Because We're History Nerds

The cruise had to come to an end sometime, and Sunday finally came. We got our debarkation group number and went to get some breakfast and wait for our number to be called. Once off the boat, we headed for the Tampa Bay History Center to kill some time before we had to head off to the airport for our journey home.

The TBHC had some great experiential theaters with holographic projections, dioramas, and ambient sounds and lighting. The best part, however, were the fun artifacts on display. Like the conquistador armor--it always amazes me how small they were!

We couldn't get too far away from Oklahoma, even in Florida! A significant portion of the exhibit space was devoted to the Seminoles of Florida, inevitably leading to graphic panels on Oklahoma.

Another big part of Tampa history is the cigar industry. With immigrants from Cuba and a good climate for the production of cigars, it became a booming business. So, booming, in fact, that the factories would employ lectors (no, not Hannibal, so we don't need any fava beans or chianti) to read to the employees while they were at work. They would read books, speeches, and other written items until they began inciting the workers to unionize. The TBHC has a lector in their cigar room.

Alec decided that, since the cigars were right there, he could try to get some. Unfortunately, it was just a display...

And you can't have a cigar store without the stereotypical Indian.

And some pretty awesome advertising.

I had a bit too much fun learning about the ranching industry in Florida. Yee-haw!

And I Can't Fight This Feeling that we found the REO Speedwagon!

Lee Roy Selmon is a huge hero in Tampa. Apparently he saved the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from being a truly terrible football team and made them contenders. Boomer Sooner!

Alec participated in the Tarpon Fishing Festival. Well, in the recreation of the Tarpon Festival. Makes it a lot easier to pick up the fish when it's fake and fiberglass.

The one thing that disappointed us was the distinct lack of pirates in the TBHC. We really thought we'd learn more about pirates. I'm not really sure why we were under that impression, but we had pirates on the brain. Perhaps it was because we knew about the Gasparilla Pirate Festival, during which Tampa is invaded by the full-sized version of the pirate ship photographed below. In fact, this was the only pirate-y thing we found in the museum. But, I suppose that is fitting if it is the only real pirate-y thing in the area. Although, they could make something up. We would never know.*

We finally had to get to the airport and return to reality. We were really happy that we had waited to take our honeymoon until we had time to move my stuff, settle in, and let the holidays pass us by. We could be truly relaxed and just enjoy each other's company, the fun excursions, and the beautiful scenery around us. And the monkeys.


*Disclaimer: I do not encourage the making up of historical facts. Unless you're doing it around the lunch table at my work. Then it's just funny.