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!!!

Club Ride - May 14, 2011 - Green Swamp Stomp

Our weekly ride got off to its usual start with conversation and sarcasm over breakfast. From there, it was off to the east by northeast and a tango through the backroads of the Green Swamp.  Our preferred stopping point on Green Pond Road at the one-lane bridge is all but gone thanks to construction of a new bridge.  So, we moved things a bit further east and pulled in at one of the access points for the Van Fleet Trail.  Mere feet from the parking lot was this view of classic Florida woodlands:



It was pretty obvious that this area sees a lot of foot traffic, as this foot path through the trees was pretty clear:



While I was out taking photos of the woodlands, Preacher, Mr. Sarcasm, and Robert were engaged in scintillating conversation under the picnic shelter:



Our bikes look great lined up on the edge of the parking area. We parked this way because the marked parking spots consisted of sparse grass and deep sugar sand; a surefire recipe for a dropped bike:



After running all over the Green Swamp via Sloan's Ridge, Empire Church Rd, Laws Rd, and many others, we made our way back to the south and had lunch at Fantasy of Flight where this WWII-era C-47 was on display as part of their D-Day event:



Some lucky dog was flying in the Stearman. I still need to do this!!!:



Nice landing:



After lunch we split up and each headed for home via our personal route of choice. I ended the day with a healthy 164 miles on the odometer of the ST1300.

Club Ride - May 7, 2011 - Duette Loop

We were all pleased to welcome Mr. Sarcasm back to our riding ranks after an extended hiatus from such pursuits that was motivated by yet another pursuit that he had to pursue. It was good to have the man and the machine back for the whole day of riding, so we made the most of it by cranking up about 160 miles of good riding today.

After breakfast at our usual haunt, we headed south for a jaunt through the countryside of Keysville and then over to SR 39, where we sprinted further south to Fort Lonesome.  Turning westward at Fort Lonesome, we soon happened upon a gigantic "walking crane" working near the roadway. These are fascinating machines because of their size and means of motivation.  Look closely in this shot and you'll notice a door on the side of the crane that will serve to give you some perspective as to its size:



Mr. Sarcasm took full advantage of the photo op that this crane represented:



Eddie kept a watch on the bikes and the passing traffic while the rest of us shot photos and enjoyed the sight of the giant crane tearing into the earth:



Speaking of the bikes, they made a nice sight parked along the roadside way out there in the middle of "Fort Lonesome":



They say that imitation is the fondest form of flattery.  Mr. Sarcasm, I accept your compliment, but you still have a ways to go to catch up with me and my well-decorated Givi lid:



Continuing south by southwest, we made a stop at this scenic water hole a bit north of Duette:



I spotted this fallen branch that was festooned with evidence of the handiwork of woodpeckers:



While I explored the woodlands around the water hole, the other fellas chilled on the bridge:



Back on the main highway, I spotted this abandoned house and couldn't resist stopping for a few shots:



Old buildings offer up so many interesting angles and textures. I'll process some of these into black-and-white for added dramatic effect:



I really like this shot through the spider web into the rooms of the abandoned house; definitely a candidate for some processing work:



Sometimes it's the simple things that say the most:



Oh...my...God!!! It's the most beautiful motorcycle in the world!!! Again!!! Wow, ain't she a beauty!!!:



Damned love bugs!!! Yes, it's that time of year again here in sunny FLA:



Okay, that's does it for today's photos. We put in a lot of miles and a lot of hours playing around the countryside. We went shopping, had lunch, and even added some interesting hardware (a completely different story) to our collections. What a great day! Now we'll all have to spend a few hours cleaning the love bugs off our bikes, but it's a small price to pay in exchange for the kind of day we had on the road