one of my better lines.

We got up there first. There was a new art piece to greet us. What a welcome!



Norm paid for my admission, my lunch and filled up my tank when we got back.



I don't know why but I thought the place was kept at a constant temperature. It was not. It was cold! I saw a thermometer that read 49 degrees and I only had a turtleneck.



There were fewer butterflies and they were not active. At one point, a guide brought out more butterflies and put them on a tree. We got some great shots. I was glad I brought my flash.



The birds were more active and I tried to get some shots. They would not stand still.





After twice through we went to lunch. Allen and Mike went to Cracker Barrel. We went to the Camellia Cafe at the campus.



I drove home. Dick and I chatted while Larry and Norm dozed.

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sunken gardens

Sunken Gardens is one of the places I have known about and wanted to visit but never made the effort. It did fall into disrepair and the city of St. Petersburg took ownership. It is maintained but you can see the effects of budget cuts. The butterfly house was empty and there were only 3 flamingos. But it was still enjoyable and I got plenty of photos.



OP rsvp'd late so I doubt Mike realized he would be there. But everything seemed to go well enough. I think it helped that OP knew Mike was sensitive to his sarcasm and probably kept it in check. Also, OP chose to walk with Jeff and Gary and not with Mike and Allen.



The temperature was cool and breezy that morning but it was warmer in the park. Many of the trees and shrubs were old and tall which blocked most of the wind. I say most because the flowers tended to move every time I wanted to take a shot.



I brought my tripod but forgot my plate so I let Doyle tote it around in his cart. There wasn't much I needed a tripod for. There were so very small fountains with falls over rocks. After being up north, it didn't seem worth the effort to set up to smooth the water.



The flamingos were cool. It was nice to get so close. There were some beautiful parrots but the mesh on the cages was to tight to try to get any shots.



I had forgotten to get a new woodling to replace Chip and his missing foot so I had to use the small one. Because of the rod I cannot remove, he is harder to pose. Doyle suggested to flower between his legs.



The place was smaller than I expected but it was noon when we had finished. OP, Allen and Mike were gone by then. We talked about lunch. Panera was across the street but Jeff suggested Ted's Montana Grille. He gave us the address and we all left to drive only to find that Ted's was not there. We ended up back at a crowded Panera.

sykes chapel

We had a by-week for the Friday photo walk. Norm suggested University of Tampa and I said the chapel. He called and got permission for us to take photos. It is a good thing he said indoors since the morning was very gray and misty.



Doyle & I met Norm at UT and Jim let us into the chapel. This place is just so beautiful. It makes me proud to be an architect and almost miss the work. Almost.



We played around for a while. Doyle and Norm ended up lying on the floor to get the shot.

I didn't realize they have a mini labyrinth in one of the meditation rooms. One day I will take the time to walk through it. I wish I could have gotten a better shot of this one.



We met up again and went into Plant Hall. We went into Fletcher Hall. I was happy to finally have my tripod. We should have asked to get into the loge.

We had lunch at the Rathskeller. It is a lunch place run by the campus and they serve Starbucks.
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