By MIKE WILSON

© St. Petersburg Times,
published September 2, 2001

You know what summer is about? Summer is about the heat. And the beat.

In summer you forget all about school; you leave work early. You put on something comfortable (leather vest, guayabera, spiking mousse) and you go where the tunes are playing. You go someplace hot and you let the music break over you like a wave -- rolling jazz, splashy salsa, crashing punk. Sometimes you get sand between your toes.

This summer, St. Petersburg Times art intern Amy Dickey visited music venues across the Tampa Bay area, from a burger joint in St. Petersburg to a country joint in Tampa. She saw spinning Frisbees and whirling carnival rides, got sunburned and dehydrated, watched people drink martinis and eat gyros.

And she listened to music and drew in her sketchbook. We'll let these images speak for themselves, with one exception. When we flipped through Amy's notes we found this:

"General impression: everyone having a good time."

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