I am telling you now – this is long. I loved our tour and the history of Ybor City. I am also leaving A LOT out – you are welcome. But, please, read it! Here is a link to a more detailed version of Ybor’s history!   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ybor_City 

Since we weren’t tired enough after the time with King Tim or swimming (kind of) with manatees; we decided to spend the next day swimming in the pool, the Gulf – and then headed to Ybor City for a Ghost Tour. Mom and dad didn’t come with us – they had a big night out with Sue-Sue and Uncle David….Doo-Wap singers and walkers, wooo hooo! Oh, in case anyone is wondering – there were no bras or underwear thrown on stage. Nobody wanted to throw a hip or tear a rotator cuff. I am sure that everyone was happy with the decision to keep the hips and rotator cuffs in (semi) working order.

Now, we have been to Ybor City before – during the day. We aren’t stupid and know Ybor’s reputation. So that is why we went a little early and got dinner. We had scoped out a few places online and had seen an Italian place – pretty safe. Dang – we didn’t realize that according to the boys we would be walking into the Taj Mahal of restaurants. They actually looked at the cloth napkin like it was a foreign object. OK, I will be honest and say that our restaurant experiences typically tend to lean toward casual/sports bar/family type places BUT…..they have been to nice places and we ****DO**** have cloth napkins (lots of them in many colors as Rich likes to point out) at home and we DO use them. Heck, the boys have even helped set the table when we have nicer meals and need a true place setting. I just shook my head because, well…..they are too old to drop off at a fire station  But, come on. Really? I swear, we aren’t THAT caveman-ish!

So, after a filling and fancy meal (eyeroll), we strolled around Ybor a bit. Thankfully the boys have been exposed to a few things already and know enough not to stare. They also know that if they want to ask a question, they ask it quietly. Unfortunately, they also learned that I love the smell of cigars. And Ybor City is the perfect place for me to be. Brief history…

Mr. Ybor was a cigar maker and in the 1880s he needed a new place to build his factory. He got the land outside of the little town of Tampa (less than 1000 people at that point) pretty cheap because the Tampa councilmen came to his aid and gave him some money to meet the landowners price. Mr. Ybor and the owner were stubborn businessmen and the Tampa councilmen were desperate for extra money/business/people to be near them. Mr. Ybor brought not only the cigar factory but the workers – mainly Cuban, Spanish, and Italian…then German. Why? They were needed for the boxes! In order to make it more appealing for the workers, he built houses, stores, schools….and most importantly – social clubs. The cool thing is that each ethnicity had their own social club so customs and traditions could be kept. Even better – everyone got along.

The funny part is that the state of Florida had NO idea that Ybor City existed. Part of the deal that Mr. Ybor made with the City of Tampa was that Tampa police stayed out. Ybor was upfront and warned them that Ybor City would be different – not the Bible belt/religious/Puritan ways that the Tampa people were used to. There would be gambling, prostitutes, drinking, smoking, “strange” religions…..it wasn’t long before the people of Tampa decided that they would visit Ybor. I think Vegas stole their tagline – “What happens in Ybor, stays in Ybor”.

Ybor was a very colorful city and was a major cigar manufacturer. As with any colorful city, there are more than a handful of colorful people. So began our ghost tour! Our guide was fantastic – he is a fifth generation Ybor City resident. I would love to go back and hear his history tour. Anyway…we got to hear about a crazy, egotistical, brilliant doctor who divorced and shipped his wife and five kids back to Cuba so he could marry his 15-year-old mistress. Since he got rid of his wife, he needed a nurse – so he ‘taught’ his 15 yr old wife how to administer anesthesia and then how to deliver babies. I knew my kids were slackers! When the second wife got old (and he was WAY older), he divorced her and threw her out on the street…..but her spirit never left the hospital.

The best part of the tour was when we got to go into the Cuban Social Club. It is a beautiful building! We were able to tour the whole place from top to bottom – with ‘ghost meters’. The meters went off in weird areas and the guide was upfront about not listening to it when near the window with the power lines or the electrical box.In each area we got some history and in some places we got some spirit stories. A murder happened in the board room but since it was committed by THE main dude, nobody spoke up. There have been many spirits seen and felt in the lovely auditorium. But the BEST was the basement. Back in the day – like way back – the basement had a basketball court, weights, track, and a little dunking type pool – which was a big plus during Florida summers. Unfortunately one day a little eight year old boy named Jimmy sneaked down and drowned in the pool. Right after that the pool was filled in. Jimmy is still there…..and played with T. T hasn’t stopped talking about it.

