John's Pass Makeover

I had a positive reaction to the new parking garage at John's Pass. Well-disguised by shops, the exterior of the garage is punctuated by nice touches like high-ceilinged walkways past shops done up in a multi-color scheme. Wooden shutters at the top of the stairwells look nice too.

More interesting is that the new structure presents, in actuality, a difference from the rest of the tourist compound. You can't get more of difference than between a new creperie and the paintings of Red Skelton. Maybe kitsch and upscale can co-exist harmoniously!

It looks like a changing of the guard, and yet it feels strangely integrated. I wonder how the existing shopowners feel about it.

Also, a John's Pass bonus shot...

...for documentary purposes, I'm posting this photo of a view of Hubbard's Marina, which is also slated for some changes.

TBay Around the Net

It's Friday--when's the last time you went night fishing?

Forgotten Tracks

Near Tropicana Field, South of Central (SOCA, anyone?), along the Interstate, is an area with storage warehouses, auto collision shops, fur storage, and food distributors that stages innumerable industrial backdrops.

Also:

• More Industrial
  

Doing the Job for Two

One span handles traffic for both directions as new bridge construction begins at John's Pass.

Traffic was conveniently light, a lucky happenstance, for having forgotten about construction here.

Fresh Tracks

Morning sand at St. Pete Beach.

TBay Around the Net

Oh! So that's what that bridge is for! (Video/danmele)

Harbor Lights

A crop of a photo shot last winter during the early morning hours of the waterfront in front of the Pier. It was as still as it looks.

For the photo, I moved up the brightness and nudged the contrast.

A St. Petersburg Story

So this past weekend, there was apparently a mint shortage in North St. Pete. It took two stores to get some, and I almost missed some in the second store. In talking with other people looking for mint, I know of at least three grocery stores that were out of it. For a moment there, it sure looked like the after-work mojito was in jeopardy.

Is everybody drinking these? Next time, instead of making simple syrup ahead of time, I'll shop for the mint. On Wednesday.

TBay Around the Net

Tampa Bay, the Body of Water:

• Stormy Bay (tpl108/photo)
• Dolphins (clorenz41/photo)
• The View from Weedon Island Preserve (mbarrison/photo)

Golf Courses and Jim Morrison

Looking toward the Renaissance Vinoy Golf Club on Snell Isle Boulevard in St. Petersburg. The Mediterranean Revival style of this historic landmark is accented by a Moorish style of architecture, which brings to mind the minarets of UT. Wherever you look for the Moorish influence, its presence here imparts an other-worldly feel here. Jim Morrison, who visited the Tampa Bay area frequently, by hitching rides from FSU down to Clearwater, was right:
"To me, it was a strange, exotic, exciting place"
(See Photo # 10 of Photo Gallery).

Doors of Perception

I do like back alley doors. Like the way we all hide certain character traits when we present ourselves to the world, alley doors often have more character on the surface than their doorway cousins on the street. This one's in St. Pete--and it has that icon of the Florida landscape: the shopping cart.

Also:

• More: Alley Doors
• More: Shopping Carts
  

TBay Around the Net

This week's Friday tour sees red:

• St. Pete Beach (LINDAC928/photo)
• Target (BB/photo)
• Red Sony (Fabricio Buonomo/photo)

Snell Arcade

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Snell Arcade is located at 405 Central Ave., in St. Pete. There were 18 images used to assemble this panography (some of the individual shots are included below this post).

• Learn to how to make a panography