By WENDY PLANT
Tucked away in a wing on the ground floor, the Henry B. Plant Museum stands as a testament to life at another pace.
Stepping inside the beveled glass doors, I was immediately immersed into a leisurely world of simpler pleasures. Pastimes, such as sewing, games of bridge, and writing, are captured in rooms devoted to life in a time without so many distractions.
I could imagine men and women, dressed in their stiff woolen ensembles and high buttoned shoes, rocking in fine mahogany chairs, sipping tea and engaging in spirited conversations about the politics and events of the day.
It is a world away from the students in their shorts and flip flops who seem more immersed in a text message, tweet or Facebook friend than in the person across the table.
Life as it was in 1891, when the Tampa Bay Hotel was built, came alive as I entered the rooms.
The slightly musty smell of carpet and furnishings worn and burnished by the years was somehow nostalgic and comforting.
Henry Plant built the hotel as a destination for the country’s elite traveling on Plant’s railroad, the first to the west coast of Florida.
Since Plant had admired Moorish architecture on his extensive travels, he hired New York architect, John A. Wood, to recreate the intricate ornamentation and soaring minarets.
The 511 rooms were the first in Florida to have electricity–cutting edge technology for the time, like University of Tampa’s fully-wireless campus today.
Guest rooms display their original glory with fine linen bedding and mosquito netting over the beds. After all, this was Florida before air conditioning and extermination, and there had to have been more than a few critters crawling and flying around to annoy the occupants.
Formal dresses, elaborately embellished hats, men’s ascot ties and suits are carefully laid out as they would have been by the owners’ maids and butlers in preparation for the evening’s festivities.
Ornately gilded mirrors lining the hallways reflected diners in their fine attire on their way to gourmet dinners at 6:00, and a museum docent told us that orchestras played in the circular balcony in the dome over what is now Fletcher Lounge so that the music fell softly around the guests as they enjoyed their meal.
Music for all to enjoy – not just those connected to their iPods.
Other areas of the museum showcase some of the men’s favourite pursuits, such as cigar smoking, gambling, golfing, hunting, and fishing.
In the glory years, there had been a casino along the river that fell victim to a fire.
Vintage photographs and a video about “Plant’s Palace” illustrate what is now Plant Park.
There were exotic gardens, containing a zoo with a menagerie of alligators, peacocks and other animals, a boat pavilion, bandstand, as well as hunting and fishing areas.
Hotel guests could amuse themselves on a nine-hole golf course, horse stables, and a race track that were available for entertainment on the grounds. Photos show hotel guests in their long gowns and parasols being carried by human powered rickshaws around the gardens.
During the Spanish American War in 1898, the hotel played an important role in American history when the American Army used the hotel as a headquarters and staging ground, and Plant’s railroad and steamships transported troops heading to Cuba.
Generals and war correspondents stayed in the hotel, and Colonel Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Rider soldiers trained on the grounds.
Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross, also stayed in the hotel while gathering supplies to care for the wounded, and hospital nurses and workers were headquartered in the hotel’s casino.
A touching display houses uniforms, letters from the soldiers to their loved ones, and other poignant memorabilia that are a tribute to the hardships endured during the war.
This was truly one of the first fine resorts in Florida, but the heyday didn’t last for long. Henry Plant died in 1904, and the city of Tampa ran the hotel until 1932 after a lengthy family legal battle over his estate.
It found new life when UT moved there from its home in a local high school in 1933.
A special treat waited at the end of my tour when I stepped into the museum’s gift shop.
There are plates and jewelery designed especially for the store, fine silver and china treasures from Victorian times, and beautiful photographs and books that freeze the period in time.
Upon leaving the museum’s quiet ambiance, I burst back into the bustle of a busy modern day university. The sunlight sparkled off the silver minarets silhouetted against a cornflower blue sky, and students gathered in groups in Plant Park.
A tour bus pulled to the curb to deposit its cache of curious visitors eager to enjoy a few relaxing hours in this oasis from another time.
The museum hours are Tuesday – Saturday from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Sunday, Noon – 5 p.m. It is closed on Mondays, Christmas Day and Thanksgiving Day. A special treat is to go during the month of December when the museum is decorated for the holidays as was done in Victorian times.
Museum admission is $10 for adults, $7 for senior citizens, and $5 for children 4 – 12 years. UT students, faculty and staff are given free admission to the Museum and a 10% discount in the Museum Store, including the Victorian Christmas Stroll.