Because the Walmart at 15th and Hillsborough (a.k.a. Supercenter #5964) is a bike-able distance from home, has Coke Zero (a vice that makes you productive can’t possibly be a vice) at the best per-unit price, and reasonably well-stocked “ethnic” and “specialty” food sections, I’m there about once a week.
And since I go on bike, I see everything that happens in the parking lot. And at a Walmart — a Florida Walmart — that can be a lot.
But I was really surprised when I saw a pair of jeans, fairly neatly laid out — just as you might lay out your jeans on a dresser for the next day — on a trash can, and on top of them, a black cloth mask, also laid out as if on a dresser.
It was in the middle of asking myself “Now why would someone need to remove their pants and mouth covering in a Walmart parking lot?” that I figured out the answer.
Spaddy’s Coffee in Seminole Heights, earlier this morning. That’s my bike in the foreground. Tap to view at full size.
I try to do a 10-kilometer (6.2 miles) bike ride every day, but once a weekend, I take a mid-ride break at Spaddy’s Coffee, a coffee truck in my neighborhood of Seminole Heights with an outdoor seating area.
I’m enough of a regular that they can often remember my usual order: a “Heights Cold Brew,” which is their excellent cold brew mixed with condensed milk, in the style of Vietnamese coffee.
After all this time, I just noticed that they have something on their menu called “Espresso Lemonade,” which is what it sounds like: lemonade with a shot of espresso. I’ll have to try it the next time I go there.
This was a fun one: The Glazer Children’s Museum celebrated its 11th birthday with a big party at Curtis Hixon Park, located right by their front door in downtown Tampa. We’d already planned to attend when they suggested that I play some accordion numbers between acts on the big stage. I was honored by the request and was only too happy to play for a good party and a great cause!
Ever better, Captain Fear, mascot for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, joined me onstage! We had a grand old time.
Here’s a video from a couple of Saturdays ago, featuring Anitra running on a giant hamster wheel that uses human power to create sno-cones:
The sno-cone-making hamster wheel is the creation of Joe Donoghue, whose company, Be the Hamster, was providing its services to the Glazer Children’s Museum’s 11th birthday bash.
If you’d like to try out the giant hamster wheel for yourself, you can always attend the Glazer Children’s Museum’s Evening of Play this Friday, October 15th at 6:00 p.m.. It’s a chance for us grown-ups to explore the Museum without the kids, and take part in games and fun activities, including making sno-cones (with optional alcohol!).
I’m going to be playing the accordion — and a lot of games, too — at the Evening of Play at the Glazer Children’s Museum this Friday, October 15th! Join me there!
What is the Evening of Play?
The Evening of Play is a fund- and awareness-raiser for the Glazer Children’s Museum, whose mission is to provide the children of Tampa Bay with a clean, safe, and fun outlet for imagination and discovery.
It happens this Friday, October 15th, from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. at the Glazer Children’s Museum (110 West Gasparilla Plaza, Tampa). You’ll have access to all the exhibits in the Museum, enjoy drinks and food, and play classic children’s games with grown-up twists. All the proceeds will go to support this non-profit children’s museum.
Play is central to all the activities at the Museum, and it’s important for development in children. It’s through play that children learn resilience, problem-solving, risk-taking, and empathy.
We’re bringing this classic game to life! Grab a laundry basket, a flat scooter, and your friend’s ankles, and get to work collecting as many giant marbles as you can! The team that collects the most marbles wins the game! Goofiness and giggles guaranteed.
Race up the Climber
Channel your childhood playground energy and climb through our popular Water’s Journey Climber! Find a friend and challenge them to race you to the top of the climber, which is over two stories tall. The first one to ring the bell wins the game!
Gaga Ball
It’s like dodgeball without the gym class anxiety of being picked last, phew! Hop into our gaga pit and get ready to yell GA-GA-GO! Bounce the ball around the pit and try to hit the other players below the knee. If you succeed, they’re out! The last person in the pit wins the game!
Parachute play
Are you nostalgic for parachute day at school? Us too! Gather your friends and grab a handle to join in a game of parachute play. Run under the parachute to trade places with a friend before the parachute touches you! Then see how far the group can lift the balls up into the sky.
Be the hamster and make an adult sno-cone!
Joe Donoghue’s company, Be the Hamster, is going to be at the event, along with the machine that inspired the company’s name: a giant human-scale “hamster wheel” that powers a sno-cone-making machine!
You’ll get the chance to hop into the wheel and go for a quick run, which will power a machine that shaves ice and dispenses it into a cup. You’ll also operate hand cranks that will take the cup down a conveyor belt, a spring-loaded hammer to press the ice into your cup, and add flavors and optional alcohol to make a great evening sno-cone!
How can you attend the Evening of Play?
Tickets are $60.00 each, but if you bring a friend, it’s $100 for two tickets. Once again, proceeds go to the Glazer Children’s Museum, which is a non-profit organization.
It’s 20° C (68° F) in Tampa this morning. Some locals will consider this chilly, but having grown up in Toronto, I find this delightfully cool. I’m going to take the work laptop to the “front porch office” today.
Because the Walmart at 15th and Hillsborough (a.k.a. Supercenter #5964) is a bike-able distance from home, has Coke Zero (a vice that makes you productive can’t possibly be a vice) at the best per-unit price, and reasonably well-stocked “ethnic” and “specialty” food sections, I’m there about once a week.
