A walk along the water

On February 9, 2026March 6, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights3 Comments

In early November Brett and I went for a walk along the waterfront near downtown St. Pete.

The old historic pink hotel (Vinoy) looked pretty against the blue sky as we passed by. Built in 1929, the hotel was taken over by the Army during WW2 and was used for training. It has been said that it is haunted.

Walking past the boats at the municipal marina.

As we walked out along the pier this sailboat came close to us. It swerved at the last minute.

Pelicans were diving along the pier.

The old pier pilings are still in the water and the pelicans like to sit on them. The inverted pyramid building and the pier were torn down in 2015 and the new pier was completed in 2020. You can read my post about the old and new pier here.

Watching the pelicans diving under the pier. The bait fish are plentiful under the pier so the pelicans are constantly diving around it.

Taking a break after climbing the back stairs of the pier building.

The view of St. Pete from the top floor.

Bees buzzing on the goldenrod that was blooming along the pier.

The orchid trees in the parking area were in full bloom.

Linking to Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday) at Image-In-Ing.

The St. Pete skyline

On February 3, 2025April 6, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights3 Comments

It was a beautiful morning in early November when I stopped by the St. Pete municipal marina at Demen’s Landing Park (named after Peter Demen who was one of the founding fathers of St. Pete. He named the city after his hometown in Russia).

A lone pelican sits on the piling and begs me to take his picture (so I took a ton)!

Off he goes.

Another pelican cruises low over the calm water.

There used to be 4 short fishing piers along this walk but after the 2 hurricanes only 1 survived and it’s closed off.

The sculpture across the water is a life sized sculpture of the bi-plane that pilot Tony Jannus flew to Tampa in 1914. This was the world’s first commercial plane flight with the first paying customer being the mayor.

This is a one of my favorite places to walk around and look at on the water. It’s a tiny park but so beautiful looking out on the bay and at the skyline.

Linking to A Stroll Thru Life.

We could really use the rain.

On July 18, 2024September 1, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights7 Comments

You know you are getting old when you say “We could really use the rain.” I never thought that in my 20’s and 30’s. I thought “Ugh, it’s raining. My hair is going to frizz.” I was out for a morning walk in mid-May when it looked like we were going to get some badly needed rain. I was at the Dunedin marina and could see the rain across the waterway and it was headed for me.

It was dark towards Clearwater beach and I as I did a quick walk around the front of the marina the dark cloud kept getting closer and closer.

I had parked my car nearby since I didn’t want to walk back in the pouring rain or worse lightning so as soon as it started to drizzle I hopped in and headed home.

I stopped at the causeway on the way home and the storm was following me north.

I parked and was able to get a quick walk over the bridge before it started raining here. I was tempted to wait out the rain to see if a rainbow would appear later but it looked like it was going to rain for a while and I was getting hungry.

Cloudy and sunny morning walks

On July 8, 2024July 13, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

I was out for a long walk in early May on the Dunedin causeway. There was a chance of rain but we had been dry for so long I didn’t think it would really rain. The south side of the causeway is sand and beach. The above is the north side, all rocks so you don’t really want to get in the water from this side. I like to walk on this side because there is less traffic. The tide was low and you can see the seaweed piled up on the rocks.

Far away you can see Tarpon Springs.

After walking on the causeway I headed over for a quick walk at the nearby marina. It still looked like it would rain which was nice because it kept it cooler.

I took a break on the floating dock to hang out with some pelicans. They are not shy here mostly because they are looking for a handout.

The sailboat that was stuck on the rocks was still there. It was in bad shape.

A few days later I was back on the causeway and this morning it was sunny and hot. The drought was in full force and we just wanted it to be cloudy so it wouldn’t be so hot.

Another walk around the marina and I saw a few of the usual birds besides pelicans. Great egrets and anhingas are always hanging out on the docked boats but I also saw something I had not seen here before. There were 2 northern rough-winged swallows (bottom shot). I only got a quick shot of one before it took off across the marina. I was wishing I had my camera with me and had to shoot with my phone.

Stopping to smell the flowers

On November 10, 2022October 14, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn flowers and plants, Tampa bay sights10 Comments

I had been having shoulder pain off and on through the summer but by early September it had really been bothering me. I haven’t been using my heavy camera much so I went for walk near the Safety Harbor pier with only my phone.

The fountain in front of the marina had been vandalized but was recently fixed. They caught the kids who did it.

Flowers around the fountain. I’m so use to looking at birds from far away so it’s harder for me to find things close up to take pictures of. There’s so much out there, especially near the water.

Walking in the drizzle

On February 8, 2022January 29, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Tampa bay sights6 Comments

It was cold and drizzly right after Christmas but I was determined to get out for a walk. I headed to the Safety Harbor fishing pier as the rain was slowing down. It was barely a drizzle when I got there. There were a few other people out, joggers and dog walkers, as well. I left my camera at home and only had my phone so I was traveling light.

