Space Shuttle Program 30th Anniversary @ Kennedy Space Center

The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, located on the east coast of Florida in the Orlando area, marked the 30th anniversary of the space shuttle program this week. NASA officials and astronauts featured the accomplishments of the shuttle fleet and Kennedy Space Center workers.  A shuttle-themed cake was presented by Buddy Valastro, a baker featured on the Food Network's “Cake Boss.”  

NASA's launch headquarters is the only place on Earth where you can tour launch areas, meet a veteran astronaut, see giant rockets, train in spaceflight simulators, and even view a launch.  The following is an excerpt from the Kennedy Space Center website, detailing a typical tour . . .

"Your exploration starts with one of our world-renowned tours, where you depart Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex to see NASA’s awesome facilities, including the massive launch pads, gigantic Vehicle Assembly Building, and the awe-inspiring Apollo/Saturn V Center.

There is so much to do at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex – from live-action theatrical shows like “Star Trek Live,” to the Astronaut Encounter where you can meet a veteran NASA Astronaut. During your Kennedy Space Center tour, you’ll see 10-story-high rockets from all eras of space exploration in the Rocket Garden, walk through a full-size Space Shuttle mock-up, see IMAX^® space films on gigantic five-story screens, and see an actual Gemini program capsule on display in the Early Space Exploration exhibit."

For information on Kennedy Space Center events, click here or call 877-313-2610.

Nature's Fury

March is usually a pleasant and dry month in Central Florida, sometimes too dry, but it is a beautiful, peaceful time before the tropical weather interrupts every afternoon with thunder, dangerous lightning and torrential rain.

It started yesterday with an all day storm that was welcomed after so much dry weather.  I even commented on my personal blog how I love those rainy days as long as I don't have to get out in it and the joy of hearing the rain hitting the awnings on the windows, making it so inviting to sleep the day away and catch up for all those late nights with no sleep.

Sightings of a funnel clouds and resulting tornadoes began early this morning and didn't end until early evening, pounding the area with heavy rain and hail escorted by torrential winds that did widespread damage in Central Florida.  The neighborhood is littered with fallen limbs, but thankfully no serious damage.  

We personally spent most of the day with no electricity or running water that is generated by an electrical pump.  It is the price we pay for living in paradise . . . the seasonal storms that result in electrical outages. 

The rest of spring will hopefully be normal for this time of year with low humidity and comfortable temperatures . . . today was just a preview to prepare us for the upcoming summer rainy season.

  

Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention dodging tropical storms and hurricanes in between the daily storms . . . that is a normal summer in Central Florida.

It doesn't matter where you live . . . we all get a taste of nature's fury.

How does nature's fury affect you

 in your part of the world?

My new home page

My home page is back!  Now you can keep up with all of my blogs, websites and places on the web in one place.  Click here to go to the blog, where you can follow via Blogger, Google Friend Connect, Networked Blogs, my new Facebook Fan Page or through RSS feed via your favorite reader or email.  You can also follow me on Twitter where all my blog posts are automatically tweeted.

For my Adgitize and Entrecard blogging friends . . . within the next couple of days, I will be setting up Adgitize and Entrecard . . . so you will have one more place to click!

My apologies for not being around as much . . . there are not enough hours in the day for everything I have been working on, but I should be back to "normal" soon.

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!

A taste of kitschy cool Florida . . . Weeki Wachee Springs

WOW! I never thought I’d get a request for a post . . . but . . . this post is by request for one of Florida’s oldest and natural attractions . . . 

Weeki Wachee Springs

The attraction was a childhood favorite of mine and I remember visiting the attraction many times.  In fact, somewhere in my mom’s archives are photos from the visits.  I’ll include them in the future if she can find them.

Pre-Disney World tourist attraction days of the 1950s/60s were the glory days of Weeki Wachee Springs, boasting attendance of 500,000 people per year.  It is said that Elvis Presley and Esther Williams were among those who visited and/or made films and television shows there . . . naturally . . . it was owned by ABC, the American Broadcast Company, who heavily promoted the attraction. 

