Rockport got its name from the rock ledge that runs along the shore of bay. Its main economic drivers are tourism, shipping, and fishing. We have been here for three months and spent many hours at various marinas and scouted out interesting piers. Here the marinas are filled primarily with what we call ‘working’ boats. Very few boats are fancy. Boats go out to dredge for oysters and then when the shrimping season opens they trade their dredging buckets for shrimping nets. Both activities are highly regulated and areas where either oysters or shrimp can be harvested are limited and the quantities are also restricted. Both industries have suffered major setbacks in the past few decades from the effects of flooding (too much fresh water dumped in the bay), pollution such as oil spills and then hurricanes! On August 25, 2017, Hurricane Harvey made landfall over Rockport. The devastation was horrific! While some areas in Rockport are fully recovered there are many areas where one sees destruction that can only be attributed to a major hurricane.
Sunshine Skyway Bridge
We love a bridge. It is right up there with canyons, mountains, waterfalls and baby bears! When we arrived in the Tampa area we anticipated photographing Clearwater beaches. But, that quickly became a hassle and a half with crowds of tourists and traffic snarls that rivaled LA. We retreated! Our focus changed to photographing the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, Florida's "flag" bridge. Built between 1982 and 1987, the bridge is just a tad over 4 miles long and spans Tampa Bay. It replaced the old bridge that was damaged by a collision with a large ship. The old bridge has been turned into the world's longest fishing pier.