Wat, You Say?

MMC5 · 03-20-2007, 05:36 PM

Anonymous Road Trip #2

Several members and new acquaintances here in the Tampa Bay Area and I embarked on our second official Anonymous Cruise last Sunday. I say second, because the first trip for half of us was a straight shot down I-75 a few weeks earlier to the Corvette and Chevy Show in Punta Gorda.

Did you know that it is much easier to lead 4 cars down an Interstate than it is to lead 9 cars through downtown?

This outing took us from HWY 19 at the North end of Clearwater, down to the rendezvous point at Derby Lanes Dog Track in NE Saint Petersburg. From there we crossed Tampa Bay, headed to Wat Tampa on the SE side of Tampa.

To get there, we took the scenic route along beautiful Bayshore Blvd then through downtown Tampa, past the Channelside and Port of Tampa complex to where my copilot and navigator ultimately realized we were lost.

Sooo, I must tell you that I was very surprised with the turn out and I take Full Responsibility for loosing a couple of cars along the way!

I believe it was Will Rogers who said “If you are leading the wagon train, it is a good idea to turn around once in a while to see if everyone is still following.” … or words to that affect.

When we pulled out of the Dog Track, “Ole Gil Favor” here checked the L side mirror and thought the red ’67 roadster was the last car, so that’s the one I kept my eye on.

The other thing I did…actually didn’t do …. Is hand everyone directions to our destination which included my cell number. I had them in the car!

When my navigator (you know how wives navigate

) made her announcement, we pulled into a warehouse parking lot to put the wagons in a big circle. That is when I discovered that I had lost two members of our group.

And these were newcomers! Hopefully, they won’t be too discouraged and will give us another chance!

All is well that ends well I guess, so we gathered ourselves up and arrived at Wat Tampa about 15 minutes later.

Strictly speaking, a wat is a Buddhist temple and school with resident monks. In everyday language in Thailand, a wat is any place of worship, except a mosk. Wat Tampa rests in a peaceful setting along the Palm River. Lunch is prepared and served outdoors, but on Sundays only.

At first glance, your impression is that the food line wraps entirely around two sides of the building. Actually the food service line wraps that way, but the order / pick up line is really several lines, heading to different entrees.

If you would like to see pictures, click here

Special Thanks to Mary Kathryn to Andy for your great pics! I really need to ditch that piece of junk I’ve been using!.

Next trip, I promise the Trail Boss will be better prepared!

Tom

ynkedad · 03-20-2007, 06:22 PM

Sounds like a Blast

, except for those you lost

~Ray

Yo Ray! we are doing our best to make a Northern run in a few weeks. Google the corner of Cortez Blvd and Pine Island Drive. (follow Hwy 50 E from Brooksville)

Whaddyathink?

Classy · 03-20-2007, 06:43 PM

Tom,sounds like a great time,great photos,wish we could have gone,but had to work.Hopefully next time.

Are you kidding me? Is there a member here I do not recognize! HALT! Come forth and ID yourself!

MMC5 · 03-20-2007, 08:39 PM

[quote=ynkedad]

Sounds like a Blast

, except for those you lost

~Ray[/end quote]

Yo Ray! we are doing our best to make a Northern run in a few weeks. Google the corner of Cortez Blvd and Pine Island Drive. (follow Hwy 50 E from Brooksville)

Whaddyathink?

MMC5 · 03-20-2007, 08:40 PM

Boy! Have I ever got this thread screwed up!

Not used to the "edit" button for forum mods! Sorry

navy2kcoupe · 03-20-2007, 10:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ynkedad

Sounds like a Blast

,

Ray, it WAS

a blast! We were on Bayshore Blvd in Tampa, with the water on our right and the multimillion dollar houses on our left, doing a slow cruise to allow the line to catch up. As we were being passed (slowly) by the other cars on Bayshore, I could see ALL of them eyeing our cars!
The Wat was an interesting experience as well. My wife got the low-down from some of the Thai people while she was waiting for Pad Thai. All of the people that you see working in the photos have regular jobs. The Wat is open to the public from 10AM to 3PM on Sundays only, and ALL of these people donate their time to cook, serve, and cleanup every Sunday. They are in the process of planning and building a new Wat (temple), and ALL of the proceeds from the sale of the food go towards that goal. It was a truly unique opportunity to witness firsthand the dedication of the Thai people, and to share their excellent food with them. Thanks to Tom for puting this cruise together and also for doing it while I happened to be in the area and could participate. I met some GREAT people and had a GREAT time! Classy, if you're refering to the guy from Boston in the shorts as the one that you don't know, well.........that would be me, navy2kcoupe! As for the shorts in the 53 degree weather, Hell, that's SUMMER in Boston!
Andy