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Posts by BrianH
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Believe it or not Hal, I have to ride UP from here to get to Tampa General... :lol:
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I was planning on taking a run over there early in the week (been down with a bad cold for a few daze) to scout the area. Tampa General isn't real easy to find and/or get to. It's right downtown, but actually on Davis Island, via a small maze of 1-way streets and bridges. I'll see if I can find a place to meet up and/or have lunch. Off the top of my head, I'll likely look for somewhere back down Bayshore on Gandy, or somewhere close to that. It's be easier.
I completely forgot to mention to you..., when you indicated earlier that you might come up here this weekend, I should have warned you..., this weekend is Gasparilla, and the parade today (Sat) goes right up Bayshore..., the way you get to Davis Island from the south ... :lol:
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Decent place for food, but dirt parking lot throws up a LOT of dust, and likely too small for a group around lunchtime.
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I'm driving over there in few minutes (still have a rotten cold, so riding the bike is out :coffee1
. I was originally thinking of a ride down BayShore, so this might work out. I'll check it out..., although my initial thought is that anything on/near BayShore might be a but "pricey" for this motley crew. :lol:If I cant find anything near the hospital (a couple of good places opposite the Forum, but might be a bit busy), I'll take Fl Cracker's suggestion and head out toward Brandon. That will at least take us closer to I-75 for anyone planning on hitting the highway afterwords.
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I just got back from Tampa, and here's what I've figured out...., and Gary or Circles or anyone else in the Tampa area, jump in here anywhere...
For pre-staging, due to the area and lack of really convenient spots close to the hospital, the most logical place to meet up seems to be right on Davis Island. Tampa General is right at the top end of Davis Island where all the traffic comes onto the Island. I managed to find a nice side street next to the channel that will be wide enough to park a few bikes without interfering with other traffic. Because it's off the main road, there isn't much traffic anyway. From there, it's only half a mile or so back up to the hospital.
For lunch, for a number of reasons, the best choice seems to be Andreychuk's Sports Bar (I think it used to be a Beef O'Brady's), right across the street from the St Petes Times Forum. I've been in it a couple of times and it's basic sports bar and roadhouse fare. It's easy to get to from the hospital (once you get off Davis Island), it has decent paved parking (a rare commodity in this area), it has an outside patio area, it's big enough if there's a lot of us, and it's convenient to the Crosstown Expressway, I-4 and I-75 for getting out of Tampa afterwords. I looked into the Colonnade on Bayshore, but the lunchtime clientèle was business people and old rich people, and the atmosphere was definitely "keep it down to a whisper", so I dont think it would suit our purpose. At least, not today... :lol:
Now comes the awkward part. Tampa General is NOT an easy place to get into or drive around or find a place to park. Like most urban hospitals, the area is pretty dense with office buildings and medical buildings. The roads through the area are very narrow and it's like driving through canyons. There's little or no outside parking; it's pretty-well all in a parking garage, and there are precious few places to be able to pull up and stop for a few minutes without causing a traffic problem.
However, if we could find out (from Rene) exactly where Beverly's room is, there a couple of possibilities. There are a couple of areas off the hospital property that have a good view of "some" of the hospital buildings, and if her room is in one of those areas we might be able to work something out. For example, there's a couple of side streets running off Bayshore Blvd that look right across the channel at Tampa General, so that might work.
Anyway, we'll need to find out the exact location of the room, and then go from there.:shrug:
On a cheerier note, the long-ranger for next Monday in Tampa is sunny :sun1: and 75F
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Just got back from the Special Occasion Birthday Card Store, and while getting one from Val and me, also picked up a nice "group hug" card from "all of us". If I dont get writers' cramp, I'm going to go through the original thread about Beverly's accident and write in everyone's name. If I show up Monday with my arm in a sling, you'll all know why... :lol::lol:
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Tell you what, Joe..., you ride it south and I'll meet you half way and ride it the rest of the way down. It's the least I could do...
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Hey Wheels..., or should I be saying DON Wheels...If this helps, here is a shot of the Hospital Grounds that I found.
![]()
I wish I had seen this earlier. I had to rent a plane and do the recce from the air. Here's the picture I took...
:joke::joke::joke:
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What do you mean, CAGE????
I rented a plane and did the recce from the air. Much easier to see where everything is...
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Sorry about the delay in posting more info, but here's the plan..., although not necessarily the FINAL plan...
Staging - Lat N27 55.635 Long W82 27.103
Davis Island, on Channel Dr (not Channelside) from Biscayne Ave to Barbados Ave. I wanted to find a convenient location, easy to find and out of the way of the locals. Davis Island is a bit of a "yuppie" community, and I wanted to stay as much as possible off the main residential areas. From this location, only a very short distance away are coffee shops, delis, a gas station, variety stores, etc, etc.
To get to this location, depending on how you're coming, you'll need to find directions to Davis Island. As you come across the bridge onto the Island, keep right for Davis Island..., dont go left to Tampa General. Follow the road onto the Island and keep left for East Davis Blvd. Drive south into the village to Biscayne Ave. There will be a gas station on your left at the corner. Turn left onto Biscayne for two short blocks (you'll see the channel straight ahead) to Channel Drive. Turn left and park along in the parking area on the right. It's not a parking lot, just roadside parking next to the channel.
Plan on getting there between 11:00am and 11:30am, so that we can brief everyone on what we're going to do. We'll try to get underway at 11:45am.
