An Arty Day
Comment via blog
Check Granny's letters of the day
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Day 15: November 18, 2020 An Arty Day Comment via blog Check Granny's letters of the day |
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This is the greeting one gets when stepping through The Inn On Third's
front door. As required, I'd purchased my Dali Museum ticket online and
was all set for 11:30. I decided to use some of my wait time to walk to
the pier. I would use the rest merrily chatting with one of the inn's
owners while sipping coffee in the lobby. I realize I'm reporting that out
of sequence but this seems a good picture to hang it on.
Brian told me that the inn was built in 1937 by people from Ohio and has always been a hotel. It was a hot spot for bridge players in the early days with bridge tables filling the lobby and other assorted spaces. He is quite the traveler and has visited more countries than I have states (53 to 50). We were still chatting when departure time came with me vowing to visit Scotland and Brian vowing to go see the Grand Canyon. |
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This is the sundial that gives the Mall at Sundial its name. I've no opinion on the
shops, but the sundial is cool.
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The Saint Petersburg Pier is quite a place with a wide range of images and
activities. The low sun made it tough to get an unmottled picture of the
museum but did allow me to include myself in the shot. When I took the
last picture, I thought the overhead net was probably part of the
playground but soon found out that's not the case at all. As explained by
a nearby plaque, it is a recently installed
sculpture named Bending Arc. Back at the hotel, Brian told me this
thing is actually quite eye catching illuminated by colored lights.
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My walk back took me right by Mike Elwell's bench sculptures on Beach
Drive.
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Even with the morning walk and talk, I reached the
Dali Museum a little
ahead of time and walked around a bit before joining the line. I quickly
realized that the line wasn't really moving and learned, via the grumbling
of 11:00 ticket holders, that there was some sort of problem at the door.
But the line did start to move -- slowly with one-at-a-time entry,
temperature checks, etc. -- and I was inside about when I was supposed to
be. On the way, I picked up some valuable life advise.
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Photographing art of any sort can seem either pointless or required.
Photographing Dali's work bounced between those extremes at shutter-like
speeds. At the end of the day, it's not very practical since things like
watching Lincoln emerge from Gala
Contemplating the Mediterranean Sea... or picking out The
Hallucinogenic Toreador must be experienced.
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Even on the inside, architect Yann Weymouth's building demands to be part
of the show...
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...and it works as a backdrop in the outside garden. The stepping stones
probably make more sense with this and it may not
be obvious that the last picture is an exterior view of the sunflowers in
the previous frame.
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This is the Alafia River where the Robbins spent Christmas Eve of 1920
"listening to fishermen tell sea tales". I suspect those fellows
in the boat are composing new ones. If you look close, you might see a
pelican above the boat on the right. A short while later, it and a
companion were relaxing on the river's surface.
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And this is where I spent
Christmas Eve (and
Christmas Day) of
2008 "listening to carnival workers talk about the midway". The
front of the place appears freshly painted and quite colorful but the rest
is looking rather drab. The murals that were fairly new in 2008, were
still there in 2014
although they were getting a little faded. Today, I believe only the two
that greet you at the front door remain. Inside, no one was telling tales
of any sort. There was one customer eating a sandwich and two others, all
on widely spaced bar stools, sipping beer. And not one bartender with
clown shoes or waist length hair.
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