Well, Saturday, my last full day in Florida, turned out to be quite an adventure. I left my hotel at 8am and explored north of Lakewood Ranch. I stopped by the high school, and I found a man fishing in the pond in front of the school. He let me take some photos, but as I photographed, we had this convo:

Him: Yeah, there aren’t many places like this left

Me: What do you mean?

Him: Well, this entire area up here used to be one gigantic lake. Now, this is one of the only original parts left. It’s nice that these subdivisions require lakes to be put in, but it’ll be 10 years before there’s any decent fishing. I like to take my little girlie out here.

This entire area being developed is about 26,000 acres, so for a lake to cover this area he was talking about, is pretty insane. It really put my entire trip in a new perspective.

From there, I stopped back by the hotel to get the zoom lens from Mitch, and then I took off towards the Keys. Before crossing the bridge, I stopped off at Bay Front along downtown Sarasota, where they have probably 20 huge sculptures situated along the side of the road, the largest one being a representation of the famous Times photo of the sailor kissing the woman after the war. An elderly lady was snapping tons of photos of this particular statue, and she came up to me and said, “I was in DC when the war ended. I went to all these parties. You have no idea how much seeing this means to me.” I could feel the emotion in her voice. How amazing.

I meandered along the piers, stalking some birds. I got some decent shots, but my better ones came later in the day. It was so lovely in this area that I just kept walking, and I found myself in a little park surrounded by the bay on 3 sides. I realized it was a dog park, so loads of cute, well-behaved dogs passed around me. It was at this time that I started stalking the people. Getting candids of complete strangers is probably one of the scariest things for me. Picture this: I’m sitting on a park bench with a gigantic camera & lens around my neck. As people pass me by I shoot them from behind or casually turn and pretend to shoot the scenery behind them. The elderly couple on the bench nearby had to see me patiently wait for people to pass before snapping them. I felt like a spy and it was kinda fun.

Well, as I was sitting on the bench, maybe 5 feet from water’s edge, I saw a glimpse of a fin out of the corner of my eye. Moments later I hear this huge sound of air and turn in time to see the silhouette of a dolphin plopping back in to the water. I was so caught up in the moment that by the time it dawned on me to use my camera, all I caught was the splash after its tail went under. I turned to see everyone nearby left staring dumbfounded at the water, same as me, hoping the dolphin would reappear. A Russian couple asked me if I caught it. They said dolphins are never this close to shore, but he might be back. I patiently waited for 20 minutes, staring out over the water, but to no avail. It never returned, and I had to keep moving on.

I left Bay Front and stopped at the Botantical Gardens. I decided I didn’t want to spend $12 and left. I made a good choice. I crossed over the big bridge, heading towards Longboat Key. I mistakenly made a wrong turn but found myself in yet another big jutting park area, surrounded by water, basically directly across the water from where I was. It was the Ken Thompson Nature Preserve. I sat down on the shell-covered beach area, the water just feet from me and started taking it all in. I saw people boating, wind surfing, and jet skiing. I was pretty much by myself.

I saw a little pier jutting out down the way, so I walked that way and found myself on a maze of boarded sidewalks that weaved through a conglomeration of trees/swamp. It was delightful, and I had a squirrel tracking me every inch of the way. I was pretty certain he was going to attack me but he just observed. I arrived at the pier, walked to the end of it and found myself 100 feet out in to the water with only a line of trees back behind me. It was one of those Utopian moments. I’d seen a dolphin earlier, and now it felt as if I was on my own private island with a cool breeze passing all around me and birds swooping overhead. I had to call my mom and leave her a voicemail about how inspired I was at that very moment. A huge hawk-like bird danced all above me. He showed up at the next place I went too. Well, I’m pretty sure it was the same one.

