Los Joes

Murals in Edge District of St. Petersburg, Florida

Iconic cat mural in The Edge District in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida. – photo by Joe Alexander — Iconic cat mural in The Edge District in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida.

If you’re not sure if you’re really in The Edge District in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida, the cat mural on the Edge Animal Hospital is an obvious clue.

Mural in The Edge District in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida. – photo by Joe Alexander — St. Petersburg

Murals in Central Arts District of St. Petersburg, Florida

Mural in the Central Arts District in St. Petersburg, Florida. – photo by Joe Alexander — Mural in the Central Arts District in St. Petersburg, Florida.

The Central Arts District in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida, has murals almost everywhere you look.

After a visit to the Chihuly Collection, which technically is in the Waterfront Museum District, we started walking in the direction of The Edge District.

City of St. Petersburg official site

Wild time at Circle C Bar Preserve in Florida

Circle C Bar Preserve along the shore of Lake Hancock near Lakeland, Florida. – photo by Joe Alexander — Circle C Bar Preserve along the shore of Lake Hancock near Lakeland, Florida.

It was a mostly cloudy day when we visited Circle C Bar Preserve along the shore of Lake Hancock near Lakeland, Florida.

I was just as happy that it wasn’t warm and sunny considering the photos I had seen in the Internet of alligators lounging on the walking trail.

We saw a few gators, but all out in the water and none of them too close.

The place was full of lots of birds and a few playfull racoons.

Circle C Bar official website

First look at St. Petersburg, Florida street art

St. Petersburg, Florida has lots of street art. We got our first look at some of it on the side of a building in downtown not far from St. Pete Pier.

Holiday lights in St. Petersburg, Florida

Holiday lights in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida. – photo by Joe Alexander — Holiday lights in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida.

There’s no snow on the ground, but there are plenty of holiday lights for Christmas and New Year’s in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida, near the St. Pete Pier.

Late lunch overlooking Tampa Bay, Florida

Lunch in St. Petersburg, Florida overlooking Tampa Bay. - photo by Joe Alexander — Lunch in St. Petersburg, Florida overlooking Tampa Bay.

Even with the holidays, Tampa International Airport was quieter than I remember – a sign of the times. From there is was a short drive to a local restaurant with a view of Tampa Bay.

San Antonio’s CPS shows off local student art

The story of the art on the walls of a CPS energy substation on Blanco Road in San Antonio. — The story of the student art on the walls of a CPS energy substation on Blanco Road in San Antonio.

Places like electrical utility substations aren’t necessarily where you would go to look for art. But when they built the walls around a CPS Energy substation in San Antonio, they gave the local community something to be proud of. Artwork by students from nearby schools is built into the walls on this location on Blanco Road across the street from Nimitz Middle School.