Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog

So after my recent post about the fun to be had downtown in St Pete (as opposed to downtown Tampa which is about as fun on a Saturday as a root canal) I promised that I would also post about the nighttime scene there. Autopsy kindly offered to be my guide since he lives nearby so I grabbed a friend and headed to 727 last Saturday night.

Now I have partied in St Pete before but I never really spent much time downtown. The bars close at 2am after all so really I figured what was the point? Autopsy set out to prove me wrong.

I parked near Central for free. There is a lot of free on street parking downtown but beware, some blocks require a residential parking permit and some parking lots are private proerty and you are taking a risk if you park there. Just pay attention to the posted signs and you’ll be fine. First we all loaded up in the Autopsy-mobile with Mrs Autopsy, us and the Mildred the pit bull. We took a short ride up to Steve’s Bar.

Steve’s is a drinker’s sports bar located on Central between 9th and 10th streets. Pool, jukebox, several flat paneled televisions and a long comfy bar to sidle up to. Mildred the pit bull is at home here and everyone was friendly. The music is low enough to allow conversation and the drinks are priced right too. Actually I could have happily spent the whole night here but we were on a mission. We left the girls at Steve’s and headed east towards the water.

Next on the list was Durty Nelly’s. I liked the feel of this place, like a dark and alcoholic living room. It was too crowded when I was there and we left quickly to check out who was playing at the Emerald. A loud rock band was just what I wanted to hear and the Emerald never fails me. I never get how they manage to squeeze a band in at the end of the bar but it works. It is a bit odd to have to walk between the band and the patrons to get to the bathroom in the back but nobody minds. When they have no bands I am told the old jukebox still works, although I have never been to this place when there wasn’t a band coming on, about to come on, or just breaking down.

After a few more drinks we headed back to the street and walked down to The Lobby to hear some jazz. The Lobby is a rambling affair with several rooms and different themes going on. There is the club area with music and a very cool atmosphere. The patio with its resident jazz band and nice conversation in the chilly weather and a side bar with big tables and air conditioning cold enough to hang meat. I got a little attitude for actually hanging out at the bar here from the otherwise pleasant bartender though which was a little odd.

We hit the road now that it was after 1am and wanted to try one more place. Corrigan’s is not on Central, it is just a block south though on Beach Drive. The good news is that it is smoke free (ok for some that is bad news) but it is a good place to end the night. After last call we walked down by the water to enjoy the pleasant night and the absence of sirens, loud music, and that tense feeling of impending violence that you get some nights in Ybor. If Ybor is Bourbon street then St Pete is Decatur, if you get the reference.

The next time your Saint Pete friends say they don’t want to drive over to Tampa ask if they’d rather stay local. It really isn’t as far as you think and is a safer and cheaper alternative to your regular Ybor/North Tampa/T&C/Brandon hangout. Also I am sure that missed a ton of great places so St Pete residents why don’t you leave some comments with your favorite bar or night spot on your side of the bay.

A couple of weeks ago (remember the sticky heat of summer?) my girlfriend and I had the bright idea of going to Lowry Park Zoo. Now I have been to the Zoo plenty of times over the years and usually had a good time, the last time I was there was maybe two years ago. The park seemed to have changed quite a bit in the interim and I was sad to see the decline. The heat was oppressive, but I am used the that. Busch Gardens solves that with misters and an abundance of shade. Lowry Park doesn’t have much shade for visitors or their animals. The animals solve this by finding any scrap of shade and not moving at all but we didn’t have that option. The staff of the park was pretty lackluster as well. Very few places were open to serve refreshments due, I assume, to the low attendance. Those that were open were staffed by folks who looked as if they were just there to satisfy the provisions of their probation.

I don’t like to focus on the negative aspects when I write for Sticks so I will cut to the chase. We called it a loss and split for better times.

Wanting a cool treat we headed across the Bay to St Petersburg’s downtown waterfront and Beach Drive. After parking for free we walked along Beach drive and tried Gelato. A constantly rotating array of ice cream flavors is served in cups that can hold three or five different flavors. Caffeine addict? Have a shot of espresso served over you ice cream too. If you still need a pick me up walk next door to Hooker Teas for a chilled drink to walk with. We window shopped at antique stores we could never afford and then walked through the park and took our pictures in front of the majestic and cool Banyan trees. Baywalk is right there too. For a small fee you can take a walk though the Museum of Fine Arts and enjoy art while strolling though air conditioned galleries and cool courtyards.

When you get done with the shopping district hop back in your car and drive further south on 4th Street South and turn onto Roser Park drive. Roser Park is a tiny oasis where the sound of water drowns out any lingering traffic noise and the old brick streets are so uneven that cars cannot speed through and disrupt the peace. Think of it as traffic calming early 20th century style. You can find parking on the street for free and take a walk along the path next to Booker creek. Trees loom over your head and provide a cool shelter from the sun. Sit on a bench and look at the historic homes sitting on top of high bluffs that look utterly unlike anything else I have ever seen in flat-as-a-pancake coastal Florida. So the next day you have off and want to do something local, something to break your routine without breaking your wallet, something to give you a respite from the hot and muggy take a quick drive downtown and think, “Wouldn’t it be nice if Tampa could figure out how they did this?”

