July 4th
I could post pictures of the fire works and all, but ...well... its been done before. We had a good time yesterday. Last year one of us was sick so we did not get out to explore the Tampa area for the forth. So, this year was our first. After packing up the car, filling it up and hitting the ATM, we were off. I asked T where she wanted to go and she said "east". So, we drove east. I'm not sure I had her convinced we were going to Orlando or not; after all, we wanted to explore our new home town. But, east, up I-4 is " Dinosaur World" and she's been wanting to check it out for a while. It was not the tourist trap I had read about (or even imagined, all I could picture was " South of the Border"). Anyway, it was pricey, but nice. I will warn you though, as with most any outing in Florida, bring sunscreen and bug spray.
We left D-World after an hour or so and headed back towards Tampa Bay. We really wanted to find some town festivals (like we suspected Dunedin or Safety Harbor would have). We probably should have headed in that direction, but went into Brandon instead. We were hungry and found this Indian restaurant. They had a buffet, but we decided to order from the menu. They had a "Chili Paneer" (spicy cheese served as an appetizer) which was very good. To be fair in our comparison, we ordered entries that we have gotten in other places we liked to compare them. They were both okay, though I felt mine went better with the appetizer.
We left in search of a festival and not finding any the the area, I thought we would head to the coast. I had not decided where yet. I thought about going south to Sarasota, but the drive back would have been brutal and Buttercup (who we left at home) would probably hate us for leaving her so long. So, we turned west. Anna Maria Island? We've never been there, but heard some nice things, maybe they have... oops, missed the turn off. Oh well, surely we can find something in St Pete. We've been along the coast side, but not around Bay side (downtown) and I know that is where they are setting fireworks off from. We drive through downtown near the Vinoy Park area. There are closed streets and lots of people. We drove around a bit, taking in the sights and looking for some place to park, but decided this would be TOO crazy. Maybe gulf side.
Its around 5pm and we get into Clearwater. We've still not found any festivals (except for the huge party in St Pete that we could not find parking for). Clearwater was no better. Man, if I DID find a place to park around here, it would take us 2-3 hours just to get out. Our original plan was drive around and watch the fireworks. I mean, we have the convertible. Maybe the Courtney Campbell Causeway would offer a good vantage point. But, we still wanted a festival. My former boss (we've both still with the firm, but the reorg put us into different groups) said that Safety Harbor had a big shindig, so we headed there. After getting turned around a few times and misdirected by a "safety officer", we found a place to park. We gathered our stuff (cooler, camera, blanket) and headed towards the Marina. We scoped out where we wanted to sit (there was a small hill that was not too crowded yet). We walked through the festival/vendors and the crowd, kinda to see what we could see, listen to the music, people watch, and verify we had picked the right vanatage point. When we got back, the hill had filled up quite a bit, so I know we'd be okay there. Many people had brought chairs, but some had spread out blankets like us.
As we lay there, waiting for the magical hour and chatting, we watched a thunderhead grow to the east. Before long, there was lightning flashing in and around it. I was hoping the storm would last long enough and that the fireworks show would be in the right place to capture both in the same shot; not my luck though.
The thing we forgot, bug spray. I was not getting eaten by misquitoes, fortunetaly, but seemed anytime someone would walk past us, I would get covered in gnats and these little green garden/grass bugs. This happened a lot. I am not sure which annoyed me more, the bugs or the people behind us smoking some of the worst cigarettes. Florida is a clean air state, meaning that smoking is not permitted indoors (we love that we can go to the Comedy Clubs, restaurants, etc and not have to worry about that). The bad thing is that I do not believe outdoors events, even public ones are covered under this rule (or it is imposilbe to enforce). In any case to that person, thank you for making me a bit naucious and for thinking of yourself instead of the comfort of those around you.
I have not reviewed the photos yet. They looked good on review (small) screen, but I've seen that before and had some really bad photos when we are talking low light. The show was nice. It had mainly the standard shells, the only shaped charge/shells were a couple of "rings". I kinda miss Indy's fireworks though. There, they were synchroized to music and some of the shells exploded into shapes like hearts, rings and even a star. Still, after a few moments of photos, I put the camera down and laid back with my sweetie to enjoy the rest of the show. Thankfully, the show must have captivated the smoker, because he did not light up during it.
After the show, it was back to the car The area was quite crowed and I figure it would be easier to head out away from the crowd. I had already planned out "escape" and while ended up being off a street (the street I was going to use was too congested to fit cars in going in both directions) I did manage to get us out of there. We headed home, across the Courtney Campbell Causeway. We were amaxed to see the "frontage roads" packed as they were, still. But, there are a lot of people setting off their own fireworks (some of which rivaled the "commercial" ones), and the causeway may have offered a good show. It was definetly bewteen the "Safety Harbor" and "St Pete" and mostly likely had a decent view of the show going off at "Channelside" (Tampa). But, it still was a good distance away from all three, so I am not sure how "spectacular" it could have been. Still, it was nice to drive the causeway with the top down and we had a good Forth.