People have started putting locks on the fairly new boardwalk nearby. I guess they are copying the Love Locks bridge in Paris where people write their names and loved ones on the lock, lock it on the bridge (to lock in your love) and throw away the key. There were over one million locks in bridges around Paris and it was starting to do damage to some of them. All of the locks were taken down and now it’s illegal to do so. I’m assuming these will eventually get taken down as well. Many were starting to rust.

The sites around the spa and downtown Safety Harbor.

A great blue heron walking along the dock at the marina and a night heron were a few of the birds hanging around the marina.

A sad story on a beautiful afternoon

On March 29, 2021March 6, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals, Tampa bay sights3 Comments

It was a beautiful afternoon in late January and I was able to get outside for a little while on a late Friday before sunset. I jumped in the car and headed over to Dunedin, thinking I would stop by the fishing pier and then go over for a quick walk at the causeway. I was snapping the shot of the water when I turned around and noticed the two osprey that had built a nest on top of the building next to the pier. I was pretty excited to see the camera up on the top but when I got home and searched it, you could only see over the building so the camera wasn’t look down on the nest. Would have been fun to watch that nest up close.

I found this cute little boat in the marina that I hadn’t seen before.

I headed over to the beach area on the causeway and saw the sailboat that has washed up back in November during Hurricane ETA. I had seen many pictures of it posted on the internet, people climbing and playing on it. They had it roped off which didn’t make for a pretty picture. I have since heard that it was hauled away a few weeks after I took this. The state of these old damaged sailboats are sad. At some point years ago, someone paid a lot of money for this boat. Probably used it at first. Then it sits out there for a long time and becomes a hazard. The owner, if they had insurance, probably just collected and moved on. Many people with these old boats let their insurance lapse and the city pays for the haul. Not sure if they can sell them for scrap.

On a sad note, at the end of the causeway, a dead dolphin had washed up on shore hours before I arrived. Everyone was standing around watching the marine life rescue team (with Clearwater Marine Aquarium, where Winter the flipperless dolphin resides) get him ready to be taken away. They will do a necropsy on him to find out the cause of death. Was he old? Sick? Eaten something bad? Hit with a boat? Swallowed too many fish hooks from stealing fish from the fishermen at the pier? So many questions. Everyone was watching from a respectful distance. It was sad to watch these volunteers do their work.

Always a perfect sunset

On March 4, 2021February 17, 2021 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights3 Comments

Nothing says Florida like a walk around a marina especially right before sunset. If you want to get a good sunset spot here, you have to get here early.

This was actually back in late October when I headed out for a long walk before sunset at the Dunedin marina. Even thought it sits on the intercoastal waterway and Clearwater beach is across the water, the sunsets here draw a large crowd. There was still plenty of room around the pier and marina the night I was there. It’s totally worth getting up off the couch on a late Sunday afternoon and driving 30 minutes away.

Since parking is hard to find around the marina, a lot of people who live close by have golf carts. It’s easier to get a spot for dinner at the nearby restaurants. The one above was decorated and they were very friendly, talking to everyone. I had to take a picture.

It was time to start hiking back to my car but I turned around and took one more shot.

Things at the marina

On January 18, 2021March 4, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Tampa bay sights2 Comments

Trying to stay off my legs (due to hip bursitis) but not wanting to stay at home, I headed out for the Dunedin marina and fishing pier early one morning in mid-November. I spent the morning just hanging out, sitting on benches watching the activity around the marina. From the shots above, it was pretty quiet that morning.

I did see a manatee cruising around the boats in the marina.

This anhinga was having fish for breakfast.

Some of the birds also hanging around the marina, a green heron and lots of pelicans.

A spotted sandpiper was digging around the exposed muck at the boat ramp.

The same things from a different park

On December 21, 2020March 3, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

I headed down to Fort Desoto early one Saturday morning only to find it was closed for a marathon. So I decided to head to a park I had not been before. Maximo Park sits on the water right next to the interstate and was only minutes away from Fort Desoto. I had not been here before but had not heard much about it. It’s a small park near a marina and the people were lined up at the boat ramp to get their boats in for the day. Across the bay you can see the new bridge near Fort Desoto going up. You can buy bait fish right out of the water (for the lazy people who don’t want to pull their own bait fish up with a net).

It was a quiet day for birds but above are a few that I found including the vulture sunning himself.

Was it starting to look like fall? Looks like poison ivy with those red leaves of 3.

I stopped by Sawgrass Lake Park on the way home for a quick walk and saw this soft shell turtle crossing the parking lot. A man came over and picked him and moved him on his way. It’s rare to see these guys out of the water up close. They are usually pretty skittish.