Florida summers can be rather interesting due to the heat but this one was special. Summer of ‘08 was straight up and down the shi…great!

Tampa

The crew and I headed out to Tampa to film about a dozen locations. Even though we had the Open Florida RV, there were places that it just couldn’t go so I did a lot of driving.

Our hotel was about 5 minutes away from International Plaza and that meant runs to Gelateria del Duomo for gelato were always priority one. Sugar shocked by our gelato experiences, Missy and I found ourselves screaming “GELATO” in moments of silence for no apparent reason. This usually made Steve cringe and that was the signal for us to do it again.

These guys were a bunch of characters who only spoke in pirate talk. They were all about the Gasparilla Pirate Festival and of course a picture op.

I caught up with Arturo Fuente Jr., President of Tampa Sweethearts Cigar Company and learned a thing or two about cigars.

The attic to the old cigar factory was perfect for smoking and taking pictures. Which cigar is that you ask? The A. Fuente Hemingway.

I also found a great deal of H.O.P.E. during the heritage shoot in south Tampa.

When it came time to film the progress of the Tampa Museum of Art we had to wear hard hats. We didn’t actually get to go on the work site because OSHA also states that it is a hazard to have shorts on at a construction site. So we did the interview outside their aluminum gates.

Forecasting the summer weather in Florida is pretty easy…HOT! Ice pops were essential for successful cool-downs. Missy and I would usually eat about 3 a session.

I had a chance to kick it with the Tampa Bay Lightning mascot ThunderBug! He had a field day on the RV before he got around to signing it.

We also stopped by Burn’s Steak House to film and grub. Burn’s has a wine cellar in their basement which is home to over 100,000 bottles, crazy.

When we got back to the Hyatt Place, Steve-O snapped a few practice shots.

Two Words, King Mogul.

Jungle Island

In Miami, there is a place called Jungle Island and it is home to this thing. This thing, is called a Cassowary. From what I understand from the safety speech I was given prior to filming, is that, this thing…this thing, will kill you if you ever see it in the wild. So if you’re walking down an open plane somewhere in Australia and you happen to cross paths with this thing right here, don’t even bother running. Just make peace with the experience of a turkey-ostrich looking animal with a prehistoric horn shredding you to pieces.

Those were all the thoughts on my mind after the tour guide wrapped his safety speech then put me feet away from the beast that loved to swallow apples whole.

This was also the summer where I issued many cool points to lemurs.

Ft. Myers

We filmed a bunch of fantastic hotels in the Ft. Myers area. Across the street from one of them was a little place called Cuban Tropical Grill. Of course I had to indulge in one of their signature mango smoothies

and then I ordered a sandwich.

Later that night, we hit the Waffle House (sober) for some breakfast and a variety of wild football stories from one of the locals. Yum.

Everglades Alligator Farm

Here is Alligator Bob breaking down the difference between a gator and a croc. They both have teeth and that’s all you really need to know about that.

Here is Bob’s assistant Jeanette the Reptile Wrangler giving her version of the whole gator and croc presentation. For some reason I liked hers a lot better.

Here is a shot of Jeanette hooking me up with an experience with with one of her snakes.

Years ago I would have been like “What? Hold a snake? Fug that!” Now after almost 2 years on the job I’m like “What? Hold a snake? Get the camera.”

Since Jeanette was such a good sport with the crew that we had her sign the RV.

No Everglades excursion would be complete without an airboat ride. Right?

The BBQ out in YBOR

What is a summer with out a BBQ?

At the birthday BBQ, the girls were really into this game called Taboo. I’m supposed to be paying attention.

What is BBQ without a nice dose of healthy laughter?

I was buzzin’ like crazy off MJ’s classic Piña Coladas and if it were possible, I’d be drinking one right now .

Stress

No summer is complete without a healthy serving of stress. I got a big spoon full toward the end of the season but I was on familiar ground so I knew exactly what to do.

At The Beach

Steve and I were brainstorming in the office one day and fun was the topic. Out of about 15 minutes of conversation we manage to come up with a concept called We Ain’t Bored. Pretty soon we got some co-workers, we got some props, and then we shot a video.

One of the videos we shot for the We Ain’t Bored concept took place at the beach.

Missy, Emilie, and Mo all showed up for a Sunday of fun in the sun on the beach. Don’t believe me? Here is the video: At The Beach

Kissimmee

We filmed Medieval Times a few months ago. The only thing I can remember about the show is a woman in a Native American costume riding a horse.

During our travels from destination to destination we ended up in Poinciana and found a little Caribbean jewel called Atty’s Restaurant for lunch. I had the jerk chicken and a bottle of my favorite grapefruit soda, Ting.

Family Reunion

Sometime around the 4th of July I drove with my aunt to Virginia to meet over 100 family members I didn’t even know I had till about a year ago.  Yeesh, it was pretty eerie how much we had in common too.