Happy Birthday - Lat N27 56.393 Long W82 27.641
The exact location for singing Happy Birthday is still up in the air, as there are a couple of alternate locations that I need to check out. In any case, the idea is to ride to a convenient spot where we can pull over and sing Happy Birthday to Beverly, while Jeff (Skeeterbeater) will video it with Tampa General Hospital in the background. Once Beverly is more coherent and able to appreciate it, Jeff will bring her the video.
From the staging area, we will ride north toward Tampa General, ride around the perimeter road and back across the Davis Island bridge to mainland Tampa. The route will take us over Bayside Blvd, around the block, and back out to Bayside, where we should be able to pull over to the side for a few minutes to do the video. As I mentioned, this exact location is still up in the air, and could change.
Lunch - Lat N27 56.615 Long W82 27.082
Andreychuk's Restaurant across from the St Petes Times Forum. From the "Happy Birthday" location we'll turn left onto Bayshore Blvd and ride north a short distance to Channelside Drive. We'll go right (East) on Channelside, through the tunnel under the Convention Center to Andreychuk's, which is on Channelside. There are two paved parking areas at Andreychuk's, one in the front and one in the back. Depending on how busy the front parking area is, it might be wiser to aim directly for the back entrance. The ramps/curbs into the lot are very bumpy, but with normal care, everyone should be OK.
Note: When we pull away from the Happy Birthday area onto Bayshore, it's fairly busy crossing, so depending on how many bikes we have, it may take a while to get everyone out and back together. Please use EXTREME caution here. Dont worry if it takes you a while, we'll wait for everyone once we get onto Channelside Drive. If you happen to get separated from the group, just follow along Channelside and you cant miss Andreychuk's, right across the street from the forum. There's pretty-well nothing else there, other than a bunch of dirt parking lots, so it's easy to find.
Here's an overhead of the area and the tentative route..., total distance, 2.4 miles, so be sure to gas up. :lol:
:fullsize:
Sorry about the delay in posting more info, but here's the plan..., although not necessarily the FINAL plan...
Staging - Lat N27 55.635 Long W82 27.103
Davis Island, on Channel Dr (not Channelside) from Biscayne Ave to Barbados Ave. I wanted to find a convenient location, easy to find and out of the way of the locals. Davis Island is a bit of a "yuppie" community, and I wanted to stay as much as possible off the main residential areas. From this location, only a very short distance away are coffee shops, delis, a gas station, variety stores, etc, etc.
To get to this location, depending on how you're coming, you'll need to find directions to Davis Island. As you come across the bridge onto the Island, keep right for Davis Island..., dont go left to Tampa General. Follow the road onto the Island and keep left for East Davis Blvd. Drive south into the village to Biscayne Ave. There will be a gas station on your left at the corner. Turn left onto Biscayne for two short blocks (you'll see the channel straight ahead) to Channel Drive. Turn left and park along in the parking area on the right. It's not a parking lot, just roadside parking next to the channel.
Plan on getting there between 11:00am and 11:30am, so that we can brief everyone on what we're going to do. We'll try to get underway at 11:45am.
Happy Birthday - Lat N27 56.393 Long W82 27.641
The exact location for singing Happy Birthday is still up in the air, as there are a couple of alternate locations that I need to check out. In any case, the idea is to ride to a convenient spot where we can pull over and sing Happy Birthday to Beverly, while Jeff (Skeeterbeater) will video it with Tampa General Hospital in the background. Once Beverly is more coherent and able to appreciate it, Jeff will bring her the video.
From the staging area, we will ride north toward Tampa General, ride around the perimeter road and back across the Davis Island bridge to mainland Tampa. The route will take us over Bayside Blvd, around the block, and back out to Bayside, where we should be able to pull over to the side for a few minutes to do the video. As I mentioned, this exact location is still up in the air, and could change.
Lunch - Lat N27 56.615 Long W82 27.082
Andreychuk's Restaurant across from the St Petes Times Forum. From the "Happy Birthday" location we'll turn left onto Bayshore Blvd and ride north a short distance to Channelside Drive. We'll go right (East) on Channelside, through the tunnel under the Convention Center to Andreychuk's, which is on Channelside. There are two paved parking areas at Andreychuk's, one in the front and one in the back. Depending on how busy the front parking area is, it might be wiser to aim directly for the back entrance. The ramps/curbs into the lot are very bumpy, but with normal care, everyone should be OK.
Note: When we pull away from the Happy Birthday area onto Bayshore, it's fairly busy crossing, so depending on how many bikes we have, it may take a while to get everyone out and back together. Please use EXTREME caution here. Dont worry if it takes you a while, we'll wait for everyone once we get onto Channelside Drive. If you happen to get separated from the group, just follow along Channelside and you cant miss Andreychuk's, right across the street from the forum. There's pretty-well nothing else there, other than a bunch of dirt parking lots, so it's easy to find.
Here's an overhead of the area and the tentative route..., total distance, 2.4 miles, so be sure to gas up. :lol:
:fullsize:
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Although a lot of folks are sending or bringing Birthday Cards for Beverly, I wanted to put something (light-hearted) together that would be from ALL the folks who expressed concerns in the original thread. Altogether there were messages from 342 members of GL1800Riders, so I got a "group" card, and added all the names to it. Here's some pics of the card..., front of the card, middle, and the back of the card. I had to make the names very small to get them all on the card, so it's not very clear here..., but on the card, the names are quite legible.
:fullsize:
:fullsize:
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You have it..., see the details posted elsewhere. Hope you can make it.
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You head for Florida and I'll head for New York, and somewhere around the Florida Welcome Center on I-75, we should meet up. Unless, of course, you do over and down I-95 and/or I got up I-65. This is getting very confusing.
BTW, I dont know about you, but I left here 3 days ago in order to get there in time.
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