Shiver me timbers…the Jolly Roger’s in town

Most UK visitors, and there are millions of them each year, will travel to Florida to enjoy the delights of Orlando and/or Miami and good choices both are. If however you are looking for an alternative with an airport that offers slightly easier entry than some others in the sunshine state, with fabulous restaurants, easy access to the water and enough festivities to satisfy even the most active of holidaymakers then Tampa Bay may be an alternative worth looking at, writes Graham McKenzie.

I, like many visitors to the city, was attending a conference at the modern riverside centre which is able to hold some big gigs with a 600,000 sq ft centre including a 200,000 sq ft exhibition hall, ballroom, breakout rooms and pre-function areas. One of the major benefits is the immediate access to a variety of hotels. I stayed for three nights at the underrated Embassy Suites. The rooms are like small apartments with a small sitting room and a second TV. Free breakfast and free early evening drinks all come as part of the package plus, of equal importance to a late night partying delegate, its less than 300 yards to the sessions.

Tampa is, one might say, a typically modern Florida city. An urban area that has grown rapidly in the last twenty to thirty years with everything one would want – wide clean pathways, shops, restaurants, lots of parking but apart from a very local trolley service, no perceivable mass transport system.

Once a year though it is the venue for one single act of mass transport when Gasparilla, one of North Americas largest festivals which I was lucky enough to attend, comes into town. In essence a mythical man called Jose Gaspar (Gasparilla), a Latino Jolly Roger, and his band of pirates conduct a friendly invasion of the town at the end of each January and have been doing so for over a hundred years. Ye Mystic Krewe, as they are known, arrive via the River Hillsborough on their own galleon, dressed in what look to be Zandra Rhodes’ cast offs, firing cannons and a variety of flintlocks to an adoring crowd of locals and visitors alike.

The general idea after that is to acquire as many bead strings as possible as the pirates undertake a circular parade of the city and generously dispense the adornments. In addition to this is it almost mandatory to dispense of as much grog  as possible and strangely, the more you do of that, the more like a pirate you behave to the point that you only communicate in ‘ayes’ , ‘aaarghs’ and  ‘what be happening matey?’. A ruckas day be had by all.

The area of Tampa that offers a more authentic aspect of a mature Florida is the historic sub district of Ybor city. Growing to prominence in the late 19^th and early 20^th Century, Ybor was THE cigar capital of the world until the recession hit in the 1930s. This tobacco culture and heritage can still be seen today and if the mood should so take you, a locally rolled Humidor can be all yours. The multinational background of its early residents can still be seen in almost every aspect including architecture, food, drink and entertainment. It’seven got its own brewery, ‘Cigar City Brewing’ ,and has, amongst its quite impressive list of ales, a British keg bitter. In all the years I have been visiting, including when I lived in the USA, this is the first time I have ever found such a liquid that has the authentic taste and lack of gas – tasty!! impressive! Shiver me timbers it be ‘appening again.