Day Four: Staycation - Tampa

Tampa, Florida:  Today's traveling adventure takes us to about an hour and a half north to Tampa and look inside some of the lesser know attractions in the city.  We decided to pay a visit to the Ybor City Museum State Park and the Henry Plant Museum during our trip.

As we got ready to leave, the effects of the Staycation is starting to take a toll on the body.  The constant travelling is really starting to wear us down, evident by the snooze button being hit on the alarm clock and the fact we left about an hour later then we had planned.

No matter how many times we drive to Tampa, I still refuse to take the direct route.  But rather take I-275 over the Sunshine Skyway with panoramic view around Tampa Bay.  Today was an unusual day across the Skyway as the haze was diminished enough that you could see both the St Petersburg and Tampa skylines from the bridge.  Usually Tampa's skyline is lost in the haze.

We arrived our first attraction, the Ybor City Museum and almost instantly were taken back in time into the era when Cuban cigar manufacturing dominated the city.  The red brick street and old building help take you from big city life and into the lives of the immigrants who worked here.

The museum is housed in the old Ferlita Bakey.  The brick building was typical of the era and the original bakery ovens still exist.  The exhibits of the museum tell the story of the immigrants life from their jobs in the cigar industry and their personal lives in the social clubs.   There is a mock-up of a typical cigar factory to help show what life was like in the factories and how the workers made the cigars.

Also hosted in the museum was a temporary exhibit highlight the rich history of baseball in the region.  Being a big baseball fan myself, this was one of my favorite exhibits.  It had a collection of memorabilia from players that had an impact on Tampa.  During the tour, our guide was telling us that a  museum of baseball to honor native Al Lang was being built right across the street.

Shortly after we finished touring the exhibits, it was time for our guided tour of the Casita.  The Casita was the housing for the workers of Ybor City.  Built using shotgun style architecture, the design of the house allowed the air to circulate through the house to keep it cool during the hot Florida summer.

The Casita was furnished with authentic period furniture.  By the front door was a large nail in which the baker could attach a fresh Cuban Bread each day in a fashion much like milk delivery.  One of the coolest things about touring the house was the fact that a Cuban descendant was in our tour group.  His insight and stories really helped to enhance the tour.

When the guided tour was over, we were escorted to the museum store.  Here we watched a 20-minute film about the history of Ybor City.  While I thought the film was very informative, the Cuban in our group was quick to point out some discrepancies in the film which didn't seem to go over very will with the shop keeper.

Unfortunately during the tour, I became very ill.  Not sure if it was the heat, fatigue or a stomach flu, but it continued to get worse as the tour continued.  It got bad enough that I was brought to my knees with the stomach pains and spasm.  I tried to push through but as we continued I just got weaker and weaker.

Because of the illness, I was forced to cancel the remainder of our day and head from home.  We took a quick drive through Ybor as we headed home.    I felt bad having to cancel the rest of the day.  It is very uncharacteristic for me to not be able to push through the illness, but it was to the point where I was unable to proceed with our plans.

We will head back to Tampa in the near future to tour the Plant Museum.  Another landmark we wanted to tour, the Tampa Theatre, has a guided tour in two weeks so we may cone up to experience them both and maybe a few other places we wanted to see.

Tomorrow will be the official end of our Staycation.  I am really unsure what the day will have in store for us.  It was originally planned as a beach day in Boca Grande, but the events of today will have an impact on what we will be doing.  We may still do a beach day and stay closer to to home, but it is really up in the air right now.

Check back later to see more photos from our trip to Tampa as well as to see what happened on the final day of our Staycation.