The Sunshine Skyway Bridge (Florida's Tampa Bay) is the world's longest cable-stayed concrete bridge, with a length of 5.5 miles connecting St. Petersburg and Palmetto. My boss was the last car on the other side of the old bridge that was hit in 1980 when the freighter SS Summit Venture collided with a pier (support column) during a storm. He said it was dark because of the early hour mixed with the stormy skies and he felt the bridge move below him and noticed the lights that were following him were no longer there.
It reminds me of a similar incident that happened to me when I was visiting New York a few years ago.
As an adherant of the Celtic deity Mannanan, I generally make a pilgrimage to the ocean whenever I'm near one (don't have much open water in Nebraska, doncha know). Well, I had packed a lunch on this partricular day, and lo and behold, the sky was white with seagulls. Now one would think that in such proximity to the ocean, as well as mob-owned trash bins, the seagulls would not be lacking for food. So maybe it was sport that caused the b*sta*rds to land in a rough circle around me and start waddling menacingly toward me.
I threw my lunch bag, which contained a roast beef sandwich (with mayo and tomato), a kosher pickle, and a bag of Wise potato chips, at the birds and tried to get out of the circle when, in a manner strangely similar to yours, a big honkin' bird came swooping into the circle, grabbed the bag, and took off. (I have no idea what kind of bird it was, other than not a bald eagle, and not small. )
As fate would have it, I was standing directly in the flight path of the avian lunch snatcher. He hit me dead on in the chest and I felt like I had been tackled. I went down in a flurry of feathers and foolishly tried to get my lunch back (instinct...or brain damage) when the big bird bit off the little finger on my left hand.
I didn't get my lunch, the seagulls crapped all over me, the cops and the emergency room people had a good laugh, and I hadn't thought about it too much until you told your hilarious story Linga-gee. I'm glad you retained all your body parts.
(Now all you GSers who have met me in person and where too polite to pry know why I'm missing a finger on my left hand)
Oakspear! No way! It bit your pinky off? Un-bee-lieve-able! Now I just have to wonder just what in the hell that dang bird was! Maybe it was a big old red tailed hawk or something. Or maybe an Osprey? Dunno. But that is way wild! And the sea gulls crapped on you to boot! Funny that! But, the missing pinky thing is, well just wild! Gee, how much of your pinky is gone?
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dmiller
Cool stow-ry! We have flying rats here too, but we call them seagulls!
We do get our share of eagles though.
Coming back into Minney-soda once from Wisconsin over this bridge ---
there was a big bald eagle hovering about 50 feet above the span,
surveying the traffic below (me included).
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ChattyKathy
Love that picture David.
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J0nny Ling0
Yeah DMiller, that's a nice photo and such a beautiful bridge. What bridge is that and what river? Musta been nice to see that eagle that day too!
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dmiller
Glad y'all liked it. It's the Blatnik bridge. :)
To the right of the bridge is the St. Louis River.
(picture taken from Minney-soda looking towards Wisconsin).
To the left of the bridge, is the St. Louis Bay.
Here's a pic of a Saltie (ocean going freighter) headed towards the Blatnick.
It just entered the St. Louis Bay from Lake Superior, under this other bridge ---
That's the bay the ship is on, and Lake Superior is on the back side of the Lift Bridge.
The two bridges are about 3/4 of a mile apart from each other.
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dmiller
Oh -- and if you're wondering how that ship got under that bridge,
the entire center span rises into the air -- thus the name of the Lift Bridge.
Here's a ship headed from the bay out into Lake Superior, to shores unknown.
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ChasUFarley
How beautiful!
I'd love to see that in person - you're so lucky to have that sorta view!
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ChattyKathy
The Sunshine Skyway Bridge (Florida's Tampa Bay) is the world's longest cable-stayed concrete bridge, with a length of 5.5 miles connecting St. Petersburg and Palmetto. My boss was the last car on the other side of the old bridge that was hit in 1980 when the freighter SS Summit Venture collided with a pier (support column) during a storm. He said it was dark because of the early hour mixed with the stormy skies and he felt the bridge move below him and noticed the lights that were following him were no longer there.
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Oakspear
Wow Lingus, that is some story!
It reminds me of a similar incident that happened to me when I was visiting New York a few years ago.
As an adherant of the Celtic deity Mannanan, I generally make a pilgrimage to the ocean whenever I'm near one (don't have much open water in Nebraska, doncha know). Well, I had packed a lunch on this partricular day, and lo and behold, the sky was white with seagulls. Now one would think that in such proximity to the ocean, as well as mob-owned trash bins, the seagulls would not be lacking for food. So maybe it was sport that caused the b*sta*rds to land in a rough circle around me and start waddling menacingly toward me.
I threw my lunch bag, which contained a roast beef sandwich (with mayo and tomato), a kosher pickle, and a bag of Wise potato chips, at the birds and tried to get out of the circle when, in a manner strangely similar to yours, a big honkin' bird came swooping into the circle, grabbed the bag, and took off. (I have no idea what kind of bird it was, other than not a bald eagle, and not small. )
As fate would have it, I was standing directly in the flight path of the avian lunch snatcher. He hit me dead on in the chest and I felt like I had been tackled. I went down in a flurry of feathers and foolishly tried to get my lunch back (instinct...or brain damage) when the big bird bit off the little finger on my left hand.
I didn't get my lunch, the seagulls crapped all over me, the cops and the emergency room people had a good laugh, and I hadn't thought about it too much until you told your hilarious story Linga-gee. I'm glad you retained all your body parts.
(Now all you GSers who have met me in person and where too polite to pry know why I'm missing a finger on my left hand)
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J0nny Ling0
Oakspear! No way! It bit your pinky off? Un-bee-lieve-able! Now I just have to wonder just what in the hell that dang bird was! Maybe it was a big old red tailed hawk or something. Or maybe an Osprey? Dunno. But that is way wild! And the sea gulls crapped on you to boot! Funny that! But, the missing pinky thing is, well just wild! Gee, how much of your pinky is gone?
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Oakspear
Only one knuckle.
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J0nny Ling0
Wow
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ChasUFarley
OW! :(
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ChattyKathy
What a story Oak and I bet they talked about you in the ER for a long time after that.
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dmiller
Uff-da!! What a way to remember that trip. :(
There was a school project done up here quite a few years ago, by a college student.
It involved passivity, popcorn, and seagulls.
ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE.
(the steel girders you're seeing behind him, is the lift bridge in the earlier post).
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