The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
-Psalm 19:1

Do you know that God controls the clouds and makes his lightning flash?
-Job 37:15



Sunday, April 13, 2008

Exploring the Floridian Gulf Coast

I decided to go ahead and post my "Odd Shot Monday" shot (please visit Katney's Kaboodle to play), since I have it all ready, and I will be swamped in a void of weatherlessness on Monday. Bf and I were stopping in Clearwater Beach, FL, to enjoy the sunset over the beach, since it took us 2 hours to travel up Highway 699 from Fort DeSoto up to that point (more about all that in this post)... great timing, huh? Anyways, they were having some sort of beach party out there, including this giant inflatable shark... alrighty then... if that's not odd, I don't know what odd is... lolWonderful, wonderful weekend!! Unfortunately, I missed the opportunity to support Alabama Mike on his chase, where he intercepted an awesome tornado warned wall cloud with a fabulous tail cloud. As well as it being on his blog, the account of that chase is located on the Southern Weather Brigade team blog, showing radar captures that Rick got while he offered support (btw, I love the comic posted on Rick's blog, but you can click on his name-- the link to check it out, rather than me swiping it...)

Anyways, I think I mentioned that bf and I were headed down to the Tampa area for the wedding reception of my dear San Antonio... Florida friend, who was married back in January, honeymooned last week and was just getting around to the reception, was having... a barn dance. My first barn dance, actually. The open walled barn was a rustic scene, offering up a mulch floor, a deer head decorated sitting area around a rustic fireplace and a lovely view of the rodeo arena. We had a blast though, dancing the night (and the wee hours of the morning) away. Open bar, and someone thought it would be a good idea for me to serve myself, so I indulged in some vodka/cranbery juice... in an 80:20 ratio. After about 3 of those, I was feeling pretty good. lol. This shot is what bf took of me after tieing a few on... the other is of my dear San Antonio... Florida friend's step-granddaughter... so cute.

After recovering from a really fun... and late night, bf and I decided to head on down to the beaches of Tampa, and after a strong recommendation from my dear San Antonio... Florida friend, we decided on Fort De Soto, which was a nice secluded beach (for the most part), major fishing spot though. Just about every spot on the pier was full of fisher-people, catching lots of little silver dollar fish for bait, I guess. One guy caught something larger while we were out there, and one kid decided to start feeding the little fish to the pelicans and sea gulls which really got them going. Here are the Fort De Soto pics...

We left there and headed up Highway 699 traveling through the many beaches near Tampa, Florida, up the west coast of Florida, Treasure Island, Redington Beach, Clearwater Beach, etc. All along, enjoying the splendid views. Here are those pics, including some spectacular shots of the sunset out of Clearwater Beach... We were lucky to be able to witness the Forbidden Dance of Chaser Merriment in action... lol Anyone know what kind of birds they are???Have a great day!
~Dewdrop

37 comments:

  1. Wonderful photos :)

    It is not a lake on my blog, it is the sea. A sound (small fjord).

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  2. Thanks, Marie. My first time seeing a fjord... cool. Great with the mountains.

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  3. Inviting a big shark to a beach party is very odd indeed :)

    This is my first visit to your blog and liked very much the photos you made.

    Friendly greetings from Istanbul,

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  4. LOL!!! No, it wouldn't be at the top of my guest list, either.

    Well, welcome, Muge!!! Glad you liked my blog. I love taking pics.

    Greetings from the US... thanks for the visit.

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  5. Nice photos! Bet you have fun "chasing storms"....

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  6. Hmmmm....1st comment lost in space....
    Nice photos. Looed as if you had a good time!

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  7. I hate it when blogger eats comments... grrr.

    We did have a splendid time!!

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  8. That is a great Odd Shot!

    Your other photos are fabulous, too! I've never been to the ocean, but I'd like to someday!

    Thanks for stopping by!

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  9. Anita, Thanks! You should definitely make it a point to hit the coast... it's not like anything else. So vast, appearing endless... as far as the eye can see, the sea.

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  10. This was a great odd shot. I think those big blow up things are amazing! Your Floriday shots are great. I have an aunt & an uncle who live in Tampa. It is so beautiful and tropical there.
    I went to a barn dance about 25 years ago. I think they are great, (if the weather is just right). This one sounded like loads of fun~right up my alley...old rusty barns, hay, deer heads and such. Would have loved to see pics of it! Check out my blog post about The Retreat.. http://rosa-josies.blogspot.com/2008/01/retreat.html#links

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  11. Diane, Usually, I'd be all over an opportunity like that, shooting pics like crazy of that barn dance ambiance, but apparently... my sails went their own way, fairly early in the night, so I've got nothing, but a bunch of sheep.

    Tampa was amazingly tropical. Very nice.

    Thanks for the visit.

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  12. What a great bunch of shots... looks like you had a lot of fun. The shark is so cool... I imagine it would really be a sight to see from a boaters perspective! Hmmm... wonder what that guy is doing, lol...

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  13. JC, thanks. Yes, we did have great fun!!! I hadn't even considered the boater's perspective. lol.

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  14. I'll echo everyone else and say great shots! :) I'll split, though, and say that one of my favorite things to do is sit on the beach and watch the clouds form and drift over the ocean; especially if they happen to develop into thunderheads. It is amazing to watch a thunderhead rage over the ocean, especially if it is clear enough that you can see under the base of the storm.

