Wat, You Say?

[MMC5]

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