The feature attraction?  Live underwater mermaid shows!  The ladies came from all over the world for a chance to audition for the role of a Weeki Wachee Mermaid, who were dressed in fancy outfits complete with fins . . . and considered celebrities throughout Florida.  They perform in an aquarium-like setting set in the spring of the Weeki Wachee River.  The current theater was built in 1959, embeded in the side of the spring 16 feet below the surface . . . it seats 500 people.

The show was originally based on underwater air hose breathing techniques created by a former Navy man, Newton Perry, who trained SEALS to swim underwater in World War II.   

Weeki Wachee Springs, known as the City of Live Mermaids, is located on the Gulf Coast of Florida at the crossroads of US 19 and State Road 50, about an hour north of Tampa.  It is currently owned by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and a part of the Florida State Park System.

The spring is the only one of its kind in the world with the deepest fresh water cave system in the United States.  The park itself is 538 acres . . . the only water park that is completely fed by freshwater springs.

Along with the mermaid show, they offer canoe and kayak rentals, volleyball and swimming at Buccaneer Bay which is a water slide attraction with a beach-like setting of white sands and relaxing covered picnic areas. You can also have your picture taken with the mermaids or take a riverboat ride down the Weeki Wachee River and enjoy a taste of untouched Florida.  They even offer a summer Mermaid Camp for the kids. Visitors can join the Sea Diver Program and swim in the springs

Hours of operation vary by season . . . check their website for the schedule.

A quote from the Weeki Wachee website . . . The City of Live Mermaids is more than just mermaids . . . it’s a truly original piece of Florida’s rich heritage.

Spring has arrived in Florida!

One of the things I love most is sitting outdoors and watch nature in action.  The weather has been gorgeous and I have spent more time outdoors this week than I have in a very long time.  Maybe they were here before, but I wasn't paying attention . . . the robins have arrived!  They are the sign for me that Spring has arrived and I couldn't be happier!!


We actually reached the 80's last week and the air conditioner has already been off and on for a week or so.  I really love open windows!  The Captain and I have been busy cleaning up the property . . . he finished off the fence, so now the back yard is totally private :) . . . YES!!!  I AM HAPPY :)


Humidity has not arrived and I am very grateful for that . . . I can handle the heat without it.


I love living in Florida :)

Wordless Wednesday . . . Cool Canines!

As usual . . . almost wordless!

I'm venturing away from the Florida theme for this week

because I felt like having a tribute to my babies who have

 departed to Rainbow Bridge . . . and because I am craving

a sweet fur baby doggie to love . . . 

a look at some cool canines!

these are not my photos

Grab my button!

<a href="http://myfloridaparadise.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="Gina's Wordless Wednesday" src="http://www.donitaworld.com/blog/Logo/WordlessWednesday125.jpg" /></a>

Wordless Wednesday . . . Pink Flamingo Reflections

As usual . . . almost wordless!

The pink flamingo are awesome!  

The photo is from Busch Gardens at one of the pink flamingo sections.

The following video is my creation made from photos of our visit
on New Year's Day.  I misplaced some of the photos when my external drive
started acting up on me, so I will be making another one when I find them all.

I'm linking up at these Wednesday Blog Hops . . .

Wordless Wednesday . . . Lovely Lemurs!

Almost wordless!

These photos were taken at Busch Gardens,

 Tampa, Florida on New Years Day.

I love the lemurs!

I've posted this video before, but here is

Lemur Love again . . . just because I love them!

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

The invasion of pirates . . . all about Tampa, Florida

I put this post up once a year around the timeof the Gasparilla festivities in Tampa.
Tampa is where I have lived all of my life
and I feel blessed that I was born in this part
of the world that is perfect for me.
The Captain and I are planning to explore Tampa
with our cameras in the coming weeks so that we can feature all the things that make Tampa special.
Since we have annual passes to Busch Gardens, my
posts usually focus on the awesome theme park.
There are so many aspects of the park that I haven't
even covered yet.
Many of you have asked about Busch Gardens and  I'm
working on a general post about Busch Gardens.  In themeantime, check out a video I created from one of
our visits.