Ok – I am sure you are wondering about the cryogenic cats. What – it isn’t something YOU hear all of the time? Pffft! What circles are you in? I talk about it all….ok, I can’t keep going. So the last place that we talked about was the more recent hospital turned hotel and the social club across the street. This social club was different from the others – many people (men) gathered here. Rich men. Important men. A few lived there. Even more important, “party girls” were invited to live on the second floor. On of the men that lived at the club was an important doctor – who had a genius but VERY troubled son. This boy built an electric chair and was able to convince another child to sit in it. The boy lived but was badly burned (as one would be). The doctor paid the boy’s family off….as he did with the family of the child his son shot in the face. Once dad finally looked up from his medicine and stopped opening his wallet, he sent his son to military school. The boy flourished. Seriously! Unfortunately he had to graduate and go home. Dear old dad decided he needed to keep an eye on him so he had him move in with the ‘party girls’ and gave him a job in the morgue. Brilliant!! Dr. Phil would have a field day.

Well, somehow nobody noticed all of the family pets missing until Mr. Gruesome started talking about it. Then he decided to shut up and start using feral cats….lots of feral cats. There was something else that nobody noticed – the seven missing girls from his second floor residence. Hmmmm….maybe working in the morgue wasn’t such a great idea. What was he doing? Experiments! What kind? Trying to SAVE people! DUH! He was convinced that he could save tissue and bring people back to life. I am thinking it really didn’t work out too well. Oh – as for the poor feral cats? When the police went to his father’s storage building they found some cryogenic cats. Only a few. Like 30,000 or 40,000. And yes, T was more upset about the cats than the woman.

So that wrapped up our awesome tour – and our time in Ybor. The night was just starting to liven up which meant that we needed to get the kids out! I am open to them learning about new cultures and things but this was a bit much for them!

Seriously – take some time to read up on Ybor City. It has an amazing history. There is a ghost book for a couple of dollars on amazon and I can’t wait to read it. I am also going to get a real history book about it….the inner history geek in me is screaming to come out!

Cuban Social Club

Looking for Jimmy!!

No, not together. Can you even imagine?? I mean, really – is there enough material FOR a manatee wetsuit? Well, I am sure there is based on certain things I have seen (and can never unsee) but that is truly something that should never happen.

But, they kind of do go together since we need a wetsuit to see the manatees. And let me tell you – come next spring, wetsuit fashion will be making a HUGE comeback on the Paris AND New York runways. Kim K will be rockin’ one that Kanye designs! Wait – what do you mean they were never on the Fashion Week runways? According to my dad they were all the rage when he was younger! Even he had one … and THAT is something I can never unsee – even though I never saw it – my mind saw it and that is bad enough.

OK, this is really about the manatees, not the high style of wetsuit fashion. But let me just say, if you are looking for pictures of me in a wetsuit, they don’t exist. Like I said, we were there for the manatees – not the human manatees and I may have threatened death in a pretty scary way if anyone pointed a camera at me. So….we headed back to Crystal River the day that King Tim left. In fact, we left before Tim left. Yeah, the boys were totally thrilled about that. Need I remind them that this is the third year that we have done it so they really shouldn’t be surprised at the time we have to leave? In fact, each year we have stopped at the same D&D for breakfast. Hello, routine.

The past two years we had Capt. Tim and LOVED him. We tried to get him this year – got his company but messages got crossed and we got one of his other guys. I am not sure, but I think he was 15 – but he did just get married – but we are…nevermind. He was really good and very nice. Unfortunately – and sorry to everyone at home and up North – but March was pretty warm here and the waters warmed up nicely so many of the manatees left the Crystal River for the great wide open. There are still some left but the manatee to human ratio was certainly not what we had hoped for!! It also doesn’t help when there are two or three other boats with 15-20 people who are complete morons and surrounding, chasing, or crowding out the beautiful creatures. Yes, I know that they are HUGE but they are also the most gentle creatures I have ever come into contact with. Talking, splashing, and having kids completely freak out in the water with them isn’t really the cool thing to do. Not to brag (ok, I kind of am) but the very first time our boys went swimming with them, Capt. Tim couldn’t stop commenting on how well they were doing and how calm they were with the manatees. Yeah, we were proud.

Needless to say this wasn’t the best manatee year. The water was nice and the weather was great – and we had towels this year! We also went to a little area with a natural spring where we could dive under the water. The boys loved that! We had our cameras but the water was fairly murky – in large part because to the stupid people I just mentioned. BUT…..we still had fun. We were in Florida and with family! And we will go again next year – with Capt. Tim.

And definitely rocking the newest in wetsuit fashion.

The Captain we had diving to the natural spring

Not to be confused with ‘Tim, the Musical’ that is still being written and may or may not ever see the light of day. It all depends on if I let either Tim live long enough to finish writing it. I guess I need to start writing it to actually finish writing it.

