A brief tour of Tampa City, Florida/Carlos Pueblo

 A brief tour of Tampa City, Florida/Carlos Pueblo

The cruise liner arranged a brief tour of Tampa City, Florida on the way to the airport at the end of our Eastern Caribbean tour. Our guide, Dr. Reyes made two stops on our way, one was the University of Tampa main campus and the other one was an old home site owned by Cuban Government in a Cuban neighborhood at the old Tampa downtown.

He introduced the campus buildings, the old Tampa Hotel owned by Henry B. Plant some 100 years plus ago, and converted to a junior college some 93 years ago and then merged to the current day University with 10,000 plus enrollment offered 200 degree programs. I am most impressed with the campus landscape and four Moorish type buildings now a State Heritage site. I have been passing by on buses several time while I embark at Tampa Bay port for cruises. I always want to know more about those attractive and unique campus by the bay. Later on the second stop, he answered my question about Ted Roosevelt's adventure in Cuba. Tampa Hotel was the site of the invasion plan and those generals were invited by Plant to stay at the Hotel to draw the war plan. After the Spanish-American War, the U.S. took Cuba, Puerto Rico, Philippine, and many other Spanish colonies.

There are many Cuban American living in Tampa. Tampa is famous for her cigar factory. Our bus came out of campus and turned to the Bay to view a luxury residential area helped built by Plant. It was one of my dream to visit this site recommended by my old Taiwanese couple who drove by it some 40 plus years ago. The closed one for me was at Orlando on the east site with the Disney World. I never have had another opportunity to drive across the center Florida.

The second stop was a regular home site less than 1/4 acres in the Cuban American Area at Tampa. The old frame house was torn down to set up a memorial site with a statue on it. Across the site is an active cigar factory still. He explained some details history of the city and there were some beautiful chickens walking around the site and I took many shots on them. Chicken are protected in the city as well as the State and are very wonderful.

We went to the west Tampa to tour both the Yankee spring training field and the Tampa Buccaneer stadium. The Buc made to the Super Bowl once while the Yankee won the World Series frequently. 

I am reminded to go back to my books reading habit to enlarge my knowledge such as the Teddy Roosevelt's story in Tampa, etc. I am going back to the library next week.