The Tampa Technique

“Let Us Alone.”   Original Florida Motto

         Tampa, Florida has the distinction of being recognized as the home of American diversity. The city’s biography includes ensuing waves of ethnic groups, each adding a level of culture that blended with the existing population and created a unique and lasting society.

The earliest authenticated people to have lived in the Tampa area was the Manasota culture. They were in the region from 500BC – 700 AD. They established chiefdoms on the bay. Spanish conquistador, Ponce de Leon, passed through Tampa in 1513 and In 1528, one-eyed, Pánfilo de Narváez is documented as the first explorer to sight the land that is Tampa and is celebrated as Tampa’s oldest historic figure. As of 1910 Park Street is recognized as the place where Narváez originally landed. That year archaeologist located the remains of a native Tocobaga settlement filled with both native and Spanish artifacts. The Spanish colonized St. Augustine in 1565, making it the oldest continuously occupied settlement of European and African-American origin in the country. 

The Timucua, Calusa, Apalachee, Ais, Calusa, Creek, Miccosukee, Timucua and Tocobaga tribes were settled in the Tampa region prior to first contact with Europeans. Each tribal group had its own language, territory and lifestyle. Tampa was ideally suited for settlement because the bay area provided abundant wildlife and water sources.

                  TECO, Tampa’s Historic streetcar is free and stops at 13 stations. Many sites and attractions are easily accessible from districts Downtown, Channel District and Ybor City. The trolleys are powered by electricity and are replicas of those used from 1892-1946 along a 2.7-mile route. 

                  One of the stops, the Tampa Bay History Center, should be your first attraction. Tampa Bay History Center showcases 12,000 years of the city’s history on three floors. The first floor relates the story of a native Americans clash with the Spanish in a 20-minute movie, “The Winds of Change.” Another highlight is a walk-through Cigar City, complete with a factory and cigar store. Level two features “Travails and Triumphs,” 500 years of African American history. “Pirate’s Fate Theater” is not to be missed. Ride along on the pirate 3-D experience. Take a seat on a cargo crate and live through a pirate attack, hopefully. Finish your tour at the museum’s Columbia Restaurant.

                  Each new group had a unique cultural and civil rights history that was impacted upon by other ethnicities. One of the initial groups were black explorers represented by Juan Garrido, the first "African American" in the New World. He was a free conquistador and traveled with Ponce de Leon to Florida. He served the Spanish for thirty-years and then traveled to Spain to petition King Charles of Spain for payment for his service. He was rewarded with land.

                  The first documented enslaved Africans were brought to Florida, preceding those in Jamestown, in 1526 by Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón and the cultural blending had begun. A census taken in 1600 listed 19 enslaved people. Increasing numbers of blacks in 1850 caused a law that said every black individual in Tampa had to be owned by another person. In 1860 one-half the population was black and spoke 4 languages.

Fort Brooke, once one of the largest forts in the country, was situated at the southern end of downtown. Brooke was established in 1824 during the Seminole Wars. After the Seminoles lost and were moved to a reservation, they provided a military force to keep them in place. Tampa’s trailblazers’ 2-mile portion of the Riverwalk includes a bust in Cotanchobee Fort Brooke Park of a male member of the “First Floridians.”  

On May 5, 1864 the Union Army defeated Confederate forces at Fort Brooke. The next day they freed 100 Tampa slaves. The US government confiscated land in Tampa from Confederate leaning citizens and ceded the land to willing African Americans.

A South Carolinian native, Fortune Taylor Ranson, known as Madame Fortune Taylor, was purchased as Fortune, a slave in Tampa. She wed Benjamin Taylor, oy May 5, 1866. They worked hard and in 1868 They acquired a 33-acre homestead, built a home and became the first citrus farmers in the county. 

Ben died in 1869 and Fortune continued alone. She eventually sold 28-acres to the former mayor and that land is North Tampa today. Fortune left town for a few years and returned with a new name, Madame Fortune, and a much younger husband. Her philanthropic efforts were ongoing until her death. She is interred in the Oaklawn Cemetery.

The streets around Central Avenue were the designated area in which, during segregation, blacks must live. On February 29, 1960 members of the Tampa Youth Council of the NAACP set in motion a civil rights protest that would have resounding effects. The setting for the peaceful protest was the whites only F.W. Woolworth lunch counter. The protesting high school students requested service, were denied and then remained in their seats. The 3-day protest expanded but a biracial committee worked for peace. There were a few incidents of violence but on September 14, 1960 black customers began to be treated equally. This process of interracial compliance is known as the “Tampa Technique” and remains an exemplar of how to diffuse such situations employing inclusivity and justice.

“When the Righteous Triumph” was penned by a local playwright to showcase the events and people of the 1960s protests. The play is being re-staged in Tampa’s Starz Center for the Performing Arts, the largest of its kind in the Southeastern U.S. Later this year PBS will present a documentary on the play.

 Madame Fortune Dessert + HiFi Parlour is a speakeasy named and designed to reflect the history, style and values of Madame Fortune. The libations, cuisine and décor are crafted to be unique and evoke a certain ambiance. Entertainment is in the form of live music.

                  The Madame Fortune Bridge leads to Ybor City. On our next trip we will cross the bridge and we’ll enjoy all that Ybor City has to offer.  #visittampabay

The Road to Galway

  

                  The road from Dublin “true” Irish experience through ambience, meals and music and is documented as early as 1198. #theBrazenHeads to Galway is one of the most underrated scenic roads in all of Ireland. The landscape is ever changing and enchanting at every turn. The 129-mile trip, with unique attractions, begins as you leave Dublin. 