There is much more to post about . . . subscribe to
my feeds or post my Wordless Wednesday button on
your blog.  Gina's Wordless Wednesday always includes
a linky so everyone can participate.


TAMPA . . . The word "Tampa" is a Native American word used to refer to the area when the first European explorers arrived in Florida whose meaning is sometimes claimed to mean "sticks of fire" in the language . . ."The place to gather sticks" . . . which also relates to the high concentration of lightning strikes that Tampa Bay receives every year during the hot and wet summer months.

HISTORY
Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon first arrived in the Tampa Bay area in 1513, but the Spaniards focused their attention on settling eastern Florida and left the western areas alone. 
In 1824, only two months after the arrival of the first American settler, four companies of the U.S. Army established Fort Brooke to protect the strategic harbor at Tampa Bay.
Tampa owes its commercial success to Tampa Bay and the Hillsborough River. When phosphates were discovered nearby in the late 1880's, the resulting mining and shipping industries prompted a boom of growth and wealth that lasted through the 1890's. The Port of Tampa is now the seventh largest in the nation; today phosphate shipping is supplemented by trade in shrimp. A pleasure cruise line operates as well.
In 1886, Vicente Martinez Ybor established a cigar factory in Tampa. From the steps of Ybor's factory, José Marti, sometimes called the George Washington of Cuba, exhorted the cigar workers to take up arms against Spain in the late 1800's. Hispanic culture enlivens Ybor City which covers about 2 square miles between Nebraska Avenue, 22nd Street, Columbus Drive and East Broadway.
The military has also had an ongoing role in Tampa's development. The city was the primary outfitting and embarkation port for U.S. troops bound for Cuba during the Spanish-American War. Today the U.S. Operations Command is headquartered nearby at MacDill Air Force Base.

WHAT MAKES TAMPA UNIQUE . . .
DIVERSITY

One of the things that makes Tampa unique is the Gasparilla celebration, a festival similar to Mardi Gras with a pirate theme . . . best to check out the video . . . click here.


As far as I'm concerned, this is as close as I'm going to get to living in paradise.  Our winters are usually pleasant . . . there are warm breezes, gone is the humidity, the daily afternoon tropical thunderstorms or threats of an impending hurricane and only the occasional cold day and night (what I call cold) . . . this is winter in Tampa, the best time to visit my part of the world. We occasionally get a freeze at night, but it never snows and cold fronts usually move fast and last a day or two, then back to warm and sunny Florida weather.

No matter what you are in the mood for, you can find it here, there is lots to do . . . you can relax and dine at a waterside cafe, take a streetcar ride to Channelside for shopping and back to Ybor City for a delight all to itself.

Ybor City is an experience that takes you back to another era, known as Florida's Latin Quarter, wrought iron balconies, globe streetlights, brick-lined walkways and the majestic architecture of cigar factories, social clubs and other unique buildings. It provides a glimpse into an era rich with culture and history . . . famous for Spanish Flamenco dancers, Cuban sandwiches, hand-rolled cigars, shopping at Centro Ybor by day and when the sun goes down, party at the many restaurants, nightclubs and bars that line the streets of Ybor City that are so reminiscent of New Orleans.

For those into sports, Tampa is home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tampa Bay Lightning and winter home of the New York Yankees and served three times as Super Bowl host.

Tampa is one hour away from Disney World and the home of Busch Gardens, where you can ride world known roller coasters like the Montu, Sheikra, Gwazi, Kumba and many other attractions, one of the most awesome zoos in the world and gorgeous gardens to walk through. Check out all to do at Busch Gardens by visiting their website, which is a treat in itself . . .

Busch Gardens website

Cross Tampa Bay and you will find white, sugar sand beaches, sport fishing, jet skiing, parasailing . . . there is nothing like walking the beach at dawn or watching a spectacular sunset on the Gulf of Mexico.

There is also an abundance of state parks, botanical gardens . . . a nature lover's paradise.

Famous people from Tampa . . . Ray Charles, Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys, his brother Aaron Carter, Hulk Hogan, Lauren Hutton, baseball players Dwight Gooden, Gary Sheffield and Steve Garvey, singer/songwriter Stephen Stills . . . and me!