Sunday, March 14th, the weather was perfect for a
motorcycle ride. A group of six (George, Kim, Judy, Dick, Cathy and
Steve) agreed with that assessment and joined me for a ride to the Tampa
Bay History Center in the Channelside district of Tampa.
We started out from Fletcher's Harley-Davidson at 9:00
a.m., and headed north through Safety Harbor and Oldsmar to the Keystone
area. From there it was just south of Lutz on Crenshaw Lake Rd, a couple
zigs and zaga over to the University area, then south on Morris
Bridge and Harney. We continued south on US 301 to SR 60 and then turned
west to the Channelside district. A quick trip on to Harbor Island and
around the riverfront, across Old water Street and then it was into the
parking lot, where we donated our $5 per bike.
Admission into the museum is $12 per person, which
netted them $84 from our group. Make that $108 - Sue and Al joined us by
car for this adventure.
The museum's first floor is dedicated to the early
history of Florida and the Tampa Bay area, including the impact of the
Conquistadors on the Seminole and Miccosukee tribes. There is also a
display which tells the story of Ybor City and the cigar industry.
The map room on the second floor has some interesting
visions of how Florida fills the space between the Atlantic and the
Gulf. The balance of the displays covered the agriculture and ranching
contributions to Florida's growth from uninhabited swamp to overcrowded
wasteland. Another display covers the contributions of Floridians to the
various wars of the last century or so.
The Negro Baseball Laegue exhibit is on the third
floor, which is the space for temporary exhibits. This display has
artwork which is on loan from the Negro Baseball League museum in Kansas
City, Mo. See more about this at
http://www.nlbm.com/.
I also have to comment on lunch - we are a ride to eat
kind of group. The Columbia Cafe is the on-site eaterie. It has a
scaled-down Columbia Restaurant menu, but the food is just like it is at
the full-sized restaurants (i've been to them all). You can get to the
Cafe without entering the museum if you're in the neighborhood. Both are
worth the trip. EEK