BTW- Coming soon (or when I get around to it) “Central Avenue After Dark” or “Ybor Sans Handguns and Omni Parking”

I went on down to Ybor this past Saturday night to check out the drag show I’d heard about at Flirt nightclub at 1909 N 15th Street in Ybor. I hadn’t been to a drag show in a lot of years (can you say Stephanie Shippae-aaayyyyyy!) and was up for some fun. Flirt surprised me a bit, I hadn’t been in the building since it was Red Star and they had done away with the lounge-y feel of Red Star but kept the comfortable bits. Ample seating, large windows, and clean bathrooms (note: The upstairs is a onesy with a female attendant so guys if you are pee shy you might want to go downstairs to do your business).

The first drag show kicked off just after midnight and three drag queens.. erhmmm… female impersonators took the stage to hoof it while lipsynching along with the music. The highlight of the evening was the Britney Spear’s cover; doing “Gimme More” in the same outfit the celebrity wore at the MTV Video Music Awards. Like Brittany at the VMA’s she was overweight, confused, and appeared to be drunk. The best part was when she tried to snort some white powder between verses and it exploded all over her face and chest.

We went back for the second show at 1:30AM and the crowd was bigger and louder which makes the show more fun. There was a “duct tape malfunction” that cut short the set from one of the girls. She made the best of it though, complaining that “Home Depot duct tape is the sh*t. F*ckin’ lesbians told me to go to Lowe’s since it was on sale and look what happens!”

If you are up for some late night fun and have an open mind, check out the drag show at Flirt. It is fun and cover is $5 for over 21 with reasonably priced drinks. If you are under 21 that is ok but you will pay a higher cover. If you are straight that is ok too, we were welcomed but as one performer put it, “Try to blend in!” Tip your favorite girls a buck if you are having a good time and have some fun this weekend!

I visited the Ringling Museum in Sarasota recently and learned three important facts that I would not otherwise have known. There is a Friendly’s restaurant in Sarasota now, Tony Little is doing ok, and being a Circus kingpin in the 20’s was a very very good thing.

Stopping for gas on the way south, my passenger went in to buy a water and told me she thought she saw Tony Little, yeah - that Tony Little, to which I replied “no it isn’t.” Well I was wrong, his chauffeured Town Car (I guess that gazelle thing sold ok, huh?), had pulled in for snacks while he was on his way to St. Augustine.

Alright, back to the “educational” part of this post.

John and Mabel Ringling built themselves a Venetian home right on the water in Sarasota and right next to it they built a museum. They spent the next several years traveling to Europe and buying works of art and furnishing in between signing up new circus acts. The result was the stunning estate at the end of University Drive in Sarasota.

Open every day from 10:AM to 5:30PM, admission is $19 but with a Florida driver’s license you get a 2 for 1 deal. Even better if you have student or military ID you get a reduced price in addition to the 2 for 1 deal.

The house underwent a full refurbishment in 2002 including new air conditioning (and security cameras in almost every room so don’t touch). Outside the large patio over looks the intra coastal and all of Longboat Key. If you wait for the free tour a docent will take you throughout the first floor and then up into the second floor for a special guided tour that is not available to those who choose to simply wander. The beauty of the estate was matched by the gorgeously restored home and being able to enjoy them both in air conditioned comfort was just what a hot Florida summer day needed.

Afterwards we took a tram over to the art museum and again allowed ourselves to be guided through the works of Ruebens and Monet (the impressionist exhibit is now over). Arranged by school, the rooms of the museum are beautiful and a guide will help you understand and enjoy what you are looking at if you are not an Art History major.

Now the estate also boasts two Circus museums and a theater in the new welcome building. As the weather gets cooler the estate will make for a pleasant walking tour and you can take more time exploring the gardens and sculptures that dot the property.

Afterwards we stopped at Friendly’s (so when the hell is Tampa getting one?) for a bite and a coffee milkshake. Weary feet and a thundering rainstorm passed by before we finished. If you are looking for a great day trip, keep Ringling in mind. It includes the best parts of Florida - water, sun, art, and air conditioning!

Sherriff David Gee got to break out the old handcuffs for the first time in a long time Saturday night. TBO reports that Gee observed “a DUI suspect who nearly caused an accident,” so he followed and arrested T. J. Hoffmann at a convenience store (while the suspect was picking up some more beers). Even better, Fox 13 has the video.

The HCSO site shows that Hoffman has been arrested for battery with a deadly weapon and has previously had a DUI, but his best mug shot is from this past weekend’s arrest.

If you plan to be working on your six pack, please don’t drive.

