Redlights and Redeyes

In retrospect, we should have just driven.

The New York Times called about a story Michael Cooper was writing about the high-speed rail system that might be built between Orlando and Tampa along I-4, and pitched the idea of riding public transportation from where this multi-billion dollar project will dump you off in downtown Tampa to any place of significance – say, the beach.  I agreed, and then realized, you know, I don’t take public transportation.  Ever.  Let alone in Tampa.  I survived New York, how hard could it be to get from downtown Tampa to St. Pete Beach?

Not hard unless you count $20 in fares, four bus transfers, a trolley ride and a $80 cab ride back to the car.

All in all, over three hours of bus riding to get from cement to sand – for a car ride that takes 25 minutes.

I think that is probably the point with this article, but tough to do when you need to make a package out of it and everything looks exactly the same through the four corners of bus windows.  On the plus side, I did get to go shoot a couple really fun places along I-4 I’ve always wanted to have in pixels – just in case a hurricane come through and wipes them out someday – Dinosaur World and the lovely Airstream Ranch.

That’s the kitschy Florida I know and love.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 24th, 2010 at 9:03 pm and is filed under The New York Times, photos, sprawlscapes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.