4455 TAMPA DON VICENTE LINK to Tampa Florida Inns Heritage Travel Spend a Night in Historic Tampa
and Imagine What Life Was Like in Ybor City by Madelyn Miller, the TravelLadyDon Vicente’s Dream for Ybor has aged but never lost its Charm Planned as the center for visionary Vicente Martinez-Ybor’s community, this building was constructed in 1895 as the planning and development office. At the turn of the century, it became a health care clinic called El Bien Publico (“the good of the public”). Eventually it was transformed again into the Gonzales Clinic and served the needs of thousands of Tampa residents until 1980. After the Gonzales Clinic closed, the building sat empty for the next 18 years, suffering the ravages of neglect, vagrants and fire. Jack Shiver saw the potential for the old building, and began refurbishing it in 1998. Floors, trim, windows and support beams were painstakingly re-created by craftsmen to match the historical period of the building’s construction. Room jpg 1 and 5 Two years and more than two million dollars later, the building was reopened as the Don Vicente de Ybor Historic Inn, a charming boutique hotel. Featuring hardwood floors, Persian rugs, antiques, and chandeliers gathered from around the world. The Don Vicente has sixteen guest rooms as well as a full dining room, two full service bars, plenty of meeting and event space. DON VINCENTE YBORG JPG 6,7,8 I loved starting each morning with a bountiful buffet breakfast. QUICHE 001,( YBORG no number) But you will enjoy it whether relaxing with a glass of wine in the Grand Salon, enveloping yourself under your fluffy down comforter after a night on the town, or throwing your gala event on the entire main floor. The nice thing is that most the historic touches are maintained, you can still get good internet access in your room for free. If you are lucky enough to be there on a Tuesday night, take advantage of the free tango lessons. If you are more of a spectator, order a drink and just enjoy the regulars reviving this traditional dance. JPG 2,5,6,8 (USE ANY GOOD ONES) But wander around this historic neighborhood no matter when you are there. Stroll Ybor’s palm lined and red brick streets as you take in the ambiance of Tampa’s Latin Quarter and National Historic District. Don Vicente de Ybor Historic Inn
1915 Republica de Cuba Ave.
(corner of 14th street and 9th Ave) MORE ABOUT THE YBOR CITY NEIGHBORHOODYbor Square – Built by Don Vicente Martinez Ybor in 1886 as Ybor City’s first cigar factory and the largest in the world. In 1893, Cuban patriot Jose Marti delivered a speech from its cast iron steps, urging cigar workers to join the fight against Spanish oppression in Cuba. Centro Ybor - This $45 million entertainment complex anchored by the historic Centro Espanol social club opened in October 2000 with restaurants, retail outlets, a movie theaters, Improv Comedy Club and Game Works interactive game room. King Corona Cigar and Wine Bar - King Corona Cigars is more than just a cigar purveyor. It's a bar, a cafe, and home to Ybor City's only barber shop. L’Unione Italiana – This beautiful neoclassical structure was completed in 1918 to provide Ybor City’s Italian immigrants with social educational and medical services. Today, diners still enjoy the club during its numerous events and functions.
www.yborcity.com Tampa Tourist Bureau www.visittampabay.com r1-800-4 TAMPA DON’T MISS: Yacht StarShip
www.yachtstarship.com Tampa Theatre
Tampa Theatre, located in downtown Tampa was built in 1926 by the famed architect John Eberson. The elaborate movie palace decorated in ornate Florida Mediterranean style, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is also rumored to be haunted by the friendly ghost of Foster Finley – the theater’s projectionist who died in the 1970s. Today the theater is one of the largest preservation projects in Tampa and attracts 150,000 people each year with films, concerts and special events and remains the jewel of Tampa.
www.tampatheatre.org
813-274-8286 Henry B. Plant Museum
Known for its minarets that pierce Tampa’s modern skyline, the former 1891 Tampa Bay Hotel showcases the American lifestyle in the turn-of-the-century-Victorian era and is now part of the University of Tampa campus. The museum transports visitors back to the gilded age and features Henry B. Plant as a man with vision and a desire to shape the state of Florida and awaken a sleepy Tampa Bay.
