The second day of my ‘old’ friend’s visit, can’t tease her without admitting my own age also, brought us to Longboat Key to visit yet another old friend. Such a lovely spot to sit and talk about life after high school. Another high school friend commented that it must be fun to reminisce about our high school days, but that didn’t seem to be the main topic of conversation. We seemed to be concentrating on what came after high school, raising kids, and grandkids too. And where life has brought us now. How lucky we are to reconnect after such a long time.
Such a lovely view.It was a nice day to walk on the beach. Our friend said that people were commenting that there were no intact shells on the beach. Most had been pulverized by Hurricane Ian. But this area was spared from major damage.We decided to head toward Anna Maria Island for dinner but traffic was quite backed up, and the sunset was early, so we stopped at The Beach House and this was our view while we enjoyed our dinner. I ducked down in front of the sunset watchers to get a few photos. It hadn’t looked too promising to start with, but it just got better. Eventually we all took a few pictures.Even after the sun had set the sky got more colorful.Then the stars began to shine through.
The next morning dawned cold, with blustery winds. I headed down to the beach early, to try to capture the look of the surf. It was a bit foggy too, hence the feature photo. My friends chose to try some watercolor painting while I was out taking pictures. Then after a nice lunch it was time to say goodbye and head home again. But there was talk of another visit next year…
The waves were rolling in.The sun had come out by the time we headed out for lunch. This time the traffic was better so we made it to Anna Maria Island. We got the valet to hold up traffic in order to take our picture. It was too soon to say goodbye…
Sometimes you head out for the sunset just because you have the opportunity, even though the sky doesn’t look all that promising. And sometimes you like one view of the sky from Hudson Beach, but your friend wants to watch from the opposite end of the area. You may have been less than gracious, wanting to see the same view you always see. And then you might look at your pictures and think that it wasn’t such a bad outing after all.
A little blue heron visited for a few minutes.Then he flew off, but circled back for a photo, or two.The moon is always a tempting shot.I thought these clouds might be interesting as the sun set.Most boats were coming in, but a few headed out.A promising sunset on the way, I thought.I zoomed in because I liked the way the sun looked as it set behind the vegetation. What I didn’t realize until I saw the shots in the computer is that there are birds in the vegetation. Lots and lots of birds.
I think I was the first one to mention that I’d been craving chicken wings, which led to a discussion of which local restaurants served the best wings. But my criteria for wings is where can I go and get photos also, and with that in mind Hooters was the obvious choice. Naked wings with a Parmesan rub, and one order of sunset please.
The clouds had been rolling in but I was still hopeful that we’d get a nice sunset.But the sky darkened.The sky hadn’t blazed with color, but we saw color nonetheless.And a last image as we drove away.
In addition to offering up the chance for a pretty sunset to go with your wings, this Hooter’s location is only minutes from home. So it will stay at the top of my list for a place to grab a beer and some wings.
Market Elaine comes to the shopping center called The Grove, on the 1st Friday of the month. Last month’s was rained out, but we decided to try again last night and we both were stunned at how huge this event was. This row of vendors was adjacent to the Crate with it’s shops and restaurants. So we started walking…
We walked a bit and then I took this shot of where we had been so far.I stood in the same spot and took this shot in the other direction. There was lots more to see.We followed the line of vendors into the shopping area of the Grove, where the vendors were also set up. I took this picture because I was surprised to see the Highland Axe Throwing company. Is this a thing? Other signs on the windows were amusing. “Hey, how’s your Axe,’ and ‘Like darts but more kick Axe, and ‘Beers and Axes, what could go wrong?’ I’m easily amused.We hadn’t walked up that way before so we were surprised to find a nice pond. With a Limpkin doing a bit of hunting for his dinner.Something else we hadn’t seen before.Had to take a picture of this sign as we walked, after all, I like big mutts too.Halloween was in full swing with the vendors, and this shop at the Krate. The Grove is the main shopping center, and it’s huge. Then they added Krate, which is an area of container shops offering food and more.As we found a seat to wait for the entertainment we noticed the pale moon rising. I didn’t notice the birds flying in a V formation when I took this picture. When I do notice them in the sky I always try to get that shot, but this time I was oblivious.There is live music on Friday nights, and this is Daniella Mass, who performed on Latin night.What a voice on that girl. She said she is from Columbia, and she has a classical music background. Her music was not what I expected, not pop songs I’d ever heard, but beautiful ballads sung in Spanish, but I think the meanings came through. What a powerful voice on that little person.
I hadn’t been to a craft show in a long time, so I was interested to see what the vendors had for sale. There were clothes, for kids and adults, and not just tee shirts either. I was surprised at all the vendors selling crocheted creatures, I didn’t know they were popular. There were plants, Halloween decorations, several wood workers, and lots of baked goods. A fun way to spend an evening, but wear your walking shoes if you go!
I think I expected vegetables. There were plenty of bakery items, which I reluctantly passed by while polishing up my halo. A small sea of vendor tents, which we also saw last night at the nearby First Friday event. We saw them as they were being taken down just in time for the torrential rains to pour down. But it was a beautiful day today, but hot. This was supposed to be our first stop, then we thought we might head to Safety Harbor to see if we might see the launch from Cape Canaveral, but when we saw that it was scrapped again we headed home. Perhaps the storms will hold off tonight and we’ll see a sunset. Maybe…
We forgot to stop back here to check out the coffees before we headed home. We said we’d check out the bakeries too.Hippie’s candles, love the name. I saw several CBD vendors also.The kindest thing I could do for this hibiscus is to not take it home with me.I think these cut flowers were struggling in the heat.Tiny little cactus flowers.And roses…I thought that the white leaves were the flower, with the orange in the center. Maybe the orange is the flower?
This event is held on the first and third Saturday of the month. Soon it will be perfect weather for it, but we are still trying to escape the heat at the moment.
Just thinking about looking at my pictures from last night had David Bowie in my head all day. As with most of the music of my youth I can sing the song but have no clue in the world who sang it, I looked it up.
It really was a no brainer. Friday night at Krate, with live music, this time from the 70s and 80s. Music and dancing for photo ops, plus the timing would include the sunset, and even if a storm blew in there would always be the food. I opted for the same thing I got last time, a frozen sangria and the Southwest egg rolls from Blush.
See the nice blurred background? I can thank my new ‘nifty 50’ lens for that. It was the only lens I brought to force myself to use it. And this was probably the only picture I took that really took advantage of it’s capabilities. The class we are currently taking requires homework. I thought I might get portraits at this event, but I couldn’t very well ask this adorable little cutie and her mom to move somewhere else, somewhere without a trash can front and center in the picture. I took a lot of pictures of her, but they never moved to a better location.A lot of cropping got me to this image. I loved the position of her feet.These little girls presented the same problems. So cute though.Dad walked this little guy right in front of me, Cropped this one like crazy too, but it’s a portrait anyhow.But this is supposed to be about dancing, and this lady was dancing even before everyone was invited to dance. I had to walk around her to find a better background than the cars in the parking lot.This couple deservedly won the dance contest.But this lady and her granddaughter (?) stole the show for me. I wish she had on the red shoes that the song calls for, but a red bow in her hair will have to do.How sweet is that little girl? She was surrounded by people so my ability to get a photo was limited. I don’t know that I saw those eyes until I checked the shots in the camera. I think grannie might have embarrassed her a bit.The sunset was blooming nicely.Lots of sky to see.
A Snowbird's Life Through the Lens 