Since Rich’s plane decided to be fashionably late, we slept in a little bit. Sadly, it wasn’t as late as we wanted but A) we have kids and B) one of us is getting old. So even though we couldn’t sleep, we didn’t rush out the door. Our boat reservation wasn’t until 1:00 so that gave us plenty of time to get snacks and drinks ready. Too bad someone else (no names but one of my children is named after him and it isn’t Andrew) didn’t think of making a sandwich for the four-hour trip! We did have a great time – even when we did let the kids drive. And, yes, T did ask if he could do doughnuts. Should I be scared that I took a little pride in that?

We ended up heading out to Shell Key and anchoring the boat there for a bit. Unfortunately the current and tide change made it tricky but we managed….but there was a casuality. T was on the boat and dad asked him to jump in and help move the anchor. T being T wanted to help Papa right away and forgot his iPod was in his bathing suit pocket. Just in case anyone was wondering, iPods don’t like salt water and trice doesn’t help. Thankfully, we had a warranty! But….Shell Key was great and Big T and I wandered off and had some nice sibling time together (and both made it back alive).

On the way back we got to wave to Sue-Sue, Uncle David, and Jonathan in their condo while watching dolphins – and texting each other about where the dolphins were. Gotta love the modern world! It was a nice and lazy ride back – just what we all needed. The boys (all of them) went for a dip in the pool when we got back and then we just chilled…..which was nice considering that six of us needed to wake up and be out the door by 7:30 for the manatees the next day.

It was a great visit with Big T but we really missed Sheena!!!!

OK…..yes I am a little (a lot) behind – but I am on a vacation and doing this to motivate the boys! Wait….at really isn’t helping my case, is it!?! In any case, we haven’t been sitting on our butts doing nothing – we have been busy! My back and ankle can attest to that. Dan, are you reading? I will be in after break!

To show how tired I am, I just published the first paragraph instead of saving it – while I was trying to connect the keyboard that I have – which apparently not only isn’t paired with my iPad but isn’t charged. Whoops. The fatigue is for another post….let’s just say it was a long day and I saw a scooter traffic jam in a gazebo. It was priceless.

As I was starting to say, we took a boat ride on the Cotee River. This was exciting because it is something that we had never done before. After three of us coming down here for over 35 years  (which is amazing considering how young I am) and add the other three coming down for 12 years, to find something new is exciting!! This ride went out of Port Richey and went down the Pithlaschascotee River. Yup. The Cotee River. We went into The Gulf for a bit, too, and saw the really cool stilt houses that I never knew about.

We also found out that the area was popular with movie stars. Seriously. We saw where Shirley Temple, Charlie Chaplin, June and Johnny Cash, Esther Williams, Gloria Swanson (original from Sunset Boulevard), and Kenny Rogers lived. Of course the boys knew Kenny Rogers from the Geico commercial but were kind of clueless on the others.

The stilt houses were cool. They started as places for fishermen to go and stay on weekends rather than going back and forth. Now, they are pretty much party houses! Some have Direct TV and some have generators. Some are still primitive. One of the boat dudes explained the whole tax and ownership part but I tuned out. The captain was…..interesting. At first you would have thought he had stopped for something on the way in. But then when you hear his story (retired fireman and worked at a nuclear plant) you get that he is just totally laid back and enjoying life. The other guy was really good and easier to understand! Ha ha!

I honestly don’t remember what else we did that day – sad, I know. Hey….you travel with the boys and tell me how well YOU do!

Shirley Temple’s house – yes, it is pink

Esther Williams’ house

Gloria Swanson (Sunset Boulevard)

Charlie Chaplin’s house

You’ve got to know when to hold ’em. Know when to fold ’em. Know when to walk away. Know when to run!

Stilt houses

Stilt house

So…..the condo itself is beautiful. But – apparently they want to make sure that NOBODY from the outside wants to get in. And if they happen to breach on layer, they certainly can’t breach another layer! There is master key that is needed for the lobby, to get in the pool area – which leads to the beach – then you need it AGAIN to get to the beach. To get back from the beach, key. If you happen to be at the pool and need the bathroom….yup, you need the key (the bathrooms are within the pool area). Once you are done at the pool – or coming back from the beach, you guessed it…..you need you key to GET OUT OF THE POOL AREA. Not kidding. Key is also needed to get in and out of the hot tub area.
I think a moat and drawbridge will be next. Alligators? Maybe retina scans? Actually, that will be easier – there are four adults and two keys. I can’t even begin to describe the juggling and planning involved just to go to the pool or to walk on the beach for sunset….let’s not even mention when dad goes out golfing and we are down a key! And the fear of losing it – my heart skips many beats with just that thought!