Kestrachern » Outdoors

Needed: Tampa Bay Guides

kestrachern — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 21:41:32 +0000

I’ve been working on exploring and photographing the areas in the Tampa Bay area. I’m hoping to find some people willing to show me around their little corner, place to eat, things to see, people to know kinda thing.

I want to learn what makes the area special and to find a way to show that to the rest of the world.

So send me a message if you have some time to show me around…. You can see the beginnings at Tampa Bay 365

I’ve still yet to visit:

Bradenton

Brandon

Largo

Lakeland

Palm Harbor

Sarasota

Spring Hill

Town ‘n’ Country

Auburndale

Bartow

Bayonet Point

Bayshore Gardens

Bloomingdale

Citrus Park

Dunedin

Egypt Lake-Leto

East Lake

Elfers

Englewood

Fruitville

Greater Carrollwood

Gulf Gate Estates

Gulfport

Haines City

Holiday

Homosassa Springs

Hudson

Jasmine Estates

Keystone

Lake Magdalene

Land O’ Lakes

Lealman

Lake Wales

Lakeland Highlands

Lakewood Ranch

Lutz

New Port Richey

North Port

Greater Northdale

Oldsmar

Palm River-Clair Mel

Palmetto

Pinellas Park

Plant City

Poinciana

Riverview

Safety Harbor

Seminole

South Bradenton

South Venice

Greater Sun Center

Tarpon Springs

Temple Terrace

University

Westchase

Winter Haven

Venice

Zephyrhills
Bradenton
Brandon
Largo
Lakeland
Palm Harbor
Sarasota
Spring Hill
Town ‘n’ Country
Auburndale
Bartow
Bayonet Point
Bayshore Gardens
Bloomingdale
Citrus Park
Dunedin
Egypt Lake-Leto
East Lake
Elfers
Englewood
Fruitville
Greater Carrollwood
Gulf Gate Estates
Gulfport
Haines City
Holiday
Homosassa Springs
Hudson
Jasmine Estates
Keystone
Lake Magdalene
Land O’ Lakes
Lealman
Lake Wales
Lakeland Highlands
Lakewood Ranch
Lutz
New Port Richey
North Port
Greater Northdale
Oldsmar
Palm River-Clair Mel
Palmetto
Pinellas Park
Plant City
Poinciana
Riverview
Safety Harbor
Seminole
South Bradenton
South Venice
Greater Sun Center
Tarpon Springs
Temple Terrace
University
Westchase
Winter Haven
Venice
Zephyrhills

Saint Petersburg Sunrise

kestrachern — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:17:25 +0000

I finally made my way to Tampa Bay’s water’s edge to catch a sunrise. I liked it more than the sunsets… There felt more of an activity about at least with the birds and the dolphins. Pelicans and seagulls were swooping about and the dolphins were friskily feeding. Aside from a lone tug boat heading out to the Gulf of Mexico there was little human activity seen on the water.

I had also forgotten how long it takes for the sun to cross the horizon once the eastern sky begins to lighten. I was watching for over 45 minutes.

Watching the sunrise energized me for the day. I felt more active and alert and that I checked more thing off my todo list than in previous days.

Next step.. catch a sunrise after an advernturesome night.

Porsche 356 in Gulfport

kestrachern — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 12:02:59 +0000

I am consistently amazed at the little treasures that have started turning up. This week I found a Porsche 356 in Gulfport. Sadly I never caught the owner’s name..

She is the second owner of the vehicle, buying it for $3000 about forty years ago, when she was 18. At twenty one she had driven her car in her first road rally and went on to participate in Monte Carlo Rally (the emblem on the back is the original from the race and what sparked the conversation) and also Le Mans 24 hr. She indicated there were several years of rally racing but did not name any other races….

She has rebuilt the engine twice and repainted the car from its original white to the yellow of today. Plan is to repaint again as soon as a color is chosen.

Hearing it run was a bit of a surprise. It sounded similar to the VW bug of yesteryear….but with a larger growl to it. The Porsche has a 95 HP air cooled engine with some massive carburetors.

Car and owner made a great pair and it was obvious they had been together a long long time. There was also a resident canine, Ozzie (I think) a long haired wooly character that had the back seat to himself.

