
Click on the
photos on this page to reveal the enlarged versions suitable for
printing.
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Linda with
stingrays at the Florida Aquarium
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Aligators!
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Aligators
from below the surface. These were young gators.
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Seahorses
were many and varied.
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One of the
few lobsters I didn't eat on this trip.
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A large sea
bass. Like he weighs in at more than 100 pounds!
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Sea Bass lurking
in a cave.
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This lobster
looks like someone I know, but I can't quite put my antennae on
it.
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Believe it
or not. a fish. Talk about camoflage.
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Seahorse variety
that looks like kelp, but that's a sea horse! Amazing! These were
so cool to look at and to photograph.
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I forgot what
this was. Oh, it's a fish looking at you. The photo is just sideways
is all.
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This octapus
thought he could hide.
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Lion fish.
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The fanstastic
light rail trolley system connects the port area of Tampa with
the tourist attractions, shopping and and night life of Ybor City.
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Interior of
the trolly's which are manufactured in Iowa!
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The Trolley
Map was exceedingly helpful.
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Did we mention
the trolley cars are manufactured in Iowa?
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Lots of cigar
manufacturers are found in Tampa.
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As is customary,
I photograph my food. These are cheesey fries. Yum!
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Great restaurant.
We ate here. That's where I photographed and ultimately ate a
large portion of cheese fries.
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Art show,
Linda found this Yorkshire that was extremely well dressed.
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Food on display
at some sort of art festival competition that was held.
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There were
street musicians.
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Trolley conductor.
He was a wealth of information on the system.
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The way to
see and to get around the tourist areas of Tampa is the trolley.
What an amazing undertaking this was for a municipality when they
had a choice between steel wheels and rails and rubber tires.
Light rail, though expensive, is certainly worth it.
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They conductor
told me they raised a lot of private money for the system, but
some Fed bucks had to be in the mix.
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One of the
lovely residents of Tampa that helped us with advice and directions
to places. She's a retiree who lives right down town. She takes
the trolley frequently in her travels about town.
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Cab driver
I interviewed in Tampa. Tampa is not exactly a taxi town like
Chicago or New York, but what cabs there are, the drivers are
friendly and knowledgeable.
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Margaritaville!
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Onboard our
ship, this was among our first meals. It was a floating feast
the ship was.
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View from
the top deck restaurant of Tampa just before we left port.
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Free stuff
in the ample bathroom.
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Surprisingly
roomy staterooms. This is the bathroom again.
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Different
view.
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This is just
part of the luggage for 1,593 passengers.
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Our bed.
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The bar and
dance floor midship.
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The details
of the decor were interesting and colorful. This is a stairwell
between forward decks.
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There was
a small shopping mall on board.
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Lifeboat drill.
We take these seriously ever since we saw Titanic.
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Long hallway.
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Martini...
shaken not stirred.
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This trio
entertained guests on several occasions.
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The main dining
room had peculiar lighting, but it was festive.
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I had the
bisque.
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One of our
wait staff. She was from Indonesia.
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Photo of video
guy at the Carol Duvall opening ceremonies. I must be laying down
or I had the camer turned wrong.
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Linda
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Meeting the
officers of the ship.
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The wacky
cruise director. He's English.
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Service was
courteous and excellent in every respect.
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The crew on
stage at the captain's reception. But who is on the bridge? It
turns out the ship steers by geopositioning satellites.
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Santa Clause
was cruising on this trip. I always wondered where he vacationed.
Now we know. The elves are on spring break in various parts of
Florida I was told. I'll have to watch VH-1.
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One of our
art projects with Tim Holtz. This was the makings of a pendant.
I love the colors.
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Linda
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One of our
table mates.
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A mixture
of alcohol based inks and permanent stamping ink create interesting
effects on small pieces of acrylic.
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Tim Holtz
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Edging my
project in copper.
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Linda with
the famous Carol Duvall. The next shot I managed to turn on the
flash.
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Linda's project
is wonderful. Such an eye for color she has.
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Another project
we did using canvas panels, bee's wax and found objects.
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Linda dn Tim
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Dinner that
night at Nick and Nora's. These were Versacci place settings!
God they were beautiful!
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Incredible
service and excellent food throughout the facility.
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No, the shutter
is that button on top to the left... I mean your right. Click
it down all the way....dough! Thanks. I'll cherish this photo.
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Lovely presentation.
Escargot! That's snails to you landlubbers.
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The waiter
should have been a photographer. Anyhow, this is dinner at Nick
and Nora's. Awesome service and food quality.
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Know Your
Cuts of Meat!... If you watch David Letterman you would know this
is a veal shank.
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This was so
good I had to take several photos of it.
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This was dessert,
and it was incredible. Don't ask me what it all was, but it involved
chocolate.
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She liked
it.
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Album cover
project with Precilla Hauser.
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We were painting,
appropriately enough, palm trees.
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Apparently
Carol Duvall doesn't like to paint, but she surprised Precilla
by showing up for the class and sitting in to paint something.
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Precilla Hauser
painted a rose for us in a demonstration. She is wonderful.
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She is a master
at painting flowers. Her approach is a little different from other
instructors we have known, but that's okay. There is a variety
of approaches one can take to paint a rose, apparently.
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I love how
she puts remedial strokes around the edge so you can tell how
the stroke is supposed to look when applied in the strategic place.
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Linda and
Precilla.
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This class
involved layered stamping. We sort of made a gift wrap, here,
using different colored inks.
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This is a
stamp positioner tool that we learned how to use effectively.
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This is a
stamp on velvet that is heated which alters the samped portion
of the cloth to create an embossing effect.
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This is my
(Gary's) pattern. I went a little nuts.
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Mary O'Neil
who is master stamper poses with Linda.
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Mammoth ships
at port dwarfed this excursion boat. Some of these ships have
as manyas 3,000 passengers. Ours had 1,593.
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Linda in the
corridor of tall ships at one of our ports of call. The mooring
ropes were as big around as small trees.
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Two ships
(ours in the foreground) behind Linda on the beach at another
port of call.
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This is Donna
Kato. She taught us how to work with polymer clay. She's a master.
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Canes of clay
are on the table here. This was one of the best classes from our
point of view. We love this applied art, and we had never seen
it performed close up. This was extremely valuable. We want to
do some jewelry and some decorative drawer and cabinet pulls using
this material.
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A single flower
petal made from two colors of clay blended, folded, modled and
sliced in thin, thin, thin, layers from the cane using a thin
metal blade.
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Petals of
a flower sliced from the cane.
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Gary made
these tiny flowers on a nugget of clay using a caning and slicing
method to make petals and leaves.
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Linda chose
to work with a black background. The effect is stunning. This
is worth blowing up in your browser. Click on it to see a closeup.
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Linda and
Donna.
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