Here is an actual visual representation of what my family tree looks like on my father’s side.

My sister, my pops, and of course the kid.

I love my family.

My little cousin with the glasses has a name that I love…BROOKLYN!

My silly sister and I doing what we do best, clowning.

I caught this flick with my cousin Rush moments before he chased me through the family luncheon for a one on one game of basketball. I’ve been undefeated in every game that we’ve played since we were kids. Now that I’m grown and out of shape he is dying to play one last game. I’m retired and as it currently stands I’m the chickety chickety CHAMP! Chump.

My pops is a good sport.

I’m really missing my pops and sister as I try to think of a caption for this picture.

My uncle, my pops, and my little cousin.

I wonder what my pops just said to my uncle.

Well folks, it’s a wrap for me. It took me forever and a day to get this post out and hopefully the next one will be a lot sooner than 3 months.

Till Next Time,

Amon Focus

So what makes this picture-packed post different from all the rest? Well for starters, these pictures are different. Plus, these pictures are of a few parks, a beach, and fort as well a few scattered showers of random images along the way.

Are you ready to scroll this post until the tips of your fingers are numb? I am. So I’m going to start things of with a park and then a beach…just kidding.

Stephan Foster State Park

This park was quite interesting. If I were ever given a choice to where I would go to “rough it” in the wild, this park would be the place. Their cabins can easily compete with some of the rental properties I’ve seen on some golf courses. Each cabin on the grounds has a fireplace that turns on at the flick of a switch. I got a chance to turn on the fireplace in the cabin we filmed and then I turned it off. I only turned it on to film the fire plus the AC was cooling the cabin while we there. Due to the temperature outside the cabin, I handed the victory to the AC and allowed the fireplace to gracefully bow out until the appropriate season arrived. It had no problem with this so I left its presence and made my way to the bell tower.

In the park was this magnificent bell tower that played a number of Stephan Fosters songs throughout the day.

I got a chance to go inside the bell tower. I was a fan of the stone walls. This would be a cool place to throw a party if it had more exits. In case you are wondering about the khaki cameo in the picture, that is Skip’s knee.

I made my way up 200 some-odd steps to the top for an aerial shot of the Stephan Foster Museum, which is sitting behind me. You can’t see the breeze in this picture but I must say it was quite pleasant.

The Skipper took this picture and I thought it was cool. So I’m sharing it with you.

Daytona Beach

We caught up with Beach and Surf Expert David McRee for a shoot. We hopped on the SkyRide on Dayton Beach Pier for a unique shot.

I’m focusing quite heavily on whatever I’m filming here. Mostly because I’m trying not to look down. David thought it was pretty funny.

At lunch, David spoke about a book he wrote called How to Be Safe From Sharks, Jellyfish, Stingrays, Rip Currents and other Scary Things on Florida Beaches and Coastal Waters. I checked it out on his site and it is FREE! I downloaded two, one for me and one for the crew.

Exiting the beach I saw this picture op and I said to Skip “One for the blog?” and he said “Sure Amon!” I should have taken off my hat.

Castillo de San Marcos

We also caught up with Authentic Florida Expert Lucy Beebe Tobias to film Castillo de San Marcos and The Kingsley Plantation.

This monument has over 330 years of history and was built with a unique limestone known as “coquina”. Coquina has seashell fragments throughout it and did a great job absorbing the blow of canon balls from many of ships years ago that were just passing by.

Here I stand with a very knowledgeable translator. He answered every question we threw at him with ease. I wanted to ask if I could buy his hat but deep down I knew I couldn’t pull it off without the whole ensemble.

Random pic in front of a canon, part one.

Random pic in front of a canon, part two (with flag).

A few blocks away from the fort I caught up with MJ. You may know him as Michael Jordan and might even point out that this is wax figure. I’ll probably ignore your comment and pretend I really met him. So now what?

After we wrapped the Fort shoot, Missy, Skip, Lucy, and I headed for grub. During lunch I learned about Lucy’s cool personal blog and her latest book. She gave us autographed copies before we ate and I immediately went right to the index of the book. Lucy has discovered tons of cool places to go for a stroll and I am all about that. As a matter of fact, as soon as I finish this post I’m going to wait for the RV to stop and I’m going for a walk.

The Kingsley Plantation

Right now, you are viewing a picture taken by Skip of the Kingsley Plantation slave quarters. Located on Fort George Island, the plantation consists of slave quarters, a barn, a garden, a plantation house, and the kitchen. I learned a lot interesting history.

Random serious face pic standing in front of slave quarters.

Before we left the plantation we ran in to an archaeological dig site. I was very impressed by their methods and findings.

Whelp, its about time for that walk.

Till Next Time,

Amon Focus