So last week Ellen Gedalius reported in the Trib that the City has come to an agreement with M&J Wilkow who bought the struggling Complex last year. I posted on it back in November 2006 when Wilkow first bought the property and more recently we talked about the positive attitude some of the current business owners have about the new owners. Now the City has approved a plan where the new owners actually agree to help pay the mortgage we are currently paying on the place (well kinda). This addresses one question I had raised in a previous post,

Although I can’t be sure, I read this mean that the loan is not secured against the property (since they would have to pay it off when the complex is sold), but instead secured against city bonds.

In fact it seems that the debt is a mortgage we cosigned and which is going to be resubborned to the new owners (but we still have to pay for it).

Taxpayers long have been on the hook to subsidize Centro Ybor. In 1997, the city guaranteed a $9 million loan from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to help finance the center. The debt is in the form of a second mortgage on the property.

First of all great job to Ellen and the Trib for making that clear. Calling it a mortgage makes it very clear how silly this deal was for the city. Think about it, would you guarantee a mortgage for somebody to build a nice house next to yours in the hope it will make your home more valuable? I didn’t think so.

The whole story has gotten more than a little wacky with a t-shirt wearing millionaire offering to buy the debt outright. Alana Kahana and Joseph Capitano, themselves big real estate owners in the Ybor area both individually and in the name of Cherokee Associates, offering to buy both the debt by itself and the complex as a whole. Both efforts, according to city attorney David Smith, are designed to get the current owners to sell the property at a discount. Although the offers themselves may be spurious the city seems to be reviewing them to see if they are serious. Of course they seem to hate having to do it. Most of their concerns seems to be with the way the offers were made public.

“This is not the way we do business - coming before council after we’ve done a lot of work over many months,” [chief of staff] Darrell Smith said. “We realize it’s a very complex arrangement. We don’t like to do business with anyone standing up at council and trying to make a deal. This is not the courthouse steps. This is not an auction”
…Mayor Pam Iorio could not be reached for comment late Thursday, but Smith said “she was unhappy with the way it makes the city look, and she’s right. This circus like atmosphere is very embarrassing to the city.”

Maybe it does look bad and maybe these guys all have their own agendas but who really cares? The City is a poor business owner and here we have two groups of locals with proven business experience willing to let the city off the hook that Dick Greco put us on. They can also do it a whole lot faster than the current owners have offered to. Remember M&J Wilkow? They promised to pay a whole $100,000 upfront and $25,000 over the next six years towards the second mortgage that we pay $770,000 a year on right now. That means that they will pay a total of $250,000 on debt that the city will spend $4.6 million on during the same period. That math is bad for us all.

A quick mention for you furniture depleted value seekers out there. The Sticks and Stuff on Gandy in Tampa just east of Manhattan is having a store closing sale. The site is being sold off to Wal-Mart and for once nobody is arguing against the giant retailer. It is as if folks don’t like the big furniture warehouse/peep show theater that occupies the land now.

If you are thinking “Oh god South Tampa traffic!” remember that the construction on Manhattan is now completed and you can enjoy its four lane landscaped splendor on your way to pick out your “French Country” bedroom set made of balsa and foam.

If you are asking yourself “why is Jason being so down on Sticks N Stuff?” I am not, cheap furniture is awesome. In fact I once furnished a whole house for $499. I went to Sticks N Stuff.

The St Pete Times reported on Saturday that USF has inked a deal to rename the Sun Dome for a company that finances student loans. Aside from the apparently signing a deal with the Gotti family wing of the Student Loan industry (and aside from completely ignoring that the Times themselves renamed the Ice Palace in their own name recognition endeavor) maybe we should stop to think about a few of our complaints about our home. Lets also think about why this issue of naming our landmarks after the highest bidder takes a little bit from us with each stadium, field, or venue.

As a city we are often described as lacking vision, culture, or significant history. This may seem not to be related to the renaming of a mid-size college sports and music venue but keep in mind the rest of the country views us through the lens of popular media and our public venues are what we present to the world. They are a big part of what sets one city apart from every other city in the nation. Think about what you know about the cities you most want to visit but never have.

I think of Chicago when you say Soldier Field. Mention Los Angeles and I think of watching the 1984 Olympics at the LA Coliseum. Fenway Park means you are in Boston. New York? Madison Square Gardens. I remember watching the World Series be interrupted by an earthquake before the game at Candlestick Park. Currently named Monster Park, it is set to go back to its historic name for good soon. Its corporate sponsors apparently having thrown up their hands at locals who refuse to call it anything else.

Yes, it is a small thing. I know. Consider though that really the Academic Financial Services Arena could exist anyplace. Nothing about it says “Tampa” at all while the Sun Dome has at least regional recognition.

We have already given up so much and for what?

The Ice Palace is the St Pete Times Forum, how did that help either the venue or the city? Could ticket prices really be higher? The Suncoast dome/ThunderDome is Tropicana field now. Does anybody in the US know where Tropicana field is?

And yes, I am tiptoeing around the elephant in the room. Raymond James Stadium… Isn’t that in Jacksonville? Does that say “Tampa” to you? Does it get you ready for great football?

We are hypocrites to complain about the lack of any culture or sense of history here when we freely auction it off at the very first opportunity.