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  15. Thanks, Ken! I will have to make it back to the beach for storm watching. Skies certainly didn't support that this trip. I wish... lol I watched a tropical storm drift by fairly close once. That was interesting.

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  16. These photos are absolutely beautiful!

    The Odd Shot is certainly odd! Crazy idea, but a load of fun.

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  17. Thank you, Dragonstar!!! I enjoyed taking them. The sunset was breath taking.

    Definitely a crazy idea on the inflatable shark at the beach. lol

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  18. All of your pictures are beautiful. Makes me want to go to the beach.

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  19. I know what you mean, Andrea. I wish I were back there. :O) Thanks for the compliment.

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  20. Thats an great odd, odd life shot.
    What fun!
    And, I really enjoyed your w/e photo's.
    That sunset, you should have saved to post in the other photo meme Sky Watch Friday.
    Good post & love the music.

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  21. Thanks, Blue for all the compliments. I am always taking pics of the sky, so I should have no problem finding a suitable sky shot for Sky Watch Friday. :O) Glad you like the music.

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  22. This is very odd indeed!
    Great post.

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  23. Loved your Odd Shot. a Blow up shark. How funny. The rest of your photos were very, very nice. I loved the sunshot photo.

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  24. It seems redundant, but these are great shots. Probably one of, if not the best collections of new ones in one post I have seen you put together in awhile. Great stuff! I especially like the sunsets, sailboat, and the close up of the bird!

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  25. wonderful shots
    Mine is up too

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  26. It looks and sounds like you had a great time. You caught some beautiful photos.

    Loved the Odd Shot offering. It was indeed odd!:)

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  27. The Odd Shot--the shark, on a big blue...?...Yes, odd!

    The rest is quite beautiful. Sorry I can't identify you birds.

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  28. What a great collection of pictures.. no idea about the birds

    Tom

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  29. Nice tour of photos of the central FLorida west coast beaches. As for the birds, they are Sandhill Cranes. I have a few that live on the water behind my house. They are very loud in the morning! LOL

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  30. Wow.. this is definitely fantastic photos! Looks like you really had a great time there! :)

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  31. John, It definitely caught my attention. Thanks.

    Jonna, I must say, it was my first time seeing anything like that. Thanks for the compliments on my photographs. I really like the sunset shots, too.

    Mike, Wow, "best collection of new shots put together in a while"? That's a pretty powerful compliment. I appreciate that. I have got to say that bf was super sweet about stopping for shots, so patient, and he was actually suggesting some. The pics just touch on showing what a fantastic time we had. I'm so glad I was able to capture a piece of those memories. Those were my favorites too. :O)

    Lilli, Thanks, and I will be sure to check yours out right away.

    Sharon, We did. We had a phenomenal time. I appreciate the compliment on the photographs. Very odd inflatable shark thingie. Funny, when I saw it, I thought, "Well, I've got an odd shot this week."

    Katney, lol. I wasn't really too worried about its validity as this week's entry. Thanks.

    Tom, Thanks! Jeff says they are Sandhill cranes. Bf and I were pretty sure cranes... I thought red-crowned cranes, and their dance was awesome.

    Jeff, I knew you were be able to identify the birds for me. They had an impressive dance. Definitely the forbidden dance of chaser merriment... which happens to be similar to the happy Dew dance, made famous on Twister Sisters episode 5... lol. What was I thinking???! Thanks. I enjoyed the coastal tour. It was nice and relaxing. The weather was perfect (yeah, sorry about that...). I only wish I had thought to bring sunscreen. I am blistered now. Ouch.

    Ice, Thank you so much! Yes, we had a fantastic time. Didn't want to leave. :O)

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  32. Did you miss my sand hill crane post? See my blog is not only ridiculous it is also informative! Great beach shots, Fort Desoto is much better if you go about a mile down from the pier...I thought I mentioned that...sorry, I have never been to the pier, so now I know to leave it to the sportsmen. I love the shot of the cranes dancing!

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  33. I either missed it or forgot about it. Those cranes were at the end of your street when we were headed to the beach, very cool dance. Glad you liked the shot.

    You did tell me about going further down, but we aren't really into the beach aspect of beaches... I grew up on a beach, so I tire of sand quickly. It was nice to see the fort and the pier, and I got a chance to take some cool shots, so I am happy. Hey, I didn't mention while I was there because we got distracted with everything else, but I almost stopped while we were driving in... that field there on 52 with all the cows and the pond had all those cows out by the road, but one was standing in the middle of the pond, and the water was so still, you could see her whole reflection in the water beneath her. Very photographable, but time worked against me. Grrr...

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  34. Looks like you had a great weekend, I have been busy looking for a job and my son has been sick so this my first chance to check out your blog. Awesome pictures! I love Florida!

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  35. Wonderful weekend, Jess. No luck on the job hunt yet? I'm sorry. Good luck with that. Thanks for the compliments.

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  36. That cow shot would have been cool. The crane post in my blog was right before the honeymoon post. That's probably why you missed it! Some cranes around the corner from us are raising twins, which is pretty exciting to me because they almost always have only one baby at a time! I didn't have time to stop for a picture when I saw them, but since then, I haven't been able to be passing by at the right time to see them again. Hopefully I'll get lucky and get a picture!

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  37. I'll have to check that out. Weird that I missed it. Did I comment on it???

    I hope you capture a shot of the twins... how cool.

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