One Big Adventure on The Fred Marquis Pinellas Trail

During a visit at the Gulfport Public Library with Gail Biron, I mentioned that my husband and I love to bike ride. That’s when Biron handed me a free guide to The Fred Marquis Pinellas Trail. You know me, where’s there’s a map, there’s an adventure!

This past Wednesday Robert and I packed up our bikes and decided to start on the Pinellas Trail just north of Boca Ciega High School, also known as mile marker two on the map. I planned to hit the ground running for a good workout, but within minutes we noticed a commotion in the cemetery just north of the trail. We were heading west when we stopped to see what was going on. That’s when we saw it!

The Bald Eagle’s nest that we spent hours searching for back in January! Either he or she was up there and it was peaking around, marveling at the audience below. At first, I saw one photographer with a huge expensive looking camera. But then, I saw at least half a dozen more on the other side of the cemetery taking photos too. As you can tell, my Canon Power Shot was able to get a few good shots of this magnificent bird. This was the first time I have ever seen a Bald Eagle in the wild. Beauty like this cannot be measured.

After a few minutes of jaw dropping "ooooo’s" and "ahhhhh’s", we continued on our journey west. As we traveled through neighborhoods in South Pasadena and then St. Petersburg, I noticed writings and paint on some of the block fences. Some had messages of peace and anti-tobacco movements. I saw someone painted the Pledge of Allegiance with an American Flag background. I looked up the definition of graffiti just for kicks. The definition read, “the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property.” While graffiti in my mind has a negative connotation, I’m sure the intent of these writings were very much positive.

After about 45 minutes of biking past the St. Petersburg College and Tyrone Mall, we stopped by Center Blvd. for a bite to eat. At least I think that’s where we stopped. By then, I was mumbling   . . . . “food” . . . “hungry” . . . “subway”. Despite the lack of complete sentences, Robert knew what I was talking about.

After sharing a footlong meatball sandwich and bag of sour cream and onion chips, we decided to keep the momentum going and cross on the Bayou Bridge. I thought this was awesome because I have never actually biked over a body of water, until now. I’m sure by now we were heading north as the trail winded around. I remember seeing a street sign that said 95^th St. North which, to me, meant it’s time to turn around.

We decided to head back home. But of course, we faced a headwind. Oh, how I despise a headwind. We biked up and down the overpasses and followed the trail back through the shopping centers, Tyrone Mall and everything else. Boy, did I get a workout. I think we ended up biking at least 15 to 20 miles?

When we finally made it back to the Gulfport sign on the Pinellas Trails, we noticed that the group of photographers was gone. But the Bald Eagle was still there. So, we stopped for a while and admired the bird once again. It’s interesting how much of Mother Nature still prevails in an urban setting. I’m glad we explored the Pinellas Trails. It truly was an adventure right in the middle of city life in Florida.