Tampa Bay Rays Fans Seek Autographs from Evan Longoria, Spring Training, Port Charlotte, Fla., Feb. 23, 2014
I’m not much of a baseball fan but I’m a fan of the Tampa Bay Rays because they hold spring training in my backyard of Port Charlotte, Fla. Here in Florida, 15 MLB teams take to the field during the spring and collectively it’s called the Grapefruit League (Arizona is the spring training grounds for other teams and collectively it’s called the Cactus League.)
Tampa Bay Rays Spring Training, Port Charlotte, Fla., Feb. 23, 2014
Spring training is a totally different beast from regular play. It’s human-sized, so to say and specifically, fans can interact more with players than during the regular season. It’s typically free to watch practices and games are less expensive than regular season play. Spring training is also an opportunity to see that the players are just as human as the rest of us.
Tampa Bay Rays James Loney with Son and Wife Nadia, Port Charlotte, Fla., Feb. 23, 2014
Sunday, Feb. 23, 2014, I strapped on my GoPro and headed to the Charlotte Sports Park to see what the team was up to and watched fans seek autographs from players Chris Archer, Álex Colomé, Joel Peralta and Evan Longoria. I’m pretty fascinated at the whole autograph collecting game and how prepared some people are.
Jennifer A. Huber is an award-winning travel and outdoor blogger and writer in Southwest Florida. Originally from Buffalo, N.Y., a hiking trail led her to a career path in the tourism industry for more than 30 years. She spent a decade with a park management company in Yellowstone, Death Valley, and Everglades National Parks. She founded the travel blog, SoloTravelGirl.com with the goal of inspiring others to travel alone, not lonely.
The unexpected death of her former husband in 2008 reminded her how short life is. His passing was a catalyst for sharing her experiences with the goal of inspiring and empowering others to travel solo.
Jennifer holds a Travel Marketing Professional certification from the Southeast Tourism Society, is a certified food judge, member of the NASA Social community, and alum of the FBI Citizens Academy. When not traveling, she is either in the kitchen, practicing her photography skills, or road tripping with her dog, Radcliff.
Step into another world to learn about Florida’s sea life during a nighttime seagrass wading trip into Lemon Bay with the Charlotte Harbor Environmental Center in Englewood, Fla.
Some people choose to run with the bulls. I chose to swim with the bull sharks! My experience with Florida Shark Diving out of Jupiter, Fla., was JAWESOME! I needed a little adrenaline rush in my life and this trip on April 1, 2023, yes, April Fool’s Day, was perfect.
