Milady
Christina Whitlea Joined: June 13th 2007
Logged in: December 25th 2009
Logged in: December 25th 2009
I'm late middle age, almost into old age. I got married a long time ago, and I'm still married to the same guy. He lives and works in one state, I live in another, and I spend a lot of time visiting him. We are on-again;offagin SCAdians who like to travel. When we moved to Qatar I found it such a different world that I started sending regular e-mails describing my life to friends and family under the title, "News From Outremmer." When we left Qatar we spent 5 weeks traveling through Turkey and Europe before returning to the U.S. I wanted to bring all of my friends with me, but as that was not practicable, I described our trip in a series of emails titled "Travelog." They were mostly liked and I was asked to continue. Some people said write a book, but I think a blog is a better idea.
Travel Blog Posts
Dear Family and Friends, Moving Day finally arrived. We ate a leisurely breakfast, then went back to the motel and packed up, washed the dishes, packed up some more, and drove to our new home. As so many of Tampa's apartments are, it was a gated community. Actually, a pleasant drive leads to two gates, one straight ahead and one to the left. Between the two gates is the administration building with a deep porch and rockers, and a fountain in front with flowers. Behind the administration building is a small gym, and to the side is thw pool. The post office is also there, and a computer room, and an oven where each morning they bake cookies for anyone to stop buy and share coffee and a cookie. At the back of the pool a ... read more
Dear Family and Friends, I hope you haven't forgotten that strange building with the minarettes and sickles I saw on my first bus trip into Tampa. I certainly did not, and I decided that my third day would be the day I visited this building and see what it is about. It turned out to be the Henry B. Plant Museum. This is the web address, and I highly recommend that you take a look at it. http://www.plantmuseum.com/ In brief, Mr. Plant was a Northerner who made money in Southern railroads. He decided to build a magnificent hotel of the Moroccan style as a destination for his railroads. He also ran a steamship company, so he built his boat on a canal so that guests could arrive either by train at his private station or by ... read more
Dear Family and Friends, Between visiting the Tampa Aquarium's Land and Shore Exhibit and it's Coral Reef Exhibit, I had signed onto the boat for the Dolphin Encounter. There are a number of these tours, and I enjoyed it very much. One very clever thing the boat did was have a tube of sun block for anyone who had forgotten it. I made copious use of it for I had not used it in the morning, expecting to be indoors all day. They gave an informative lecture about boating safety, rules and regulations, the history of the Tampa port, and we headed out. As soon as we were in the harbor we were permitted on deck, and we all streamed out to enjoy the sunshine and scenery. Between the captain and a very informed fellow traveller ... read more
Dear Family and Friends, Another day to kill so I decided to spend it visiting the Tampa Aquarium. I'm not overly fond of fish, but they come in pretty colors and the swimming motions are soothing, plus aquariums are usually in air-conditioned buildings, so it seemed like a pleasant way to pass the time. The bus drive told me where to get off to catch the trolley. I didn't understand his directions, exactly, but I got off doubtfully and headed in the direction he indicated, and found a group of obvious tourists slowly burning in the sun. They were also headed towards the Aquarium, so I followed them on the the very charming trolley which took us about three short blocks, then we raced desperately across the street to catch the even more charming old-fashioned streetcar. ... read more
Dear Family and Friends, Last month I flew to Tampa/St. Petersburg to help Raj (my husband) move into his new home. He usually has a new place within about three days of moving to a new town, but though he had been here a month he held off getting one, as he couldn't decide between renting an apartment or buying a condo. Thus, instead of plunging into the expected orgy of unpacking and arranging furniture, I arrived to find us still camped in a motel and our new home very much in doubt. I can't sit and stare at TV all day (or even for more than five minutes), so after a day to sleep and recover from the hectic weeks in Pothole (home for me), I started off to explore Tampa. First task in any ... read more
