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.

Because Penguins are Cool (Literally and Figuratively)

After falling asleep at 8 p.m. Eastern time and sleeping through the night, we woke up refreshed and ready to take on the day. And by take on the day, I mean act like small children at the Florida Aquarium. Fishies! Penguins!

Before we headed that way, we looked out our 15th floor window and, what did we behold but our boat! In port! It looked so ready for us. We couldn’t begin boarding for several more hours, however, giving us plenty of time to hang out with the penguins and seahorses.

We got to the aquarium and began our tour with some time at the touch tank with the rays and nurse sharks.

We then found out it was time for the penguin show! We made our way to the penguin stage. Well, the penguin carpet and benches. The little guy was wheeled in by his trainer in a little blue wagon. The trainer introduced us to Sandy the Penguin, who proceeded to wander around the red carpet that was surrounded by visitors, including me. I felt like a preschool kid at storytime—it was awesome. We learned what their behaviors mean, what environments they live in, that they can shoot their poo up to four feet, all kinds of interesting tidbits. And I got close enough to get some great photos of Sandy the Penguin.


We wandered around the rest of the aquarium, I successfully avoided some free-roaming birds, we touched some starfish and other invertebrates, and we gawked at some pot-bellied male seahorses that might or might not have been carrying babies. Alec generously offered to carry our children in the manner of a male seahorse, so we’ll see how far medical science has advanced by then. Something tells me I’ll still be the pregnant one, Lord willing.

From the vantage point of the back of the Aquarium, the cruise ship was tantalizingly close. It’s right there! Can’t we just jump on?

Once we had our fill of the Florida Aquarium, and purchased a small penguin in the gift shop, we made our way to get our bags and go to the port to get onto the boat. Now, getting onto a cruise ship is a fun process that involves getting to know your fellow passengers for a while before getting on board. In other words, you get to stand in line. For a while. For various reasons. They check your passport. They check your carry on items. They make you swear that you don’t have the flu and, if you do have a slight cough, you’ll let the ship’s doctor check you out. They issue your Sail and Sign card, AKA your “if you lose this card you will be stranded in your room and won’t be able to eat or drink or won’t be able to get back on the boat after a port day” card. Finally they scan your card to let you on the boat. And then they take your picture. And take your picture. And take your picture.
But then, magically, we made it onto the boat. And to our room. To see our extended balcony. And, of course, to call our parents to let them know that we’d made it onto the boat as scheduled and were sitting on our extended balcony. Rock on.



I was overwhelmed by the overwhelmingness of the decoration on the boat—the only thing to compare it to is an elaborate Vegas casino. As our ship was the Legend, each area was themed around a different Legend: the steakhouse was the Golden Fleece, the casino was named after Merlin, the lobby was the Colossus, the top deck had unicorns and Camelot and such, and so on. We made our way up top to watch the ship depart and wave goodbye to the good ol’ USA for the next week. It was a pretty evening to be on a boat.



I’M ON A BOAT!!