American Latino Heritage Fund Roadtrip- Recap

Babushka was asked to write a recap on her part of the American Latino Heritage Fund Roadtrip. Estan ready?  Day by day countdown (with links to the posts) and a fav moment/memory/fact of the place will be listed. Get your dancing shoes on My Beautifuls- a bailar rapido!!

Day 1- Tallahassee  De Soto Winter Encampment 

and the Museum of Florida History

This being my first interview/video, I didn't know who was more ill at ease- Dr. Daniel Seinfeld or BB. Still, along with embarrassed laughs we managed to get some facts in.

The second part of the day was spent at the Museum of Florida History examining 

"La Florida: Forever Changed". 

One of BB's fav paintings- by Xavier Cortada

And let's not forget the exclusive behind the scenes look at the lab with Conservator Catherine Sincich.

 This was too cool- BB felt like a combo Dexter and Indiana Jones. 

She had me at "chocolate"; check out my youtube channel to see what I mean.

Day 2- Tallahassee   Mission San Luis and TWAM

The beauty, history, and activities at Mission San Luis son digno of a full day visit- at the minimum!  Where Spaniards and the Apalachees learned to live together as two separate people, to then join together as a new breed.  Multi- cultural- ESO!!!

  

And of course it's always great to be amongst friends. 

TWAM -  Theater With A Mission

                       

                                   BB & Costume Mistress Gabrielle Reed

  

Ben Gunter, TWAM Director & BB

and for those who missed the mini intro on TWAM, here's the original 10 min. version.

Day 3- Bradenton   De Soto National Memorial

Such a vast, picturesque site on the waters of Bradenton, the De Soto National Memorial

has many things to be proud of.  The Rangers, the grounds, but what struck me the most of this place was its dedication to community- especially the youth.  If you'd like your children to learn/live history and the beauty of nature, this is definitely the place to go to.  They do not take their Jr. Ranger program lightly and one of BB's highpoints of this trip was being given an honorary Jr. Ranger Badge.  Thank you Ranger Jorge Acevedo for the badge and all the information that was bestowed along with it.

Mine and I'm not sharing.

Year round activities http://www.nps.gov/deso/planyourvisit/events.htm 

Feibu Fabuloso https://www.facebook.com/pages/De-Soto-National-Memorial/140942332612993

Day 4 - St. Augustine   Castillo de San Marcos 

Started in 1672 the fort of St. Augustine, the Castillo de San Marcos is still going strong and open to the public everyday except Christmas.  Plan at least 3 hours to visit, you don't want to be rushed during your travel back to time.  With the self-guided tours, the rangers talks and the re enactments it's very easy to find yourself in another era in this well maintained and proper example of Spanish colonization and construction.

  

Day 5- St. Augustine Beach    Fort Matanzas

Babushka could truly spend a whole day here at Fort Matanzas National Monument .  

Besides the beauty of the place, 

I could listen to this Ranger for hours!

My Beautifuls, gone are the days of the boring Park Rangers.  Today's Rangers are animated, make jokes, ask questions- they do the schtick to make it stick!!  A wonderful philosophy that I embrace wholeheartedly and I commend the National Park Service for training and encouraging this sort of storytelling to the people.

Day 6 -  Tampa      Ybor City Historical District

Ybor City, what can I say about it except- I wanna go back!!! 

 It's a town of contradiction, a town of extremes- perfecto for BB.  The power of determination and the styles of a simpler time, both are still evident in Ybor City.  The history of a time when cigars were king in Ybor and the community its' faithful and dedicated servants.  A time when honor was everything and management and labor respected their places and each other; together to be the best.

The Don Vicente de Ybor Historic Inn

BB relaxing on the porch of a worker's "casita"

And the Latino contribution of Ybor City? 

 Dr. Wallace Reyes does the honors:

Day 7 - Miami     Freedom Tower

400,000 Cubans went through these doors;

 the city of Miami- and the US

would never be the same. 

And so ends BB's recap.  Almost.  

Having made so many videos (unbelievable) I will now do my version of an acceptance/thank you speech.

To the Hispanicize team and Maria de los Angeles for believing in this vieja viajera,

to my fellow bloggers Alex de Carvalho, Cristy Clavijo-Kish, Eva Smith, Lance Rios and Roberto Rios III  for being so generous with their help and encouragement.

 to the sponsors- the American Latino Heritage Fund, GM Diversity and Verizon Wireless for their marvelous contributions, 

to the wonderful people BB interviewed who took time out of their lives to share their vast knowledge and experience,

to the Park Rangers who were terrific and oh so entertaining, 

and to you My Beautifuls for following my adventures and for bailando con migo.  

To all of you I say Mil Gracias and I can't wait to do it again for VivaFlorida 500!

; )

Nos vemos prontos.

Babushka Besos a todos.  Cuidensen.

P.S.  Por supuesto there are more people and organizations (Visit Florida,Florida's Historic Coast,Visit Bradenton)   I need to thank and highlight in future posts, and I will- I promise.  Just let me get a chance to buy some new dancing shoes; I kinda wore these out.

P.P.S.  There will be a recap Tweety Fiesta next week- I'll keep you posted.