I pulled myself from this spot and got back on the road. I saw a Pelican observatory, but again, it had a fee, and I decided I didn’t want to pay to see birds in captivity. I would find them in their habitat for free. I crossed another bridge over to Longboat Key. I pulled in by the sign to the wildlife sanctuary, but all I found was a locked gate and a random man standing my a Lincoln Towncar with dark tinted windows, out of view of the road. “hmm,” I thought but rolled down my window anyway and asked him for directions. He was pretty startled to see me pull in next to him. It’s very likely there was a business transaction about to go down there. I’m waiting for the FBI to ask about my involvement.

So I found my way to the sanctuary (hehe…that’s funny to me in context). I walked under the bridge I’d just crossed to find a pelican posse chilling down there. I continued through the preserve, only encountering one biker. The sand trails, quiet sounds of unseen creatures scuttling nearby, and plant life working to reclaim the cleared area made me think I was out in the jungle. I couldn’t have been more than a half mile from a main road, but the sound of the water & birds drowned out any man made sound.

I came across trails that went off the beaten path. In Indiana, I would have called them deer trails, but my curiosity getting the better of me, I dunked under all the low branches and followed them. I found myself looking over an area completely covered by large shells. However I also found a pile of crap surrounded by flies and some tighty whities nearby. It was definitely a mood breaker. I considered that my second encounter with the FL underground.

Back on the main trail, I came to another area swarming with flies. There was just a very creepy feeling in that specific spot, so I didn’t linger long. I was honestly prepared to find a body. Luckily, I didn’t. The trail came to an end at Sarasota Point, a little deck that jutted out to reveal a spectacular panoramic view. Pelicans played and swooped in to the water nearby. I sat and waited for them to come within range of my lens. About the moment Mitch called me, they came swooping within feet of me. Typical. They came back before I left, though.

So Mitch called to let me know they were at Siesta Beach. I made my way back to the car and headed in that direction. The traffic difference between weekday and weekend was sort of insane. The beach was packed. I walked pretty much the entire length of the public & private beach…thrice. I found Mitch & Abby, played their vacation photographer for a bit, but then I felt like I was intruding on their time, so I just sort of wandered away and stalked the beach-goers. I got some really good shots. Some were good shots but I didn’t see how unattractive the subjects were til I got them to my computer :)

The plan was to stay until sunset, so after walking around for maybe an hour, I picked a spot near the water and sat for maybe another hour. The sand attacked me. Note to self: take canned air to beach with camera.

Once the sun started setting, it went down pretty quickly. Everyone was armed with a camera. It got pretty chilly which made me thankful I was actually wearing clothes. I played with a tip I’d read online about using shade WB for shooting sunsets. Thought I’d share the results with no PS tweaking. First is auto WB, second shade WB.

I liked the effects with both…all depends what you’re going for. The auto was more accurate to what I was seeing. Shade added a nice punch, but I finished off the event in auto. The sunset was definitely worth waiting for. I heard everyone around me telling their kids to just be patient and wait for it. They all had to be freezing. The water was pretty chilly. I walked in it as I traced the beach. I realized walking long distances in sandals in that sand was a lost cause. Barefoot was the only way.

Applause sounded out from everyone around me after the sun made its escape. It was kinda crazy to hear everyone cheer. Mitch apparently had the same experience further down the beach. It was still quite light after the sun completely disappeared. It created a gorgeous even glow everywhere. I think anyone would have looked nice in that light.

It was a beautiful closing to a beautiful day, really to a beautiful week. It had proved to be a wonderful experience, not quite the stress I anticipated. I felt as if I fell right in place there. There was no real adjustment period. I think I’m very suited for a job with traveling like that. But really, looking back over the week, the big houses and semi-famous people wowed and wooed me but it was all the people I met, stories I heard, and close-ups with nature I experienced that will stay with me. Maybe one day I’ll get to travel just seeking these sorts of people out. They have the stories I really care to help share.

But no complaints, I met some really nice people and some people that seemed to pretend to be nice, but so long as you can tell the difference between the two at the end of the day, that’s what really matters.