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Ybor City
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As Noonie mentioned a few posts back I was away on vacation. I spent time in 3+ different cities, and will be posting about my travels in the coming days.
On my trip one of the stops was in Tampa, Florida.
Why Tampa you might ask? Well I'm glad you did! One of my best-friends from high-school moved to Florida a few years ago and, after 8 years, I finally made my way down to see her, and her family.
Tampa is definitely not like any city I have been to yet. I am a City Planner, so looking at, experiencing, and analyzing cities is one of my favorite past times. On my first day in Tampa I drug my girlfriend along with me Downtown to experience Floridian city life, which left much to be desired. It was quite odd if I may say. This was on a Wednesday afternoon and the city was virtually empty. We walked for a few hours and very few people were seen, not to mention the downtown was quite bare only consisting of large office buildings with the occasional restaurant. A noticeable lack of street activities: such as shopping, bodegas, or art installation. The highlight however, was a Twinkies truck. Yes, a truck giving away twinkies, with a man dressed up in a twinkie costume. Regrettably I did not take a photo with this amazing phenomena.
After being under-whelmed by the downtown, she and I ventured into the Ybor City, which would be the equivalent to an 'old town' district. Again, deserted but more intriguing. This neighborhood (and Tampa overall) came to be built around the cigar industry, immigrants from Cuba, Spain, and the spanish-speaking world came here to make a home. The influence is noticeably 'Latin' and had some cute older buildings. This area, as with many 'old towns,' consisted of bars, cigar lounges, tattoo parlors, a handful of restaurants, and the other random activities like a movie theater. Unfortunately I was not able to enjoy the 'oldest restaurant in Tampa' but perhaps I can do that on a future visit. My friend and I did however come upon a 'hipster' coffee shop selling $4 sangria which was quite delicious and a nice stopping point!
The next day the 5 of us took a trip to the Children's Science Museum, which was super fun. My favorite part was the part about weather, the environment, and climate change. I'm often impressed by these exhibits at museums.
On my last day we went to St. Pete's beach, walked around, and had cuban sandwiches.
This trip was so much fun, I only wish I had taken more photos!
San Diego, San Juan Capistrano, and Laguna Beach soon to come!
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| Ybor City |
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| Ybor City |
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| Ybor City |
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| Downtown Tampa |
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| Downtown Tampa |
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| Downtown Tampa |
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| Downtown Tampa |
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| Ybor City |
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| Downtown Tampa - Art |
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| The Family at the Museum |
