We're doing something today that Renee and I have wanted to do for a long time — taking the ferry the Shell Island Preserve. It's supposed to have great shelling, no surprise. We're on the ferry now.
tags: stpete
postposted by matt in Thursday, March 27, 2025
Keeping the Rays won't be cheap. Losing them, though, would cost St. Petersburg and Tampa Bay even more. The time has come to tie the Rays to the city for decades. It's time to say yes to this deal.
I've watched the Rays stadium saga for literally decades. It's been a slog, full of ups and downs and plenty of dramas. It finally feels like there's real momentum for keeping the team in St. Pete and building a new stadium. I've got my fingers crossed.
posted by matt in Wednesday, July 3, 2024
We've got a busy day today, for a weekend/vacation day. We went for our walk first thing this morning. We're headed to the farmer's market at 10, and then to the Rays game this afternoon (first pitch at 1:40). Looking forward to a great day.
tags: stpete stpetebeach
postposted by matt in Sunday, June 30, 2024
We noticed a couple new murals at the airport, too. This one is on the outside of a hangar that faces the parking lot for the restaurant. It's big and bold, and quite impressive! I noticed Jonathan noticing it as we headed to the car after breakfast. I love this photo.
tags: stpete albertwhitted art mural
photo posted by matt in Thursday, June 27, 2024
We also got to see this 1941 Stearman Army Biplane take off. It's slow, but very cool. This one is used for aerial tours of St. Pete, which can apparenty include an acrobatics option.
tags: stpete albertwhitted plane
photo posted by matt in Thursday, June 27, 2024
Jake's dream plane is the Bonanza. It would be my choice, too...if I was a pilot and if I was in the market for a plane! We watched this one on the ramp right below our table all the way through takeoff. He gave a nice wing wave on the way out, too. Beautiful plane.
tags: airplane plane bonanza albertwhitted stpete
photo posted by matt in Thursday, June 27, 2024
Jake's leaving for home tomorrow, so, of course, we had to have breakfast at Albert Whitted airport in St. Pete this morning! It was a beautiful day for it, too. Perfect weather, and the airport had decent activity for us to watch. Great morning.
tags: stpete albertwhitted
photo posted by matt in Thursday, June 27, 2024
Which — as Khan says — is sure to bring in guests from all over the globe. “From like, literally, all over the world," said Khan. "That’s probably the coolest thing to me. Just all of those different cultures mixed in together.” More attractions are on the way to the area, and coming this summer will be a direct flight from Mexico City. St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport will also be adding a non-stop flight to Amsterdam this fall.
The secret's out - St. Pete is truly a wonderful place to visit and live. More people (and traffic!) are on the way, but I'm ok with that if it adds to the vibrancy and diversity of the area. I'm sure we'll hear plenty of complaints at the pool next time we're down there, though. Boomers gonna boomer.
tags: stpete stpetebeach florida
posted by matt in Sunday, May 19, 2024
I would say the traffic at Albert Whitted was moderate today, which was perfect. Not too busy, but we had a stretch where we watched the planes come in one after another.
tags: stpete thepier planes albertwhittedairport
photo posted by matt in Wednesday, April 5, 2023
I found a great spot for framing planes with the palm trees and the angles of the building on The Pier. Unfortunately, I only had my iPhone, so I couldn't get the tighter shot I wanted, but the phone did a decent job with it, even though the plane is tiny in the images.
photo posted by matt in Wednesday, April 5, 2023
Once out on The Pier, we were able to look back toward downtown St. Petersburg and catch some planes as they approached the waterside runway.
photo posted by matt in Wednesday, April 5, 2023
Jake and I resting in the shade, in between planes.
photo posted by matt in Wednesday, April 5, 2023
I took this from our first stop, right outside of Doc Ford's at the base of The Pier. It might be my favorite of the day. Jake and I sat in a couple of Adirondack chairs right on the water, shooting right from the chairs. A perfect spot!
photo posted by matt in Wednesday, April 5, 2023
Thirty seconds before this shot, the dog was wearing a pair of headphones. Two minutes before that, he climbed out of the door in front of the woman, shortly after landing. How fun that must be – flying with you dog!
tags: dog plane bonanza stpete albertwhitted
photo posted by matt in Sunday, April 2, 2023
Jake in his element.
tags: jake pilot stpete albertwhitted
photo posted by matt in Sunday, April 2, 2023
We had a party of ten for breakfast at the airport this morning. Such a great spot for plane spotting and conversation over coffee. And mimosas.
tags: stpete airport albertwhittedairport
photo posted by matt in Sunday, April 2, 2023
I'm upset it took us so long to get over to The Pier since its renovation. It's a great public space that is uniquely St. Pete. And the angle on Albert Whitted is fantastic for watching departing planes, for both runways.
We took this selfie on the steps near the top, with downtown St. Pete in the background.
Great day!
tags: stpete florida their family selfie
photo posted by matt in Wednesday, March 29, 2023
We walked along The Pier in St. Pete after breakfast. Renee sat with Jake while he took some photos of planes leaving from Albert Whitted. I snapped this pic of the two of them while he was waiting for another plane. I love it.
photo posted by matt in Wednesday, March 29, 2023
Plane spotting with Jake and Renee for breakfast. This is Jake's happy place, for sure.
tags: stpete albertwhitted pilot flying breakfast
photo posted by matt in Wednesday, March 29, 2023
We went to the Rays game this afternoon. Nearly missed it, thinking first pitch was at 7 PM. Nope–noon start today! The surprise early start was nice, though, giving the boys a reason to get moving relatively early in the day.
I always want this picture when we're at Tropicana Field–the group selfie in the beautiful atrium of an otherwise less-than-beautiful (but I love it!) stadium. Phone cameras just can't capture it well, though. I need my mirrorless Sony, a tripod, shutter release, and a graduated neutral density filter! Oh well, playing with the editing of the phone versions is fun, and reminds me that there's no perfect way to develop or edit a photo. Have fun with it, and see what comes from it. I love the over exposed, super contrasty, grainy look here. And black and white can always help to recover things in a janky exposure.
tags: stpete baseball tampabayrays mlb
photo posted by matt in Wednesday, August 3, 2022
We ate dinner at The Hangar at Albert Whitted tonight. One of our favorites, but the weather threatened rain all day, which made for a slow day at the airport. So, we didn't see much activity as we ate. Bummer.
The ground crew did tug this Pilatus from a hangar across the way to a spot right in front of our car right before we left. Jake and I took a closer look through the fence.
tags: plane airport stpete florida
photo posted by matt in Tuesday, August 2, 2022
