Dunedin Florida Downtown - Christmas Celebration

First, I must say, if any of you would like to see a daytime shot of the bridge I featured on Bridge day, click here.

The Old Fashioned Christmas Celebration was a big hit. Lots and lots of people having a good time. There were all sorts of food choices, and plenty of live entertainment. You cannot forget the children at Christmas time, and there was plenty for them too.

Santa was sitting with the little ones to have their pictures taken with him. There was a whole section for kids where they played old fashioned games, made crafts and so much more. In fact, down the side street where Erika's and The Enchanted Branch are, they had a whole second street festival setup for kids, where they played with 'old fashioned' toys like hoops, and walking on cans, and walking on stilts. It seemed to be a great time.

There was a concert in the Pioneer Park band shell. Very nice, with different 'acts' from a variety of groups throughout this area. Most merchants were open, providing everything from free drinks to information about their products.

Oh, and let's not forget the carriage and hay wagon rides!! Yes, and even a little train for the kiddies to ride! And believe me, there was more that I cannot remember at the moment, but as I review the pictures for posting, you will hear about anything I forgot. In the meantime, the pictures below include a boy getting a test drive on an old High Wheel bicycle; happy people getting a ride on a hay wagon; and happy dog owners enjoying their happy dogs! There were quite a few dogs enjoying the festivities, and all seemed very well behaved.

Dunedin Florida - Decorated Light Poles Holiday Contest

This is another in a series in progress capturing the variety of decorated light poles in Dunedin's Holiday Light Pole Decorating contest. Yes, more on the way!

I wasn't sure about this one at first, but it grows on me. I have seen more traditional images of Santa Claus, especially non-Americanized images from Europe that this reminds me of. What about you, have you seen this style of Santa Claus before? Whatever else you want to say about him, I think it looks pretty neat!

And yes, I was at the Old Fashioned Christmas event last night in Downtown Dunedin, and it was a lot of fun. I have plenty more pics to share with you, including some intersting live entertainment! It was a wonderful time, so be sure to bookmark this page so you can come back and see it all!

Dunedin Florida - Dunedin Causeway Bridge

Happy December 1st! Today we celebrate the City Daily Photo theme: Bridges. After dark photography has caught my fancy of late, so I wanted to share this after dark bridge image with you. Kudos to my Nikon D80, again! This is the Dunedin Causeway Bridge. And that is a Great Blue Heron in the foreground (click the photo to enlarge it).

There is so much that goes on from this causeway, and under and around this bridge, that I cannot cover it all in one manageable post. So today I will cover the basics. Dunedin Causeway ends on Honeymoon Island. Which is where you will find Honeymoon Island State Park. From that state park, you can take a ferry to another state park, Caladesi Island State Park.

Caladesi Island used to be accessible by ferry or private boat only. In 1985, Hurricane Elena closed the narrow pass to the south of the island (Not to be confused with Hurricane Pass, at the north end of the island). As a result, you can actually walk onto Caladesi Island from the north end of Clearwater Beach (But trust me, it's a long way from where you would have to park your car!). These two islands are home to some of the most beautiful beaches in the country, if not the entire world. So yes, if you are visiting Dunedin or Clearwater or the area in general, you should at least drive out to the end of the causeway, and go for a walk on Honeymoon Island!

The image below is from Google Earth, and shows the Dunedin Causeway from an altitude of about 8,000 feet. The bridge in the photo above is at the right in the image below. Honeymoon Island is just out of frame to the left. ** Click the names if you would like to see my bridge posts on the Clearwater Daily Photo site, or the Clearwater Beach Daily Photo site.

