Ybor City, West Tampa, and Tampa Heights

In spite of the traffic noise, we slept well our first night in our AirBnB (more details about the house in the last installment) in Ybor City (Ee-Bor). Our house wasn’t in historic downtown Ybor, but out in the residential area.

Before we visited the historic district, we picked up breakfast at a Tampa institution – the La Segunda Bakery. Founded in 1915, it is still a favorite stop for locals and visitors alike. I had Cuban toast with butter and cream cheese (I could eat this every day) and Cecil had a guava cheese turnover. Absolutely unreal. We would have happily eaten every meal there lol.

Ybor City is named for Vicente Martinez-Ybor, an entrepreneur in the cigar industry. Born in Spain in 1818, he moved to Cuba at the age of 14 and began learning the cigar business. He began his own business in 1856 but moved it to Florida in 1868 to avoid conflict from Cuba’s campaign for independence from Spain. He started in Key West, but eventually landed in an undeveloped area just outside Tampa in 1885.

An influx of immigrants to the area brought the workforce that Ybor needed and also gave other cigar companies the opportunity to open in Ybor City. The city grew to thousands of residents within a few years and was known as the “cigar capital of the world.” Eventually the cigar industry declined as a result of the Great Depression, advent of cigarettes, and introduction of cigar-making machines.

Today downtown Ybor City is home to the Ybor City Museum State Park, a variety of restaurants and clubs, cigar shops, and parks and monuments. Cecil and I were there on a Wednesday morning so the only things open were the museum and the visitor center. There are very few shopping options, especially if you aren’t looking for cigars. We still enjoyed walking the six or seven blocks down E. 8th Avenue and back up E. 7th Avenue. You never know when you might pass one of the famous Ybor City chickens!

In the late 19th century when Ybor City was founded, livestock was a common feature of the town, including chickens. Over the years, some of the chickens found their way to downtown Ybor City from the residents backyards and their descendants are here to stay. The Tampa’s Bird Sanctuary Law protects the chickens from being harassed, harmed, trapped, hurt, or killed and in 2013 the Ybor Chicken Society was founded to care for and protect them.

After all that walking, we were ready for lunch. One of the reasons we had chosen Tampa was because of Alessi Bakery. Cecil had visited it twice during his work trips and always wanted to take me. Their bakery cases are to die for, and they also serve Cecil’s favorite Cuban sandwich.

I had a chicken salad sandwich and Cecil had a Cuban sandwich for lunch. It was near impossible to choose what baked goods to take with us so we each chose two: Me – cherry cheesecake and nutella cream horn, Cecil – guava turnover and chocolate and peanut butter brownie. We also grabbed a scachatta pizza to go. Neither of us had ever tried one but it seemed like everyone who walked in the door was buying one. This type of pizza is only found in Tampa and is sold at room temperature. The base is a soft bread, like challah, then topped with a tomato sauce and cheese. The Savory Traveler has a great article about it: https://savorytraveler.com/featured_article/scachatta-cuban-italian-fusion/.

Our next stop was a fun used bookstore called Mojo Books & Records. We both found a book and I bought a new spiral notebook (can never have too many!).

When we plan trips, I always ask Cecil where he’d like to go. If it isn’t somewhere like Alessi Bakery that he’s talked about forever, he usually just says he’s up for whatever. This time he said he wanted to visit the Museum of Science and Innovation (MOSI). We were there on New Year’s Eve, so it was pretty busy with families. Cecil probably would have stayed longer solving all the puzzles and trying all the things, but we didn’t want to hog anything. If we ever get back to Tampa, we’ll be sure to visit on a school day.

At this point I was almost asleep on my feet, so we went back to the house for an afternoon nap and recharge.

We love a good food hall and thankfully, Tampa, has an excellent one – Heights Public Market at Armature Works. The Armature Works is a restored streetcar warehouse that is now home to a mixed-use building. The food hall is only one piece of it and it does not disappoint.

Per usual, we wanted to try as many things as possible so we each chose a few different food counters and items. This was our New Year’s Eve dinner menu:

• EmpaMamas – Tampa Girl (roasted pork, honey ham, Genoa salami, swiss cheese, pickles, and Tampa Girl sauce) and Cheeseburger empanadas
• Ling’s Dumplings – Beef bulgogi dumplings
• Zukku Sushi – Tempura bagel sushi roll (salmon, cream cheese, sweet eel sauce, spicy mayo, tempura fried)
• Flan Factory – Horchata (this and guava were two of Cecil’s favorite flavors on the trip)

We couldn’t have picked a better place for New Year’s Eve. It was busy but everyone was courteous and helpful. There was even a wedding going on in another part of the Armature Works building so we kept randomly passing women in furs (yes, it was still cold enough for it!) and men in tuxedos lol.

After a full day we went back to our homebase in Ybor City, put on our stretchy pants, and enjoyed our dessert from Alessi Bakery. We didn’t make it to midnight, but we were very thankful to ring in the new year in such a beautiful place.

Next up – Days 4, 5, and 6!