www.plantmuseum.com Columbia Restaurant
The Columbia was founded in 1905 by Cuban immigrant Casimiro Hernandez, Sr., and today is Florida’s oldest restaurant, and the world’s largest Spanish restaurant. The Columbia Restaurant is owned and operated by 4th and 5th generation members of the founding family.www.columbiarestaurant.com Salvador Dali Museum
The Dali Museum is the flagship of cultural tourism on the West Coast of Florida and welcomes over 200,000 visitors each year from around the world. Serving the Florida community, 10,000 students are admitted without charge annually. A new series of small format exhibition catalogs is published to accompany the four new exhibitions mounted each year. The Museum will create a new building to protect its collection and welcome its visitors. It is continually adding to the collection with acquisitions of paintings, drawings and prints. The Museum's extensive archival library is key to the advances in academic research on topics from Dali to Surrealism, to interpretations of contemporary art. Today, the Dali Museum continues to preserve and protect its collection, making it available for the enjoyment and education of all people, with special opportunities for our local community, enhancing the public appreciation of Dali.
www.salvadordalimuseum.org Bern’s Steak House
Throughout their 50-year history of one of Tampa’s most famous restaurants, Bern’s Steak House, the Laxer family has displayed a certain obsession with quality. Highlights include specially aged U.S. Prime beef, a 65-page dessert menu, organic vegetables grown on their own local farm, one of the largest wine lists in the world and a kitchen so spotless guests are welcomed in for a tour. Bern’s has evolved into a “family of legends” with the steakhouse and its sister restaurant SideBern’s, plus Bern’s Fine Wine & Spirits and the annual Bern’s Winefest.
www.bernssteakhouse.com Tampa Museum of Art
Located along the scenic Hillsborough River in downtown Tampa, the Tampa Museum of Art provides a broad range of art-related experiences for visitors of all ages. The Museum collection includes twentieth-century and contemporary art and a renowned collection of Greek and Roman antiquities. A changing special exhibitions program provides a lively mix of classical and contemporary shows. Complementing these exhibitions are a wide range of classes, lectures, seminars, and children's activities. Accredited by the American Association of Museums, the Tampa Museum of Art was established in 1979.
www.tampagov.net/dept_museum/index.asp HIGHLIGHTSHenry B. Plant Museum www.plantmuseum.org
Tampa Theatre www.tampatheatre.org Ybor CityYbor Square – Built by Don Vicente Martinez Ybor in 1886 as Ybor City’s first cigar factory and the largest in the world. In 1893, Cuban patriot Jose Marti delivered a speech from its cast iron steps, urging cigar workers to join the fight against Spanish oppression in Cuba. Centro Ybor - This $45 million entertainment complex anchored by the historic Centro Espanol social club opened in October 2000 with restaurants, retail outlets, a movie theaters, Improv Comedy Club and Game Works interactive game room. King Corona Cigar and Wine Bar - King Corona Cigars is more than just a cigar purveyor. It's a bar, a cafe, and home to Ybor City's only barber shop. L’Unione Italiana – This beautiful neoclassical structure was completed in 1918 to provide Ybor City’s Italian immigrants with social educational and medical services. Today, diners still enjoy the club during its numerous events and functions. www.ybor.org
State Museum www.ybormuseum.org WHERE TO EATBreakfast at La Tropicana
Begin your day like a native. Start the morning with a Tampa tradition - Cuban toast dipped in a steaming cup of café con leche. It’s so good, you’ll understand why the tradition continues.
813-241-4545 PELAGIA Trattoria in the Renaissance Hotel
Critically acclaimed for its fresh flavors of Italy with a Mediterranean twist, PELAGIA is one of Tampa’s best restaurants. Enjoy Chef Fabrizio’s eclectic creations that will tempt the taste bud and create a memorable dining experience like no other restaurant in the Bay area.
www.pelagiatrattoria.com Columbia Restaurant
www.columbiarestaurant.com Mise En Place
Located across from University of Tampa and the scenic beauty of the former Tampa Bay Hotel, Mise En Place features New American cuisine with fresh local ingredients. Zagat survey says “Kudos abound for this superb, cutting edge New American bistro in downtown Tampa, where chef Marty Blitz creates dishes that are inventive yet homey, turning each plate into art.”
www.miseonline.com Circles South Tampa
Enjoy one of South Tampa’s premier boutique restaurants. With fusion flavors that are sure to entice the tastebuds, this eclectic restaurant will leave a memorable impression long after your dinner has been enjoyed. And while you dine, you get the best possible views of Tampa. IF YOU ARE THERE ON A SATURDAYYbor City Fresh Market and/or Ybor City State Museum The Ybor City Fresh Market takes place at Ybor City’s centennial Park every Saturday morning offering arts, crafts, produce, and novelty items such as cigar box purses. Or tour the Ybor City State Museum and get an understanding of Ybor City’s founding by Vicente Martinez Ybor, the cigar factories which provided Tampa with its first industry and the immigrants who created the city’s rich culture.
www.yborcityfreshmarket.cityserach.com
www.ybormuseum.org | 