Adair Church, Adair, Missouri

Adair, Missouri is about 10 to 15 miles east of Kirksville on Highway 11. In Adair, one will find the Adair Church. Actually, I believe it's Saint Mary's Church, but everyone I've ever heard refer to it has called it Adair Church. The church was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

I happened to be in Kirksville in December of 1988, so I took a little road trip out to Adair to photograph the church. Here are a few of them.

Saint Mary's Church, or just the Adair Church.

A building across the street from the church.

The church, featuring square and octagonal towers on the front corners.

The square tower.

Another building across the street from the church.

Cemetery next to the church.

Rocket Garden at Kennedy Space Center

I took a trip over to the Kennedy Space Center one day. I hadn't intended to go there when I started out - I just ended up there. One of the cool parts of the place is the Rocket Garden, of which I took a few photos.

Lunar Module

Rocket Garden

Saturn V Engine

Rocket Garden

Saturn V Rocket

Myakka River State Park

A great place to get an idea of what Florida looked like before it was settled is Myakka River State Park, just east of Sarasota. On the 37 miles of trails in the park, visitors have the opportunity to see lots of wildlife, including alligators. I didn't see any gators on this trip, though, but I did happen upon an armadillo.

Sabal palms. You'll find that I like taking weird pictures of trees like this.

Grass area. I wouldn't walk there, though - lots of water.

More swampy area.

And more swamp area.

Here's that armadillo I mentioned.

Lake Myakka, with a Live Oak in the foreground.

Another view of Lake Myakka

Late afternoon at Lake Myakka.

Boca Grande, Florida

Not too long after I moved to Florida I discovered Boca Grande. Boca Grande is a town located on Gasparilla Island in southwest Florida. A beautiful and distinctive lighhouse can be found at the southern tip of the island. The following photos are of the lighthouse and the immediate area.

View of the lighthouse seen through sea oats.

The lighthouse taken from the opposite direction as the photo above.

A wave crashes against a small jetty just to the west of the lighthouse.

Another small wave hits the jetty.

More sand and sky as seen from near the lighthouse. This photo was taked facing north-north west, if memory serves.

Sarasota Bay

One day driving around Sarasota, I decided to take some photos of Sarasota Bay. According to my records, these were taken after crossing Ringling Causway, but before Lido Key.

Sailboarders

Looking toward downtown

Looking north toward Ken Thompson Park

Sarasota Quay

Developers built a new shopping area in the mid- to late 1980's called Sarasota Quay. These photos were taken of the site before tenents had moved in.

Facing west with Sarasota Bay in the background

Courtyard

Courtyard

Sarasota Jungle Gardens

One of the things I liked about living in Sarasota was that I never lacked places to go or things to see. Sarasota Jungle Gardens is one of those places that's big enough to keep your interest, but not too big that you feel you've missed something when you leave. I went there back in September of 1988, and these are a few photos I took. Mind you that these are from my early days.

Pink flamingos, and not the yard variety.

More flamingos. Oh, wait, they're the same flamingos as in the photo above.

A view of the grounds.

Whether it's watching an alligator wrangler or just strolling around the grounds, there's something for almost everyone. Check out the link to Sarasota Jungle Gardens in the Landmarks I've Visited section for more information.

A Visit to the Ringling Museum

Today I visited the grounds of the Ringling Museum of Art, in Sarasota. There is a beautiful courtyard, of which many photos (not mine) have been published in various travel magazines and books about Sarasota and Florida. On this day, I managed to get a few photos of the courtyard, as well as the Ca d'Zan, or 'House of John'. The Ringling web site has loads of information about the museum and Ca d'Zan. There's a link to the site in the Landmarks I've Visited section.

A view of the courtyard facing west. In this wide angle view, one can barely make out the bronze replica of the Statue of David.

Another courtyard shot looking to the northwest.

Another northwest shot, taken from further west.

From near the statue, facing east.

A long sidewalk leading to Ca d'Zan.

Front entrance to Ca d'Zan.

Approaching the windows from inside Ca d'Zan. I don't remember the exact details - I took the picture over twenty years ago!

Nearing Sunset on Siesta Beach

I spent the better part of a late afternoon and early evening on Siesta Beach one day in mid-September 1988. Actually, the beach was one of my favorite destinations when I lived in Sarasota. The following several photos are my favorites from that day.

Late afternoon, and not a lot of wave action.

Looking northwest up the beach. How would you like to have the Gulf of Mexico as your back yard?

Earlier in the day, this place was packed. Now that the sun is setting, most of them have gone home. This is my favorite time of the day.

In the backgroung, a pair of walkers enjoy the beach as the sun goes down. The real subject of this photo is the clump of sea oats. As I mentioned, Siesta Beach was one of my favorite places in Sarasota. I guarantee there will be more posts with it later.