Downtown On a Cold Spring Day

It was cold and windy but it was supposed to be Spring so a walk downtown might be fun. Downtown was St. Petersburg, since I have not ever tried to explore downtown Clearwater. But I will someday. No, St. Pete was familiar territory and somewhat welcoming this Saturday.

There are murals all over the place, this being an artsy enclave. This is one of them I spotted on Central Avenue.

I don't know near enough about Bitcoin. This was the first store I have seen that accepts it.

A T-shirt for sale that, for me, says it all.

Another mural.

Kind of a classy liquor store sign.

I was taken by this architectural type picture with my iPhone camera and didn't notice the hand print on the column until I got home. All the better.

The Dazzio Gallery is a quite nice place to visit from time to time. It has classes for area people who want to do their work and get a little instruction as they go. And when finished the artists can put up their work for sale. Nice idea and maybe someday I might join them. This is a series of Holocaust paintings someone did and will be heading to New York soon to be on exhibition. Startlingly somber paintings that make one feel the horror.

Central Avenue is full of cool shops, galleries, antiques and great food. If one must be down here, then might as well enjoy the culture.

Comments

Flashback Friday

Class, Or Lack Thereof The Dwight Vice gravestone in Oquawka, Illinois. I bring this old chestnut out every so often just to remind me that class is classless. Dwight Vice was killed in his home near Oquawka in 2001. It was one of those things that can generate crime: two guys thought Dwight had a lot of money stashed at home because of his pot-selling sideline to supplement his fishing job. Not really one of those big drug deals gone-bad things. Marijuana was, according to the trial, about the only stuff Dwight sold. But these two guys barge into the house and killed Dwight and attempted to kill his 11 year old kid, Darryl, before they took off with what money they could find. His son, now 23, was stabbed in the back and left for dead. He survived and is wheelchair bound and has undergone several surgeries to repair his wounds. He will be paralyzed for life. None of this is pleasant. Reading the f...

Florida Air Museum - Part 3

Welcome back to a pretty neat tour of the Florida Air Museum in Lakeland Florida. There's a lot to see and a couple of the old Geezer Gold Wing guys are already sitting down instead of walking around looking at the exhibits. That's John who is wore out and making a call to his wife. In all honesty, John was pretty well bushed before the ride. He told me his daughter's family was down from one of the Carolina's with the grand kids and he must have played with them too much. He's about to take off on his own and head for home, but he's going to miss a couple of neat things out on Hangar A. But, before we walk over there, we have lots yet to see here. If you saw The Aviator with Leonardo DiCaprio playing Howard Hughes, you'll remember that he went up in a plane during the filming of one of his movies to prove a point about flying. He crashed trying to execute a roll and this is a picture of the plane he crashed. No...

The Mary Davis Home - Part 2

None of these pictures were taken by me, they came right from the MDH website. I am posting these so that friends who have never seen inside where I worked can gain access. After 27 years I have many stories, tales and acquaintances. But, I wouldn't know how to express them appropriately in a few paragraphs. I enjoyed 98% of my stay there and hope I made a difference in the lives of a fraction of the kids who entered. The original MDH at this site was just the front part. The large red-roofed area in back was added on in the 90's. This is the Jerry Carlton library. It was unofficially named after one of the counselors who truly loved the place. He passed away around 2002, I think. Mr. Farber looks like he is explaining a few things to a client. The classroom. Activity area with the gym behind the windows. Another shot of the classroom. It was a little different area to teach since we had 2 classes and 2 teachers i...

Existing In BFE

Search This Blog