Tampa Is Zelda with Cigars

My brief time in Tampa

So I got a confession to make. I hated the rest of florida, but I liked Tampa. Tampa was a breath of fresh air after everything that happened in Orlando. From the distant haze, Tampa seemed like a dirty city from the outskirts. There’s this dust in the air, and I’m not sure what exactly it is but the haze pulls up.

Tampa much like the rest of Florida has its homeless population. In this case, right at the heart of the bus station. There’s a field of them right when you get off. It adds to the kind of ominous mood I had stepping in. To be fair, Florida hadn’t been real good to me and I was hesitant.

Fortunately, it worked out quite well.

Here, I had a couchsurfer to take me into Tampa, as such I got a nicer look of the city than I did the rest of Florida. Tampa turned out to be quite nice. I walked downtown and got to check out where the Tampa Bay Lightning plays. It’s a beautiful arena right by the bay. From there, I found my couchsurfer. Zach was a busy guy for the first couple of days. He’s a dude that enjoys sitting down, smoking a cigar, and just having a good time. I met him, and we all did our thing. Him and his roommates were nice enough to feed me while my money recovered from the Orlando stuff.

The next day I explored the city a bit. Tampa has a train system that’s free and let’s you ride the main city and Yber, the area I stayed at. I wandered my way through the city via train and explored the sights. Tampa is a hidden gem. The coasts, the roadways, are all majestic. The ocean gives Tampa a fun vibe, and there’s the chickens.

So many wild chickens inhabit the city. They are on the ground, the streets, and everywhere. Visions of legend of zelda hit me as I remembered back in the day when I played the video game. Do I dare hit a chicken? Would I be swarmed and pecked to death like Link?

My favorite Zelda game. But I digress.

But it’s one of the things that gives Tampa it’s personality. Tampa feels frozen in time and probably feels like something out of cuba over say the United States. I say probably, because I didn’t go to cuba. But that’s the impression I got. It’s more from somewhere like that than say the states.

It was pleasant. Tampa has a ton of places to see and go. The original Coyote Ugly was there which made me smile. Tampa is a pleasant place to relax.

The other great thing about Tampa is cigars. Cigars are everywhere. Turns out Tampa makes quite a few of them for the world. There are cigar bars where people just go to smoke one. My last day in the city, Zach took me to one of the cigar shops and we hung out with his friends and smoked a cigar.

There’s an artform to the whole cigar smoking deal. If you inhale too much you’re coughing up a storm. I found that cigar smoking for me was a lot like breathing. You breathe it in, and then exhale it. After finishing my first cigar I tried to stand up. It hit me in the head. The headache was there. Woof. Cigars are not for kids, or maybe even for me. Zach smiled.

All in all it was a nice way to spend the evening. I did end up staying an extra day beyond the couch surfing. Just the way my bus worked out leaving, so I went north to explore the areas. The farther north you go in Tampa the more it reflects suburbs. I can’t say too much more eventful happened that extra day. I was finally going to head up the other side of the state.

Tallahassee was my final stop in the state. I was looking forward to finishing Florida off. Tampa was a nice place, nothing terrible happened to me, and it’s got a unique personality even for Florida. It stands out, the food is nice, and it’s a great place to go. I may have even convinced my sister to visit.

I’d do it again. It’s the only place in Florida I’d do it again, but it’s good. Next time, I’ll go a week sooner. Apparently Tampa has a festival that involves people dressing up as pirates and drinking. I just missed it. Next time.