The Tampa Theatre: against the backdrop of my habit to see restored movie palaces in every city I ever visit, this has become my new favorite

The restored TECO Streetcar connects downtown Tampa with the Latin Quarter of Ybor City

One of the numerous, historically vital Cuban social clubs in Ybor City

Although Washington’s H Street, N.E. corridor lacks the charm of Tampa’s Channel District by a streetcar mile, I hope it suceeds like this

Part of the original (expatriate) Cuban cigar factory for which Ybor City is named

A sunny, warm day in downtown Tampa. Twelve inches of snow await me in the coming days…

Writing and Reading Room; this was Theodore Roosevelt’s base as he led the Rough Riders into the Cuban invasion of the Spanish-American War

The former hotel’s massive veranda; rail cars once brought travelers from the north right up to its steps

The Henry B. Plant Museum is the part of the hotel (named after its steamship & railroad tycoon founder) that is not being used by the University of Tampa

From a distance, the 1891 Tampa Bay Hotel

The very brand new Tampa Museum of Art. Love it.

The ambitious new Dalí Museum (to replace the converted business park box), set to open - a goofy gimmick - on 1/11/11