              Ireland is rife with pubs, the oldest, according to some is the Brazen Head Pub. It is located where the area was first settled as Baile Atha Cliath. It is here that people found a river crossing. 

               On the route to Galway from Dublin you will also pass the 150-year-old Nancy Hand Pub and Restaurant. The building and items of furniture have features that are of interest. One of the items is a stampage box inside a hole in the wall where Nancy served patrons through a space only large enough for her hands to be seen, thus the pub’s name. Nancy was the first female owner of a public house in Ireland. Movies have been made there and additional interesting items include a staircase once in Trinity College and a stained-glass depiction of Nancy. The bar and restaurant are traditional and live music is performed. www.nancyhands.ie 

                  The village of Moneygall is 75-miles along the M7 motorway. A few miles from the village is the $9-million Barack Obama Plaza. The plaza features food outlets, fuel, fast food restaurants, meeting facilities and an Obama Museum/Visitor Center. The Obamas visited Moneygall in 2011 to meet with relatives and to see his ancestral home. Obamas’ great, great, great grandfather was from Moneygall and emigrated to the US in 1850. On the interior is a bronze bust of Barack Obama and on the exterior a life-sized statue of Barack and Michelle dedicated in 2018. 

                UNESCO designated the Cliffs of Moher a Global Geopark based on its commitment to conservation, sustainable development and local community involvement. The Cliffs are more than 320-million years old and span 8-miles looming over the Atlantic Ocean, the tallest cliff is 702-feet tall. The wildlife and bird viewing are spectacular. There is a complex that showcases a museum, pathways to accessible viewpoints and on-site restaurant with huge windows for additional panoramas. One of the Harry Potter movie scenes was filmed there. The Cliffs are situated along the fabled, 1,600-mile, Wild Atlantic Way. 

                  The circuitous Wild Atlantic Way, on the west coast of Ireland, is the longest coastal route in the world. From the road you can catch views of the three Aran Islands notable for handmade sweaters with unique patterns. The patterns were guarded by families and were often used as identifiers of those who drowned and washed ashore.

                  Burren National Park is renowned for its flora, underground rivers and ancient archeological sites including megalithic tombs. Seventy percent of the country’s native flowers grow there and it is the sole location in the world where Alpine and Arctic plants grow adjacent to Mediterranean plants. The Burren, 530-square-miles, was formed by glacial erosion and now consists of limestone slabs.

                  Documents reveal that the Vikings built a trading camp in 970 along the road. Later Normans built the first wooden fortress in 1250. Thomas De Clare, a subsequent owner, erected a stone castle on site in 1278 and a village grew up around Bunratty Castle. The King of England took over the castle but Irish chieftains ravaged it in 1332. Today Bunratty is the most authentic and complete castle in the country and the castle and surrounding area are a 26-acre folk park. Tours are offered and Bunratty Folk Park showcases native animals, more than 30 structures in a living village recreated and authentically furnished, a village street and living history programs.

                  In 1646 Admiral Penn was here when the castle was besieged. It is widely stated that his son, William Penn was an infant living there during that time. He would go on to found Pennsylvania.

A few miles from Galway you will pass the Merriman Hotel in Kinvara, Co. Galway. The 32-room hotel has stunning views of Galway Bay and is a walkable distance to the Burren. The hotel has the largest thatched roof in the country. merrimanhotel@eircom.net

                  Archaeological remains from 6000 BC have been excavated in Galway but the earliest documentation of Galway is of a fort being constructed in 1124. In 1170 the English invaded and established a town. Anglo-Norman invaders enclosed the town with walls in 1235. A medieval archeological dig of the 13^th-century, the Hall of the Red Earl, is an important tourist site. It was Galways’ first municipal building. Eventually the structure fell into disuse, was buried and was unearthed in 1997.

             Galway was always an exceptional city because of its location on a harbor at the junction of the River Corrib and the Atlantic Ocean. Its magical aura has led to its designation as the 2018 European Region of Gastronomy, Europe’s Friendliest City, the European Capital of Culture and it is also known as the Cultural Heart of Ireland. Tours of the city must include a walk down the main thoroughfare which is filled with shops, restaurants, pubs and buskers performing both modern and traditional music. From the main street you can easily reach other important sites.

                Spanish Arch was constructed in 1584 on the eastern shore of the river for the soldiers who kept watch and defended the city from attack. It is believed that the Arch was so named because Spanish galleons docked there to trade goods. They included Christopher Columbus.

                 St. Nicholas’ Collegiate Church, the largest medieval parish church in Ireland, was where Columbus worshipped on his 1477 trip. It is still an active church and tours are available.

                 Lynch’s Castle is a classic example of a medieval townhouse. The house is a 4-story, vaulted ceiling, limestone structure built in the late 15^th-century in Gothic style. Highlights are a garderobe (medieval toilet) and carvings on the outside featuring religious motifs and the family crest. 

                The Lynch’s were one of Galway’s original families but they lost their power in the 1500s. In 1493 Mayor James Lynch FitzStephen, a believer in the rule of law, sentenced his son to be hung for murder without a trial. No one could be found to act as executioner so James hung him from a window. He then became a recluse. Legend has it that the word “lynching” was derived from the incident. The window from which Walter was hung can still be seen. The house is now a bank.

                This is one of the most comprehensive road trips you will ever take. Remember, life is a highway!