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Let’s Catch Up!
Oh, my....I've done it again! Time seems to be flying by so fast. I'm not keeping up with it..... or posting our blogs. What can I say? Let’s just catch up and move on....alrighty?
Early April, our son, and grandson, Tim & Conner, came for a visit. They stayed in our timeshare condo, Cypress Harbor. It's located near Sea World and fairly close to our RV park. That makes our visiting time together very handy. It was wonderful to see and be with them again. We went to all the usual places, ei: Golden Corral, Old Town, etc., and Disney Springs (for a Tuna melt, of course!). Tim & Conner’s highlight of their vacation was to go to Star Wars at Hollywood Studios. They know everything about Star Wars whereas Cory and I are completely ignorant on the subject. Conner made a lighted sword which was something special. It was even more special when Cory had to package it up very carefully and ship it home to Conner....it made it in one piece! Yeah, Cory...good work! Maybe you can get a job at Fed Ex.
The Easter Bunny invited all of our Tropical Palms friends
to gather together for a potluck Easter Dinner in the Veranda. Wow....what a spread! It was ginormous and super delicious. It put the Golden Corral to shame. Hippity Hoppity Easter's On Its Way....well, it came and went.
Friends never say goodbye but we have had to say “so long” to many of our friends here at the park. I was able to snap a few photos as some of them rolled away in their big rigs.....back to their homes. We shall miss them all but, fortunately, will be able to look forward to seeing them again when the Fall season rolls around. Recently, we have had a week of heavy rain storms. Each day, poor Cory went out and lowered our “coffee café” canopy down so the wind wouldn’t ruin it. Sometimes we held the “coffee time” under the lowered canopy...watch your head! .....Art, Chris, Cory and myself are the only attendees now. One fateful night, Cory didn't put the tent down..... which ended the “coffee café”.....the wind took the top down and tore the back of the roof. Adios Coffee Canopy! Now we have just open-air seating. It was fun while it lasted.
We were excited to
meet up with a couple of our far-away friends. Millie and John met us at a nearby Cracker Barrel restaurant. We originally made their acquaintance at Red Bay....the Tiffin RV mecca where Tiffin RV owners frequent to have work done on their rigs. They are a wonderful couple. Millie gifted me two pretty bracelets that she made....such talent! One of our very favorite restaurants, Hooked on Harry’s (in Lakeland) was a meeting place with our friends, Mona and Tim. Mona and I were co-workers at Jones Memorial Hospital. She was, and still is, a fantastic nurse. We have shared many good laughs over the years. They are so much fun. I wish you could meet all these wonderful folks.
Cory and I took a day and drove to Tampa. We were going to the Straz Center to see the play “To Kill a Mockingbird”. We arrived ahead of time so checked out the area where the theater was located. We were at Tampa’s Riverwalk. What a neat place to be....and new to us. We meandered across a fascinating park with various sculptures on display. We headed to a large, brick building which was their Market Place: Heights Public Market.
It was huge, mega huge! Various bars and eateries were set up throughout this unique, old building. Many, many folks milling around....all having a good time. Here's some history about this very old building.
A WINDOW INTO TAMPA'S PAST
From the clanging of streetcars to the buzz of a Friday evening happy hour crowd, these exposed brick walls have long been alive with the sounds of Tampa's hustle and bustle. The Armature Works structure dates back to 1910, when it served as the repair and storage facility for the Tampa Electric Street and Railway Company (formerly known as the Streetcar Barn). As Tampa continued to grow, the barn played an essential role in keeping the streetcars running smoothly, so local residents could easily commute to and from the surrounding neighborhoods.
In 1946, the system was abandoned as more and more local residents traded in their streetcar passes for cars. Tampa Armature Works, a phosphate machinery manufacturer, bought the building from TECO in 1960.
THE HUB OF THE HEIGHTS DISTRICT
Armature Works sat vacant for years until developers Chas Bruck and Adam Harden of SoHo Capital bought it with a very specific vision in
mind. They had plans to create a modernized neighborhood hangout for Tampa's waterfront community and a national destination aimed to attract visitors from near and far.
From the original exposed brick walls and skylights to the windows and doors, SoHo breathed new life into this historic building, determined to recycle as many original materials as possible. They refinished the original steps leading up to the second-floor event space and reused the old roof, which was milled down and now serves hardwood flooring throughout the space.
Today, Armature Works is a 73,000 square foot mixed-use commercial space consisting of the Heights Public Market, modern event spaces, a coworking space, plus an eclectic (not to mention award-winning) selection of restaurants and bars.
Every year, millions of locals and tourists flock to this waterfront destination to gather, work, relax, or celebrate, and experience the best of Tampa in a new way, every day.
From there, we went to the Straz Center for the Performing Arts to see the play. This was a very impressive building also. We made our way to our balcony seats. We had a great view of the stage. Richard Thomas (from The Waltons)
played Atticus Finch. Also, the original actress who played Scout in the movie with Gregory Peck, Mary Badham, actually played Mrs. Dubose in this play. It was superb! We had a wonderful day.
We found an interesting metal stand at a local Goodwill store. Cory envisioned it as a holder for our “flickering & flaming” solar lights that have been set around our site in little buckets. Ooooh....they look gorgeous in this stand. Cory especially likes it because it's easier to move out of the way for the mower men. We like easy. We had solar lights in the “coffee canopy” but never did take advantage of them.....once inside our RV, we stayed there. They looked pretty, though. Now all that is gone.... let's not cry over spilled milk or broken tents.
I hate to say that our park is going to the pigs.... but you decide. Just a couple sites down from us was Honey, the pig. She was friendly enough but seemed mostly focused on trying to find food to eat....what a pig! Besides Honey the Pig, our neighbors saw a small donkey that someone had in one of the cabins a month ago. It was
a “ Comfort Animal”......ok. Keep going and our park will turn into Old McDonald’s Farm. The regular animals in the park are deer, feral cats, raccoons, armadillos, wild pigs, alligators and ducks. 🎶Tropical Palms was a Farm... Ee i ee i o🎶.”
While you are humming this little tune, we shall close this blog for now. We are slowly heading towards our departure date, May 17th. Each day, Cory and I work a little bit in packing up all our stuff. We seem to have accumulated an awful lot of items that we have spread around, both outside and inside our RV. Wish you were here to help. Stay with us as our location will soon change. Remember to scroll WAY DOWN to view all 19 photos.
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Linda Carcieri
non-member comment
Great catch up
Thank you for sharing your blog, really enjoyed all the activities!