Monday, April 14, 2025

Spring Break: Tampa (day 3, part 1)

For our third day in the area, we had plans to spend the entire time downtown, ending with the baseball game. We started in Ybor City, which is the historic area of town largely settled by Cuban and Italian immigrants involved in the cigar business:

We started our day at this highly recommended bakery and it did not disappoint

Just like in Key West, there were chickens loose everywhere. We seem to have caught them right at chick season, as we saw several little broods

SO many historical signs about cigar making, mutual aid societies and the planning of the Cuban revolution, which mostly happened in Tampa

Historic cigar factories


Dedicated to José Martí, the poet, journalist, and revolutionary leader who fought for Cuba’s independence, Jose Marti Park was donated to Cuba before their revolution and has plots of soil brought from different parts of Cuba. The park is still officially owned by the people of Cuba, making it one of the only pieces of Cuban soil in the United States.

It has roosters, like every other part of the city





We had lunch at the historic Columbia Restaurant:





The inside of the restaurant was really cool

After lunch, we took the street trolley back towards the parking garage. It is a cool historic replica:


More chicks

This is a a lot of pictures, so more on Tuesday adventures tomorrow!

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