Ybor City has evolved from a forgotten cigar "city"
Over the past decade, Ybor City in Tampa, Florida, has evolved from a forgotten cigar "city" to a National Historic Landmark District. Today, this lively Latin Quarter attracts visitors with its unique history, distinctive architecture and atmosphere. The wrought-iron balconies, brick streets, globe street lamps, boutiques, coffeehouses and nightclubs are evidence that cultural heritage is as important now as it was at the turn of the century. And the now trendy district even has its own home-brewed beer "Ybor Gold." Cigars are still hand-rolled today by master "tabaqueros." One of the most famous is Roberto Ramirez, who was born in Cuba, the son of a cigar roller and the grandson of a tobacco farmer. Since coming to the United States, Mr. Ramirez has been invited to the White House to demonstrate his craft, awarded the "finest torpedo" in a crescent contest held in Seattle and currently finds himself rated among the 10 best rollers in the world. Visitors can stop by Gonzalez y Martinez Cigar Factory located on 7th Avenue and 21st Street to watch the work of professional rollers who demonstrate their trade daily.
It began in 1885 when Don Vicente Martinez Ybor (pronounced EE-bore) – a Cuban cigar factory owner – fled the political and labor unrest of Cuba to establish his cigar empire in a key area of Tampa. Ybor's factories prospered and attracted Cuban, Spanish, Italian, German and Jewish immigrants to work in the factories or open their own businesses. People referred to it as "Mr. Ybor's City," which over the years evolved into the name Ybor City. At the industry's peak, the district had 200 cigar factories with 12,000 tabaqueros (cigar makers) producing an estimated 700 million cigars a year. As the depression and prohibition took their toll on the city, the cigar district declined.
Over the past decade, Ybor City has evolved from a forgotten cigar "city" to a National Historic Landmark District. Florida's oldest restaurant, the Columbia Restaurant, named after the ballad - "Columbia, Gem of the Ocean," first opened on 7th Avenue in 1905. Patrons used to gather in the small cafe to drink steaming cups of Cuban coffee and discuss the news of the day. Today the Columbia continues to be run by the fourth generation of its founder, Casimiro Hernandez Sr. Tampa's palace of Spanish cuisine is the largest Spanish restaurant in the nation. It occupies an entire city block and encompasses 11 dining rooms with seating for up to 1,660. It's known for its Spanish tile and colorful decor, "super" paella and famous flamenco dancers.
Related posts: In 1865 he chose Tampa town as the launching site of his rocket.
Also: Born In The Glamorous USA.
The creature, called Swamp Thing, was originally conceived as Alec Holland mutating into a vegetable-like creature, a "muck-encrusted mockery of a man". However, under writer Alan Moore, Swamp Thing was reinvented as an elemental entity created upon the death of Alec Holland, with Holland's memory and personality intact. He is described as "a plant that thought it was Alec Holland, a plant that was trying its level best to be Alec Holland."
Alan Moore's Swamp Thing had a profound effect on mainstream comic books, being the first horror comic to approach the genre from a literary point of view since the EC horror comics of the 1950's, and broadened the scope of the series to include ecological and spiritual concerns while retaining its horror-fantasy roots.
Waldo County, situated in mid-coast Maine along scenic Penobscot Bay, has genuine New England character evidenced by working port towns and quaint rural villages. Visitors are awed by the area's unspoiled beauty. From striking coastal views to sweeping mountain vistas, dramatic natural settings abound. In addition great care has been taken to preserve and refurbish numerous historic landmarks, homes and buildings. Consequently, the Maine of yesteryear is still found here.
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