Published: May 08, 2008 06:30 am            

Tampa: Short visit simply isn’t enough

NEW CASTLE, Pa. — With only two days allotted to my Tampa visit, I had to pick and choose my itinerary carefully.

Because Busch Gardens ate up one entire but exciting day, I decided go for a diverse array of attractions on Day Two, starting with the Florida Aquarium, home to more than 20,000 aquatic plants and animals from Florida and elsewhere.

Located in downtown Tampa at Channelside — a megaplex of restaurants, shops and entertainment venues — the sleek, domed complex was ranked as a “Top-5 Kid-Friendly Aquarium” by “Parents Magazine.”

Arranged into four major galleries — Wetlands, Bays and Beaches, Coral Reefs, and Sea Hunt — the Nautilus-shaped building includes fish galore, but also alligators, river otters, octopi, penguins and 30 species of free-flying birds.

One special exhibit in the Coral Reef Gallery features two species of sea dragons, which look like twigs covered in sea weed. The Florida Aquarium is one of only a few facilities in the world displaying these exotic sea creatures.

Special programs include “Swim With the Fishes” and, unbelievably, “Dive with the Sharks,” in which certified scuba divers 15 and over can dive into the shark habitat and swim with the seemingly ferocious creatures.

A fun way to get from the Aquarium to Ybor City, once the cigar capital of the world, is via old time trolley cars, which clang their way along the route and are driven by uniformed conductors. Be sure to get off near the Ybor City State Museum, housed in what was once a neighborhood bakery founded in 1896. The museum gives a good overview of the history of the historic landmark district, one of only three in Florida; of the cigar industry founded by Vicente Martinez-Ybor; and the immigrant workers who hand-rolled as many as 125 cigars each day in one of Ybor City’s 230 registered factories.

You’ve probably heard the term Tampa cigar. At its height, Ybor City turned out millions of cigars until the Depression, cigarettes and automation put a significant dent in the industry.

If you’re lucky, Dagoberto Troncoso, a man who’s been rolling cigars since the age of 14, might be giving a live demo in the museum. Be sure to take a guided tour of the adjacent casita, one of hundreds of two- to three-room wooden workers houses that used to line the city’s streets.

Walking tours of the district are relatively compact and reveal a wealth of architectural treasures, including that of some of the city’s major ethnic clubs that served as social centers for 19th century immigrants. Most are still vibrant today.

Ybor City has become an entertainment and shopping mecca, where local hand-rolled cigars can still be purchased in shops and a variety of music can be heard in the district’s pubs, bars and nightclubs.

One gem of a restaurant, Columbia at 2117 E. 7th Street, is Florida’s oldest eatery and the world’s largest Spanish restaurant. Founded in 1905 as a small café, the restaurant expanded over the years to encompass an entire city block and now has fifteen gorgeous dining rooms that can seat up to 1,700 people.

Favorite dishes include Spanish bean Soup, paella, red snapper alicante, pompano en papillot, roast pork a la Cubana, the original Cuban sandwich and the famous 1905 Salad, prepared tableside.

With one of the most complete and best collection of wines from Spain in the world, Columbia’s wine inventory exceeds 50,000 bottles. In 2007, “Wine Enthusiast” magazine presented the restaurant with its “Award of Ultimate Distinction,” one of only 29 restaurants in the U.S. to earn this honor.



Dave Zuchowski writes for the New Castle (Pa.) News.



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IF YOU’RE GOING ...



Tampa



•For more information on Tampa, call (800) 826-8358 or visit www.TampaBay.com.

•A great way to see Tampa from the water is aboard the Yacht StarShip, an $8 million, 600-passenger yacht with five elegant dining rooms and 3 decks that docks at Channelside. A 2 1/2 -hour dinner cruise included a gourmet repast followed by dancing on the oversize Promenade Deck as the ship makes its way past the upscale condos along Harbor Island and a look at the magnificent downtown Tampa skyline. Lunch and Sunday brunch cruises also offered. Call (813) 223-7999 or visit www.yachtstarship.com.

•For a place to stay, the Sheraton Riverwalk Hotel, 200 N. Ashley, is located along the picturesque Hillsborough River. Some rooms have patios with riparian vistas, and the outdoor pool is a good place to cool off after a day of sun-filled touring. Call (813) 223-2222 or www.sheratontampariverwalk.com.

•For more information on the Florida Aquarium, call (813) 273-4000 or visit www.flaquarium.org.

•For more information on the Columbia Restaurant, call (813) 248-4961 or www.columbiarestaurant.com.

        

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