The Wandering Disciple

Tampa, Florida: Busch Gardens Tampa is a 335 acre theme park where wild rides meets wildlife. The African themed park has four roller coasters featured on Amusement Today’s Top 50 Coaster list; Montu (3), Kumba (7), SheiKra (13) and Gwazi (38). It is also home to a wide variety of Africa wildlife. Opened in 1959, Busch Gardens was started as an admission free park to compliment the hospitality house for the Anheuser-Busch brewery. The park featured the Bird Gardens, a walk through aviary where guests come in contact with exotic birds species. In 1965 the park expanded to include the Serengeti Plain. The plain was a free roaming home to African wildlife including Zebra, Giraffes and more. The plain quickly became the largest free-roaming habitat outside of Africa. A monorail and railway was added to give guests a closer look at the animals. Then in 1974, the Skyride was added, giving riders a bird’s eye view of the Serengeti Plain. Busch Gardens introduced thrill rides to the pa...

Tierra Verde, Florida: At the mouth of the Tampa Bay lies a barrier island known as Mullet Key. Mullet Key has been a prominent site of Tampa Bay history and is the current home of Fort DeSoto Park, a 1,136 acre park built around the site of the historic fort. Like much of Florida, the first inhabitant to the island were Native Americans. The Tocobaga Indians resided on the island from 1000 to 1500. The location at the mouth of the bay was ideal to the Tocobaga lifestyle. The waters provided an abundance of shellfish and fish provided plenty of food for the tribe as well as a means to trade with other tribes and eventually the Spanish conquistadors. The first Spanish explorer to reach the island was Panfilo de Narvaez in April 1528. Narvaez landed in the region and began searching for riches. As the confrontation with the local tribes became more violent, Narvaez and his group of explorers headed further north. The next major explorer to reach the region was possibly the most p...

Boca Grande, Florida: Known for its quaint village, sandy beaches and world class fishing, Boca Grande an island oasis on Florida’s Gulf Coast. Located on Gasparilla Island in Charlotte and Lee counties, it is short drive from the larger cities but years away from the hustle and bustle of urban life. As with much of Florida, the island was originally inhabited by Native Americans. The Charlotte Harbour region was controlled by the Calusa tribes and Gasparilla Island was no different. The Calusa were drawn to the area by the rich fishing of the area. The area’s first settlers arrived in the area in the late 1800’s and they too settled to the island for its fishing. They established fishing villages on the island as they caught the fish and then packaged them for shipment. In 1885 the economy of the island increased with the discovery of phosphate along the nearby Peace River. As the mining began, there was a great need for a port to ship the phosphate. So the island stepped up ...