Moving Pictures

I would say open for business but it's like a party inside. A gigantic beach party. I've been waiting a long time for a resort such as this to open on Hollywood beach. About 37 years more or less. I just noticed this is my 100th post. What better way to celebrate than this grand opening. When I first moved to Hollywood way back when, the beach was beautiful, the Broadwalk wide and busy with tourists. The shops and motels were right out of the 50's and 60's and would have been no loss if swept out to sea. I didn't actually book a room. A bit pricy, but that's not to say I won't in the future. This was a soft opening but even so it was packed with people checking in and at the pool. I'm holding out till all the restaurants are open. I did manage a meal at the Landshark. A better view can just not be had on Hollywood Beach simply by strolling up and asking for a table. Live bands at the bandshell and the crash of the surf make this the best ...

I thought I would finish up shooting with this really long lens by trying to squeeze the full two and a half miles of the Hollywood Beach Broadwalk into one shot. I saw it done very well once by a friend of mine about 10 years ago. Since then the light poles have been changed, repaired, and reworked several times. Pretty much every time I thought about shooting it there was mismatched lighting, construction, or bad weather. When I finally got there on just the right day, my biggest lens was just not enough. The 2x doubler I had just made matters worse and a shaky tripod made for a frustrating day. That was about 3 years ago. On this day I took my oldest working camera - Nikon D70, Cheapest lens - Vivitar Series 1 500mm F/8.0, and my $20.00 tripod set very low to the ground. I shot in the morning at Anne Kolb in highly overcast conditions. When I staked my claim on a bench at the end of the Broadwalk, the light could not have been brighter. My drive home was met with torrential rain...

Margaritaville Hollywood Nearing Completion My first day of retirement and I will soon be leaving the town where I first arrived in 1978. Back then, most people came here to retire. Not so much any more. I thought before I packed to leave I would take a nostalgic final walk down the Broadwalk. Upon seeing the new Margaritaville nearly finished, I'm suddenly not in that big a hurry to go. Back in the early 80's I lived close enough to walk to the beach and I took advantage of that proximity to stroll up and back nearly every weekend. Hollywood Beach was pretty much a collection of Mom and Pop hotels, T-shirt Shops, and unappealing restaurants. The unique thing, they all faced the beach and ocean. There are very few beaches I have been where you can walk a promenade right on the sand and not have to cross a busy street to get to the shops and hotels. Hollywood was unique in another way in that it was the most family friendly of beaches and in the winter the pop...

Hollywood Beach I could not make it to the beach so a friend of mine texted me this photo which I am now sharing with you from my phone. What a marvelous age we live in.