Peace,
Bear
We left D-World after an hour or so and headed back towards Tampa Bay. We really wanted to find some town festivals (like we suspected Dunedin or Safety Harbor would have). We probably should have headed in that direction, but went into Brandon instead. We were hungry and found this Indian restaurant. They had a buffet, but we decided to order from the menu. They had a "Chili Paneer" (spicy cheese served as an appetizer) which was very good. To be fair in our comparison, we ordered entries that we have gotten in other places we liked to compare them. They were both okay, though I felt mine went better with the appetizer.
We left in search of a festival and not finding any the the area, I thought we would head to the coast. I had not decided where yet. I thought about going south to Sarasota, but the drive back would have been brutal and Buttercup (who we left at home) would probably hate us for leaving her so long. So, we turned west. Anna Maria Island? We've never been there, but heard some nice things, maybe they have... oops, missed the turn off. Oh well, surely we can find something in St Pete. We've been along the coast side, but not around Bay side (downtown) and I know that is where they are setting fireworks off from. We drive through downtown near the Vinoy Park area. There are closed streets and lots of people. We drove around a bit, taking in the sights and looking for some place to park, but decided this would be TOO crazy. Maybe gulf side.
Its around 5pm and we get into Clearwater. We've still not found any festivals (except for the huge party in St Pete that we could not find parking for). Clearwater was no better. Man, if I DID find a place to park around here, it would take us 2-3 hours just to get out. Our original plan was drive around and watch the fireworks. I mean, we have the convertible. Maybe the Courtney Campbell Causeway would offer a good vantage point. But, we still wanted a festival. My former boss (we've both still with the firm, but the reorg put us into different groups) said that Safety Harbor had a big shindig, so we headed there. After getting turned around a few times and misdirected by a "safety officer", we found a place to park. We gathered our stuff (cooler, camera, blanket) and headed towards the Marina. We scoped out where we wanted to sit (there was a small hill that was not too crowded yet). We walked through the festival/vendors and the crowd, kinda to see what we could see, listen to the music, people watch, and verify we had picked the right vanatage point. When we got back, the hill had filled up quite a bit, so I know we'd be okay there. Many people had brought chairs, but some had spread out blankets like us.
As we lay there, waiting for the magical hour and chatting, we watched a thunderhead grow to the east. Before long, there was lightning flashing in and around it. I was hoping the storm would last long enough and that the fireworks show would be in the right place to capture both in the same shot; not my luck though.
The thing we forgot, bug spray. I was not getting eaten by misquitoes, fortunetaly, but seemed anytime someone would walk past us, I would get covered in gnats and these little green garden/grass bugs. This happened a lot. I am not sure which annoyed me more, the bugs or the people behind us smoking some of the worst cigarettes. Florida is a clean air state, meaning that smoking is not permitted indoors (we love that we can go to the Comedy Clubs, restaurants, etc and not have to worry about that). The bad thing is that I do not believe outdoors events, even public ones are covered under this rule (or it is imposilbe to enforce). In any case to that person, thank you for making me a bit naucious and for thinking of yourself instead of the comfort of those around you.
I have not reviewed the photos yet. They looked good on review (small) screen, but I've seen that before and had some really bad photos when we are talking low light. The show was nice. It had mainly the standard shells, the only shaped charge/shells were a couple of "rings". I kinda miss Indy's fireworks though. There, they were synchroized to music and some of the shells exploded into shapes like hearts, rings and even a star. Still, after a few moments of photos, I put the camera down and laid back with my sweetie to enjoy the rest of the show. Thankfully, the show must have captivated the smoker, because he did not light up during it.
After the show, it was back to the car The area was quite crowed and I figure it would be easier to head out away from the crowd. I had already planned out "escape" and while ended up being off a street (the street I was going to use was too congested to fit cars in going in both directions) I did manage to get us out of there. We headed home, across the Courtney Campbell Causeway. We were amaxed to see the "frontage roads" packed as they were, still. But, there are a lot of people setting off their own fireworks (some of which rivaled the "commercial" ones), and the causeway may have offered a good show. It was definetly bewteen the "Safety Harbor" and "St Pete" and mostly likely had a decent view of the show going off at "Channelside" (Tampa). But, it still was a good distance away from all three, so I am not sure how "spectacular" it could have been. Still, it was nice to drive the causeway with the top down and we had a good Forth.
Peace,
Bear