A Porsche 356 in Gulfport, Florida… for a small city you amaze me now and again.

Angharad

kestrachern — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 01:54:50 +0000

The bike has a name. Angharad, (from wikipedia) pronounced [a-ngha-rad, an-gharad], is a popular name in Celtic countries, particularly Wales, having a long association with Celtic royalty, history and myth. Angharad is also spelt as Anghared. From Welsh it translates to English: much loved one.

Seems fitting – sounds good to the ear.

brb gotta go ride.

Birds named Victor

kestrachern — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:33:27 +0000

Hot hot hot in St. Petersburg. The humidity has returned and will stay through nearly the end of hurricane season…. I feel much better about the location of Chez Kitteh vs the previous apartment. 2004 was the last year any big storm came nearby…

As I was out for my morning ride I met some birds names Victor as in the Tropicana Field parking lot. Interesting crew and all. My ride also took me through Roser park and past the Dali museum where I found a bench that flowed. Not much else happened.. and I was back in time to wait for the delivery of my new netbook. Eee PC 901

Shiny on Tampa Bay

kestrachern — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 18:39:07 +0000

The air was very hazy and the water was calm today, obscuring the horizon, and giving the impression to the naked eye that ships/boats were floating in space. It was really beautiful in a way that I could not capture as well as I wanted with my camera. More practice. more practice….

St. Petersburg Sunset Party

kestrachern — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 02:03:35 +0000

Some of the best times in San Francisco were at the Sunset parties that happened in the summer. Since moving to St. Petersburg, Florida I have found myself missing the family style gatherings. In riding around the city I kept my eyes open for a suitable location.

Today I found a gathering (more of a family reunion) at North Shore Park that captured what I was hoping to do on a regular basis. The sound system was sitting behind the grove of bushes/trees and is only barely seen peeking out from behind. There is a beach right there and volleyball courts.

I’ve been looking over the city permits and think that the city will even provide electricity if I pay the permit fee.. but it looks like $30/event… renegade event with a genny may be a better idea in the beginning.

Stay tuned

Artistic Mailboxes of Gulfport

kestrachern — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 12:46:41 +0000

Moving to Gulfport I was amazed at the density of really cool, decorative, and intricate mailboxes and began a project to locate and document any artistic artistic expression that went beyond the stock USPS regulated box.

I’ve not made any additional progress since last fall and realized that completing the project dovetails nicely with my theme of Production. I’ve completed my survey in only one small portion of the city nearer the waterfront. I’m also curious how the artistic expression changes with geography.

In addition to placing them here on this site I am also adding them to Google maps and you can find them here:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Gulfport,+FL&sll=37.649034,-95.712891&sspn=33.747171,66.533203&ie=UTF8&ll=27.742188,-82.689457&spn=0.037071,0.064974&z=14&lci=com.panoramio.all

Here are a few photos from the existing set:

Pelican Preening

kestrachern — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:59:35 +0000

While riding from the Pier this morning I passed a pelican firmly engrossed in preening. Sadly I missed the best shot while digging out the camera, it did some sort of weird move, opening its beak and then turning it inside out over its neck…. cool and gross simultaneously.. looking at the photos I did see the vicious teeth that adorn the end of its beak… I’ll not get too close to them again.

In an effort to offset the Ornithological goodness I included I photo of a fire hydrant being purged. I’ve been playing with different ISO settings on the camera lately to pick up the subtle differences…

Adventure Friday Part 2

kestrachern — Sat, 30 May 2009 06:29:33 +0000

Pictures (and spelling) forthcoming…. but here is the raw update.

Wow!
Part 2 had two sub excursions… both started out in the direction of The Pier and the first went north and the latter found a more southerly direction….

Taste of Pinellas was wrapping up for the day. so we avoided too many entanglements with meandering pedestrians… staying along coffee pot bayou we headed west around 24th ave N and wound our way back to Chez Kitteh.

The southerly excursion Shelley decided to keep the bay on our left and we found the Sea Faire all aglow, and the fish fireworks and some agitated people who didn’t appreciate light being splashed about….

yeah then there was this very awesome sailboat…

I’m sure more will come to mind as the news reports come to light…..

Stay tuned…