Shorebirds and the Skyway

This wasn't my favorite picture of the day, but I couldn't force myself to post a crow. The 4-5 crows were fighting over a scrap of unrecognizable food. Gross...sickening...unbelievable. Stomach-churning.

So, I went with this one because of the background.

Way back there...the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. 431 feet above the water. 4.1 miles long (6.67 km.) 50,500 people cross it daily. For a car like mine...it costs a dollar and a quarter.

On May 9, 1980...during a violent thunderstorm...a huge freighter hit a support of the old bridge. A 1,200 foot section of bridge fell 150 feet into the water below. With it, went 2 cars, a truck, and a Greyhound Bus...killing 35 people. The only one who survived was the guy in the truck...landing on the ship before glancing off into the sea.

The new bridge was dedicated in 1987...at a cost of 244 million. It is very strange to drive over it, because they left long stretches of the old bridge (on both ends) to serve as fishing piers. The piers are now part of the Florida state park system

The crows and a few other pictures are on my FLICKR PAGE. Caw...caw...crawl on over, and have a look.

Merrick and I stayed behind today, while the rest of our family went to a wedding in Naples, Florida. I don't want to say I volunteered to stay back...but neither did I put up much of an objection. (I am not a lover of weddings.)

WAY behind on viewing and commenting. Hope to catch up at some point.