IACC Day 1: Sunday, November 27, 2022 –
City Tour, A Seafood Lunch, and A Blast From The Past!
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With arrivals cycling through the weekend, Sunday was the first day everyone was together in one place! Beginning at the host hotel – the renowned Vinoy Renaissance on the St. Pete waterfront – World Partnerships conducted a city tour that provided an overview of city origin and history, its economic drivers and development, its thriving Innovation District, and the role that Tampa Bay plays in our quality of life and environmental awareness. Our visitor from Bangladesh, who had previously visited St. Pete on a Murrow Program for Journalists in 2016, marveled at the changes in the downtown skyline, the proliferation of murals and other public art, and the new St. Pete Pier.
When we stopped for lunch on Tierra Verde at Billy’s Stone Crab, the whole group exhaled and enjoyed their first time all together. It was the start of a great conversation and journey for them, and nothing like Florida seafood, a sunny day, and a water view to get things going! Last stop on the tour was at Fort DeSoto County Park, one of Florida’s last unspoiled barrier islands, and the site of a volunteer activity by our 2016 Murrow alumna, where the group planted over 6,000 sea oats. As we walked the beach to see the resulting sand dunes, Rozina said she felt so at home, and told the story of that outstanding volunteer effort. “Her” sand dune is now over 15 feet high! There is nothing like an afternoon walk along a quiet Gulf of Mexico beach to bring a group together. |
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