Well I'm on the road again. A one day trip to Tampa, which I've taken twice before. You think I'd have this stupid city figured out by now, but not so much. At any rate, today I traveled to the historical community of Ybor City, which is a small part of the larger city of Tampa. Apparently Ybor City was the old Cuban section, and the architecture is still from that period and is pretty impressive. On the other hand the shops containing that architecture were . . . Somewhat less impressive.
It's clearly a club area, which I have nothing against. But since I was there at 6:00, it wasn't really club time yet, and even if it had been club time I would likely not have participated (I'm shy). So maybe I didn't see Ybor city at its best. Anyway it was one of those trendy art communities, with lots and lots of clubs and such.
I walked a four block by three block area and saw five tattoo parlors. After seeing the third tattoo parlor I began to think this area had a lot of tattoo parlors in a small space. At the fourth tattoo parlor I saw three young people outside smoking and looking bored, and suspected that that particular tattoo parlor was overstaffed.
Outside the fifth tattoo parlor I saw a girl writing on the back of a guy in permanent marker.
I'm not sure what to make of that. Probably cuts down on expenses.
Anyway, no book stores in Ybor City. Two record shops--one a fashion store with a little bit of Drum and Bass and Breakbeat music (neither of which are my favorite, I much prefer Acid Lounge, Acid Jazz, World Beats and so on). The owner who was nice enough, but also gently suggested that I didn't really fit into her store, recommended I visit FYE. Which was an overpriced Mall CD Shop. The one in Gainesville is pretty good--this one sucked.
On the other hand the clerk at FYE did have a nice detailed tattoo on her wrist. So it's nice to see her supporting the local economy.
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