Check out these City Daily Photo blogs from around the world, all participating in the Bridges theme:
Boston (MA), USA - San Diego (CA), USA - Stayton (OR), USA - New York City (NY), USA - Portland (OR), USA - Montego Bay, Jamaica - Inverness (IL), USA - Singapore, Singapore - Stockholm, Sweden - Setúbal, Portugal - Brussels, Belgium - Phoenix (AZ), USA - Seattle (WA), USA - Hyde, UK - Manila, Philippines - Fort Lauderdale (FL), USA - London, England - Austin (TX), USA - Toulouse, France - Weston (FL), USA - Sesimbra, Portugal - Selma (AL), USA - Silver Spring (MD), USA - Saarbrücken, Germany - Cleveland (OH), USA - Crystal Lake (IL), USA - American Fork (UT), USA - Seoul, South Korea - Kyoto, Japan - Tokyo, Japan - Norwich (Norfolk), UK - North Bay (ON), Canada - Arradon, France - Paderborn, Germany - Durban, South Africa - Philadelphia (PA), USA - Cypress (TX), USA - Cottage Grove (MN), USA - Prague, Czech Republic - Portland (OR), USA - Greenville (SC), USA - Boston (MA), USA - Port Angeles (WA), USA - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Wichita (Ks), USA - Saint Paul (MN), USA - Petaling Jaya (Selangor), Malaysia - Grenoble, France - New York City (NY), USA - Nottingham, UK - Hobart (Tasmania), Australia - Arlington (VA), USA - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Miami (FL), USA - Cheltenham, UK - Albuquerque (NM), USA - Saratoga Spgs. (NY), USA - Las Vegas (NV), USA - Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina - Nashville (TN), USA - Toruń, Poland - New Orleans (LA), USA - Port Elizabeth, South Africa - Melbourne, Australia - Moscow, Russia - Trujillo, Peru - Château-Gontier, France - Quincy (MA), USA - Melbourne, Australia - Port Vila, Vanuatu - Joplin (MO), USA - Bellefonte (PA), USA - Brookville (OH), USA - Chateaubriant, France - Chandler (AZ), USA - Stavanger, Norway - Baziège, France - Auckland, New Zealand - Wellington, New Zealand - Ocean Township (NJ), USA - Subang Jaya (Selangor), Malaysia - Detroit (MI), USA - Riga, Latvia - Nelson, New Zealand - Budapest, Hungary - Cape Town, South Africa - Sydney, Australia - Dunedin (FL), USA - Sofia, Bulgaria - Radonvilliers, France - Turin, Italy - Montpellier, France - Kansas City (MO), USA - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Haninge, Sweden - Wailea (HI), USA - Lubbock (TX), USA - Rabaul, Papua New Guinea - Terrell (TX), USA - Mexico City, Mexico - Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation - Budapest, Hungary - Montréal (QC), Canada - Sharon (CT), USA - Le Guilvinec, France - Jefferson City (MO), USA - Saigon, Vietnam - London, UK - Crepy-en-Valois, France - Orlando (FL), USA - Maple Ridge (BC), Canada - Paris, France - Mainz, Germany - Newcastle (NSW), Australia - Wassenaar (ZH), Netherlands - Menton, France - Monte Carlo, Monaco - Darmstadt, Germany - Naples (FL), USA - Torino, Italy - Saint Louis (MO), USA - Bogor, Indonesia - The Hague, Netherlands - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Anderson (SC), USA - Melbourne (VIC), Australia - West Sacramento (CA), USA - Christchurch, New Zealand

Dunedin Florida Downtown - Christmas Celebration

Can you guess where I will be Friday evening? That's right, I will be downtown, checking out the wonderful Christmas goings-on. It should be a lot of fun. The City of Dunedin is putting on what they call An Old Fashioned Christmas. There will be entertainment from local churches and schools, carriage rides, train rides, Santa's Workshop, "Dickens Village" and lots more. And tomorrow night, Saturday, they will have the Holiday Boat Parade and Tree Lighting. I hope to be able to post pictures from these events in future posts.

Dunedin Florida Downtown Shops

This is Erika's Place for Gifts and Indulgences. It's a very welcoming looking place, if you ask me. You may remember from an earlier post, the shop next door is The Enchanted Branch Gift Gallery. Erika's is filled with the most interesting stuff. All sorts of things that would make great gifts this time of year! Here is a more recent photo of Erika's Place, taken just at sunset. I think there was some sort of wine tasting shop stroll going on. Or some such thing. It was really nice. They even had live music just down the way. But that shot is for another day! :)