Tour of Plant Hall at the University of Tampa

A friend of a friend, who I shall now call a friend of mine, was in a position to give me (and Mr. Sarcasm) an all access tour of Plant Hall on the campus of the University of Tampa. Plant Hall is the former Tampa Bay Hotel, built by Henry Bradley Plant, circa 1891. This is something I have wanted to do for quite some time and I jumped at the opportunity to explore this fascinating building and revel in all of the history and architecture that it had to offer.  My loyal readers may recall a few shots of the exterior that I included in my post on night shots of the downtown Tampa skyline, represented by these two images:





Those minarets were a prime target of my desire to go on this all access tour, and I was not to be disappointed. But more on that later. Our tour started out in the publicly accessible areas of the old hotel, including the main hallway that runs north/south connecting various areas of the quarter-mile long building:



My eye and my camera lens were on the lookout for interesting details with every step taken:







This hall of windows connected wings on an upper floor; an interesting sight:



This is the ceiling of Fletcher Lounge, located on the north end of Plant Hall:



The domed ceiling is painted to represent the sky and opens into the small cupola at the top:



We moved upstairs and were given access to the ring of "windows" that line the upper level of the ceiling:



Intricate wood carvings are everywhere you look in this building. This is what those dark "window" columns look like up close:



And this is the detail that crowns the ring of "windows":



This is one of several conference rooms located on the main floor:



Stepping out of that conference room, this is the view that greeted my camera. This is the former main entrance area to the hotel:



Our tour moved on to some of the less-often visited areas of the building on our way to one of the minarets. This room has not been restored and is a glimpse of what the old hotel would look like without the care and attention that it receives from its current caretakers:



This is the view out the window of the lower level of the minaret and represents the first level of many in the climb to the top of the minaret:



This is the one of the larger, lower-level rooms at the base of the minaret:



This is a mid-level room within the minaret...and we still had more levels to climb:



Each level is accessed via narrow, steep stairs:



And when I say "narrow" and "steep", I'm not exaggerating. Climbing up into this minaret is not a feat for the heat-adverse, the girth-challenged (more than me, anyway), or the claustrophobic. That opening in the floor can't be much more that about 20-inches wide, and it's about as good as it gets:



This is the final room in the climb and it brings you to the highest level within the minaret. The climb up this ladder takes you through a hatch in the ceiling that leads outside to an observation deck at the top of the minaret:



This is the payoff for all that hot, exhausting climbing; spectacular views of downtown Tampa:







The central minaret that we climbed actually towers above the other minarets on the building:



After getting some relatively cool and fresh air, it was time to head down, and that meant navigating those narrow stairs again:





Our tour included a visit to another building on campus where we were able to shoot more spectacular views of the Tampa skyline. I like these shots with the old hotel juxtaposed against the modernity of downtown Tampa:



This historical marker is located on campus to the west of Plant Hall and on the portion of the grounds that once hosted the Florida State Fair:



This beautiful chapel was the last stop of the day:



The pipe organ is a spectacular piece of artwork:



Shooting these images, the pipe organ evinced images of an angel in my mind; an angel with trumpets, no less:



This was a great photo expedition and I can't wait to go back for another visit and even more photography. Even though we spent a couple of hours on this tour, we have only scratched the surface. Look for more of this subject in the months to come. Special thanks to my new friend for the access assist and to Mr. Sarcasm for tagging along with me on this little adventure. Hopefully he was able to shoot one or two "keepers" with his cameras. :-)

Mountain Ride - June 2011

On June 10th, Big Ed, Mr. Sarcasm, and I headed out for a week-long adventure to the mountains of southwest North Carolina. Before the week was out we had put 2,423 miles on our bikes; which included 1,192 miles of twisty road riding. Despite weather issues -- including one semi-tornado -- we made the most of the time, the miles, the scenery, the roads, and the camaraderie.

Getting there was half the fun, even though it was miserably hot with temperatures flirting with 100 degrees as we rode across Florida and Georgia:





Arriving in Dillsboro, NC, mid-evening on June 10th, we had to stop for dinner at Big Ed's favorite restaurant:



The real riding commenced early the next morning and continued all week:



Big Ed kept us well fed in the evenings, whipping up everything from grilled pork chops and hamburgers to homemade beef stew and roasted pork...and that's not even to mention the full-course breakfast meals he whipped up each day:



Beautiful scenery was everywhere we turned:





We found an abandoned tunnel at the end of a neglected mountain road:



Of course, abandoned or not, we just had to ride through the darned thing:



All sorts of mountain flowers were in full bloom:



And the mountain streams were gushing from all the rainfall that was going on in the afternoons:



Of course we rode the infamous "Tail of the Dragon" and got our photos shot by the pros in the process:



There was some serious riding happening on that ole "Dragon":







And Mr. Sarcasm was not slacking on the dragon slaying, either:



Mr. Sarcasm helpfully pointed out that if I could just squeeze another quarter-inch of lean out of my ST1300, I'd be on the tire's edge and I'd be leaned over almost as far as he was:



As mentioned in the opening, our cabin got hit by a semi-tornado late on Wednesday afternoon. This is an "after" photo of the stream that appears seven photos above. This photo was taken 15 minutes after the one that appears above:



The storm also knocked out all of the power in the area for almost four days, so we had to pack it up and head home a day earlier than originally planned. Lack of power on Thursday morning did not stop Big Ed from whipping up a great breakfast on the grill:



We left the mountains about mid-afternoon on Thursday and rode as far south as central Georgia where we stayed overnight in the comparative luxury of a fully-electrified motel. Heading out early on Friday morning it wasn't long before the temperatures climbed into the high 90s and finally hit 100 as we crossed into Florida. This last shot was snapped just north of Douglas, GA, and it is pretty much demonstrative of the heat and the need to keep drinking as much water as you could carry:



All in all it was a great trip that produced a lot of enjoyable riding and good memories. It had to be a good trip, because I'm ready to head out and do it all over again!!!