Brass Bowl

Sometimes we move a little slow after a weekend.  Sometimes we don’t do our due diligence before we leave the house.

Sometimes I think our wives let us leave the house with our shirts inside out just to give them something to chat about on Monday.

These two muzzle loading cannon from the 1800′s are emplaced on the grounds of Plant Park/University of Tampa.

Text follows picture.

The Spanish Fort

 In 1891 upon the completion of the Tampa Bay Hotel, Henry B. Plant recovered two Civil war cannon from across the Hillsborough River at the site of Old Fort Brooke.  With his landscape architect Anton Fiehe, Mr. Plant placed the cannon over a limestone wall near here as a garden folly called The Spanish Fort.

 These 24 pound shot size cannon were part of a battery of three placed in Fort Brooke during the War Between the States.  They and two 6 pound shot size rifled cannon successfully defended Tampa until May 5, 1864.  On that date, federal troops, composed of elements of the 2^nd U.S. Colored Regiment, the 2^nd Florida Calvary and the U.S. Navy, captured the town and fort by surprise.  The 24 pounders were disabled by breaking off a trunnion and destroying their barbette carriages.  The indentation on the barrel of one of the 24 pounders indicates that a 6 pounder was fired point blank at its barrel.  The 6 pounders were then taken to Key West.

 The cannon’s naval mounts were designed and funded by the Fort Brooke Commission.  This historical recreation of the garden folly was a project of the Friends of Plant Park in 2008.  This sign was placed on pieces of limestone salvaged from the original wall.

 Friends of Plant Part

City of Tampa

Hillsborough County Commission

Fort Brooke Commission

The University of Tampa

On Franklin next to Gaslight Park.

I’ve walked past this tree at least a thousand times, and I just noticed this last week.

All these little junction boxes tells me that someone was too cheap to spring for a cable vault.

Of course, if there is more to the story, I’d love to hear it.

As you can see, the operator backed this tractor onto the tongue of the trailer to prevent anyone from stealing said trailer.  They were even able to throw the trailers spare tire under the tractor’s rear tire to secure that too.

However, it appears they neglected the one final step…..

They left the key in the ignition.

I don’t know what caused it, but my best guess is all the kiosks in “Stall Report” mode.