Every year at the end of April, Tampa Bay comes alive with
Dragon Boat Racing. This interesting sport is made up of 20 folks thrown into a
long boat. One of the participants beats a drum and another of the paddlers
guides the boat. The remaining 18 paddle in harmony as fast as they can to the
finish line.
This interesting sport began in China around 2,000 years ago
in honor of a fallen patriot. There is a lot more to it, but 2 Chicas will let
you research the rest based on your personal interest. To get on with the
festivities, people from form teams, train and compete in races all around the
globe. For 2 Chicas the Tampa Dragon Boat Races provided another episode for
some good clean fun - so off we go.
Now April in Tampa is typically as hot as July in most parts
of the country and the day of the Dragon Boat Races was no exception! The fun activities
begin at Tampa Cotanchobee Fort Brooke Park. This location has quite a lot of
history and coincidentally, is home to the Tampa Bay History Museum.
Back to Fort Brooke, it was a former military post to
protect the area from illegal activity on the water and to guard against
attacks from the Seminole Indians. So here we are over 100 years later having
transitioned from military fort to museum, convention center, and hot behind waterfront park.
Unfortunately, where there is development, there is often a shortage of old growth trees. Now this was a fun time to watch racing on the shores of Tampa Bay, but in 90 degree weather, one really needs some shade!! Anyhoo, the racers were excited and race after race was being called out on the loudspeaker.
Chica 2, tired of history and heat, remarked that there
seemed to be more contestants than observers. That was our queue to get walking,
looks like more people were over towards the stage. The spectacular colors, smells, and music was wonderful! There was an Asian Festival
of sorts going on. There were food vendors selling rice, lo mein, sugarcane and frozen boba drinks, chicken, beef, pork and other delicacies.
Lo and behold - a coworker was selling wares from
her native Nepal! She was featured on a segment of CNN local for her participation in this event. Chica 1 spent time looking over the items. Of course 2 Chicas
supported the small business owner, so we waved goodbye with a lovely handbag
and necklace!
After grabbing some grub and watching a couple of performances,
Chica 2 said it was hotter than dragon breath out here and Chica 1 had to
agree. We watched a few more races and scooted over to the snow cone booth
before heading to the parking lot.
These races are held all over the country so
you may want to check out what is happening in your part of the world. If not,
come on down to Tampa for our annual race event, you may meet the dragon of
your dreams here!
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