Tampa Bay Florida

Relishing Old Tampa - Taking a bite of the “Big Guava”

Life has long been luscious in the “Big Guava”. Incorporated in 1849, Tampa, Florida has always offered a sweet existence to imaginative entrepreneurs, immigrant dreamers, illicit schemers, and snowbirds like us. For visitors the Gulf Coast city offers an exotic flavor, rich in fascinating history.

Downtown, the Tampa Bay Hotel sprawls along Hillsborough River. Its Moorish revival architecture features three silver domes and six minarets. Four cupolas crown the roof; keyhole arches accentuate windows and doors. Sally Shifke warmly welcomed us as actual hotel guests to this unique museum. Exotic antiques filled the hallway.

Sally explained, “Henry B. Plant built this landmark Hotel. The most luxurious winter resort of its time: it was the ‘Alhambra of the South’. During a world tour, the Plants collected forty-one train loads of tapestries, floor urns, paintings, mirrors, clocks, sculptures and 30,000 square feet of carpeting to furnish this dream palace.” Sally noted one of twenty silver Venetian-style French mirrors. Sparkling with light reflected from Edison’s reproduced early carbon-filament bulbs, she remarked, “In those days, this dim illumination was described as setting the place ablaze.”

One room was dedicated to Henry Plant, a self-made Yankee tycoon who built an empire of steamships, railroads and hotels in the 1800s. Another represented Tampa’s role as staging area for the 1898 Spanish-American War. The hotel was packed with officers, dignitaries and journalists; Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders camped nearby. We checked out a comfortable standard ($2 per night), then a spacious suite ($10 to $15). Sally assured us that the dead body in the luxurious suite involved Plant Museum’s Murder Mystery event. Nevertheless, we hurried outside.

We briskly strode a wide breezy veranda for almost its entire one-quarter mile length. Most of the old hotel now encompasses the University of Tampa. The spacious reception area has retained its grandeur. Entering the grand salon, music room, and grand piazza, our group “oohed” and “aahed” at their ornate opulence.

Bernhardt, Pavlova, Sousa and Buffalo Bill once entertained in these splendid rooms. Most spectacular was the high-domed dining room where orchestras played from balconies for guests enjoying sumptuous ten course meals.

A nostalgic yellow streetcar carried us to historic Ybor City and its remarkable Museum, housed in a heritage bakery. Wearing a high collared, forest-green Victorian walking dress, historian Maureen Patrick escorted us to a restful patio garden. Offering guava turnovers, she explained, “Small guava farms have long provided this delicate fruit for many tasty recipes.”

Exhibits graphically demonstrated how an extremely profitable cigar-making industry evolved in Ybor. Plant’s steamers brought in massive bales of fine Cuban tobacco; his trains carried Tampa’s fine cigars to northern cities. New immigrants arrived to work and live harmoniously in this thriving community. The cultures of Spain, Cuba, Italy, Germany, and Eastern Europe merged, creating a legacy of vibrant sophistication.

Though Ybor’s struggling labor leaders often met frustration and violent ends, criminals seemed successful. Tunnels built to expedite tobacco deliveries sheltered nefarious underground activities. “Bolita Lords” ran thriving numbers rackets. During prohibition, gangsters smuggled Cuban rum for huge returns. Learning that Ybor’s Italians were generally Sicilians, I asked about possible Mafia connections. Brown eyes shining, a docent replied, “Santo Trafficante was actually our neighbor. We sometimes joined the Trafficantes for spaghetti. It seemed like living the family dinner scene in The Godfather.”

In touring the museum’s 1895 company casita, we appreciated how opposing windows created cooling cross ventilation. Floridians have resourcefully adapted to a withering climate. Pausing on the sidewalk beneath an oak, Maureen flicked open her fan and declared, “You know, there’s special road rage here regarding’ shaded parking’...”

Don Vicente Martinez Ybor’s original brick cigar factory remains, covering an entire block. Cuban patriot José Marti once spoke from its porch entrance to cigar workers, rallying support for Cuba’s independence.

The Cherokee Club stands on the opposite corner. Teddy Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and artist Frederic Remington once stayed at this Gay Nineties gentlemen’s club. Maureen drawled, “This is where well-heeled guests enjoyed drinking, gambling, and we can rightly surmise, female companionship.” Further on, Maureen told us of Max Argintar (1908), a clothing store. Like many other Jewish immigrants arriving with next to nothing, Max skillfully built up a prosperous business.

Maureen wrapped up our tour in central Ybor. “Social clubs like this Spanish Center, provided education, recreation and extensive health care. Architecturally impressive, their buildings still testify to workers’ grand aspirations. You see that Centro Espanol, a landmark from 1912, has been restored and converted into a multi-level complex of shops, ballroom, improv theater and restaurant.”

Our historic day culminated at Florida’s oldest restaurant, the Columbia. Opened in 1905, the fifth generation of founder Casimiro Hernandez Sr. continues Cuban-Spanish traditions. This tiled “palace” occupies a city block, enclosing eleven dining rooms. Decorative tiles and paintings frequently depict the feats of Don Quixote, a kindred dreamer.

Against the backdrop of a graceful dolphin fountain, our waiter mixed fruity sangria at our table in a sunny courtyard. Chunks of warm Cuban bread accompanied traditional soups, salads and entrees. Many recipes originated from royal chefs hired from Kings of Spain as far back as James I.

Taking a bite of the “Big Guava”, we had walked into its smoky past. Dining now in 19th century splendor, we made a toast to old Tampa.

Some useful contacts:

Tampa Tourist Bureau www.visittampabay.com
Henry B. Plant Museum www.plantmuseum.org
Tampa Theatre www.tampatheatre.org
Ybor City State Museum www.ybormuseum.org or www.ybor.org
Maureen Patrick, Tampa Historian www.historicguides.com
Columbia Restaurant www.columbiarestaurant.com
MOSI - “The Titanic Exhibit” www.mosi.org
Lee Roy Selmon’s “Down Home Taste” www.outbacksteakhouse.com
Chase Suites by Woodfin www.woodfinsuitehotels.com

Author: Rick Millikan and Chris Millikan