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In: Cityscapes, Florida, RV Travel, U.S. Travel, Water
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January is a nice time to be in Tampa, for the most part. It can get cold, but mostly the weather is pleasant if not raining. We chose a beautiful, sunny day to go to downtown Tampa and check it out. Were pleasantly surprised to see a modern, well designed river walk pretty much encircling downtown Tampa. We strolled from the Straz Performing Arts Center, past Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park, past the Sail Pavilion, all the way to the Tampa Bay History Center. A model for any town with a river (hint, hint, Sacramento).     Went into the downtown area and passed Sacred HeartRead More →

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In: Florida, On the Street, RV Travel, U.S. Travel
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Gulfport sits on the Boca Ciega Bay South of St. Petersburg, Florida. It’s a laid-back community of tree-lined streets, local restaurants and small art galleries. It has a nice pier on the Bay for crabbing and hanging out and a little beach where we found a volleyball tournament going on, then had lunch at Tangelos Grille on Beach Blvd.   We arrived a little early for the opening of the Blueberry Patch in Gulfport (see previous post) so we drove around the neighborhood a little to kill time. Came across a little green area with a pond, filled with White Ibis. Can’t ignore the birds.Read More →

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In: Florida, Portraiture, RV Travel, U.S. Travel
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Tucked away in an unassuming Gulfport neighborhood is a magical place called The Blueberry Patch. We found out about it when talking to some locals at Cypress Point Park in Tampa one afternoon, so decided we should go see it. It was a volunteer day where people could come in and help clean up a little. Nice people. The ‘Patch’ as it’s called, is ‘Florida’s oldest thriving artist’s retreat’. It’s a venue where people turn discarded items into art, where musicians meet and perform and just hang out. Check out http://blueberrypatch.org/.   One of the volunteers on cleanup day – nice fellow and I’m bummedRead More →

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In: Beaches & Seascapes, Florida, RV Travel, Sunsets, U.S. Travel, Water
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From our RV park it was about an hour’s drive to the gulf coast going across the Tampa Bay on hwy 60 into Clearwater and across Clearwater Memorial Causeway to Clearwater Beach, a distinctively touristy place. Had a bite to eat and then headed down Gulf Blvd. to see what we could see. Not a lot of places where you could just pull over and walk around, so we made it all the way to Indian Rocks Beach before we got out and explored.   Definitely not the large, sandy beaches we had been accustomed to along the Atlantic and back in California. This beachRead More →

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In: Flora & Fauna, Florida, RV Travel, U.S. Travel, Water
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We were driving around Tampa one dreary day in early January when, crossing a river I looked to the right and saw forests of cypress trees. Immediately looked where we could park off this busy road. Turned right into the Florida College campus and found parking close to the road and river. There was a walkway at the edge of the road crossing the river on the Bob Woodard Bridge where I could get the best view of the water and the trees. This was my first, up-close look at these wonderful trees with trunks widening as they entered the dark, murky water. It feltRead More →

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In: Art, Personal & Experimental, Georgia, Locations, RV Travel, U.S. Travel
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We love to visit each city’s art museum. They’re good places to get a feel for the local culture and, hopefully, be surprised by some unexpected visual delight. We’ve loved museums in New York, Madrid, Ft. Worth, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Rome and others. The High Museum of Art in Atlanta is a real gem, both inside and out. It contains a collection of contemporary and traditional pieces, plus wonderful structures on the patios outside. Plus, the building architecture is wonderfully photogenic. Enjoy our images in and around the museum below.       So, more to come. Love to hear what you have to sayRead More →

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In: Cityscapes, Georgia, Locations, RV Travel, U.S. Travel
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The first time we drove into downtown Atlanta it was on a Sunday and kind of a gray day. We drove through the old downtown area and it was a little depressing, somewhat deserted and didn’t look very walkable. So not too impressed. A couple days later drove back to see the Inman Park festival. Took awhile to find any place within walking distance to park, but did enjoy seeing some of the older homes and architecture. The festival itself not too impressive. Next time drove into town to see the High Museum of Art and were very impressed (see the next post). Did walkRead More →

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In: Georgia, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Locations, RV Travel, U.S. Travel, Water
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It’s not easy to find an RV park close in to any major metropolitan area in the East. Fortunately there is a beautiful park in Stone Mountain State Park just outside of Atlanta. We made that our base of operations while in the Atlanta area. Being spring, we had a bit of rain each day, but not enough to alter any of our plans for seeing the area. And also being spring, there was lush greenery everywhere. Stone Mountain is a large quartz monzonite dome East of Atlanta, famous for the enormous carving of Confederate generals Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. StoneRead More →

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In: Locations, Louisiana, New Orleans, RV Travel, U.S. Travel
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On one of the days without rain, we decided to take a drive Southwest of New Orleans along the River Road to see some plantations. We were interested primarily in Oak Alley as it seems to be one of the most photographed. So we headed down I-310 and crossed the Westbank Bridge, where we took a break to look around. The bridge itself is quite a sight so took a few images. Along the river are several oil refineries and we saw barges up and down the river. Had a chance to stop at three plantations: Laura Plantation, St. Joseph Plantation and Oak Alley Plantation.Read More →

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In: Locations, Louisiana, New Orleans, On the Street, People, RV Travel, U.S. Travel
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On a beautiful Friday afternoon we went to City Park in New Orleans. This is one of the nicest city parks of any city that we have visited. We spent time wandering through the different areas of the park, walked around the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden (one of the best we’ve seen), visited the compact, but beautiful Botanical Garden and ended the day at the Friday Concert in the Park. Make sure you don’t overlook this gem after carousing the French Quarter. Leftover water from recent rains made for a beautiful reflection       Lots of secluded areas for intimate conversations  Read More →