Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog

On Thursday evening, wifey and I were part of a sold out crowd at Tampa Theater that watched the World Premiere of Seminole Heights:  An Intimate Look at the Early Years, a documentary with a self-explanatory name.  The movie was preceded by another Cigar City Pictures film, Ybor City:  A Passage in Time

On Saturday evening, fantastic local filmmakers Pete and Paul Guzzo are debuted a part of The Ghosts of Ybor.  The documentary about Tampa mobster Charlie Wall will be shown at HCC Performing Arts Building as part of the Ybor Festival of the Moving Image.  That show sold out, too.

This coming weekend, Hillsborough Community College will put on performances of  Anna in the Tropics (not to be confused with a recent production at a different HCC).  The Pulitzer Prize winning play is set in a 1920’s Ybor City cigar factory, where it’s owners, the factory workers, and the lector (reader) are involved with each other on multiple levels.  Great play, and great local angle, too.

Meanwhile, the St. Pete Times ran two stories related to local history last week.  Lane DeGregory reminds us that Panfilo de Narvaez landed in St. Pete 480 years ago (April 15, 1528), and Jared Leone decided to figure out just who that Dale Mabry fella was.

For those of you who are looking for a DVD version of the Seminole Heights documentary, you can find one at Sherry’s YesterDaze, 5207 N. Florida Af., or at Tampa Antiquarian Books, 6116 N Central Av., both in Tampa.  Cigar City’s Ybor City documentary can be purchased at the Ybor City Museum.

The Ghosts of Ybor will be playing in various venues and film festivals over the next year or so, and we’ll let you know when a DVD becomes available.

Attention Local History Geeks!!!

Tonight at 730, The Tampa Theatre and
OSHNA [Old Seminole Heights Neighborhood Association] presents SEMINOLE HEIGHTS: An Intimate Look at the Early Years:

THURSDAY, APRIL 17, 2008 7:30 PM [DOORS 6:30]
GENERAL ADMISSION ~ $5
FREE ADMISSION for anyone who lived in Seminole Heights before 1945. These free tickets will be available at the box office on the evening of the event.

Discover Seminole Heights’ part in the Civil War. See the development of the neighborhood in the early decades of the 20th Century. Hear tales of growing up during the Great Depression when material goods were scarce, but the abundance of backyard vegetable gardens and warm camaraderie kept bellies full and spirits high. Co-sponsored by Eric Krause Designs and Quillian Craftsman, the film is written, directed and filmed by award winning film makers Gene and Krissy Howes of Cigar City Pictures, Seminole Heights residents.

The documentary was filmed last year, and includes stories from long time residents, historians, and other aficionados.

Check the OSHNA website for more info, see Creative Loafing for a preview, and visit Cigar City Pictures for their information. Wifey and her local history geek hubby (that’s me!) will be at the show tonight - make sure you say hello.

With all the talk about how difficult city government makes it to open a new business, Tampa has decided to dip its toes into Form Based Coding. The Seminole Heights neighborhood has a chance to try out the relatively new idea.

Wikipedia says

Form-based codes are a new response to the modern challenges of urban sprawl, deterioration of historic neighborhoods, and neglect of pedestrian safety in new development. Tradition has declined as a guide to development patterns, and the widespread adoption by cities of single-use zoning regulations has discouraged compact, walkable urbanism. Form-based codes are a tool to address these deficiencies, and to provide local governments the regulatory means to achieve development objectives with greater certainty.

I suppose we will see about that.

Give A Day For The Bay

Volunteers are needed to pick up litter along the Hillsborough River at Rivercrest Park and Greenway. There is a LOT of litter here. We may also be doing some cleaning up of mulched plant beds, trimming, invasive removal and other chores as needed by the Tampa Parks Department. Suitable for ages 5 and up. Lunch and t-shirt provided.

Volunteers must pre-register!! To sign up, call Nanette at (727) 893-2765 or e-mail nanette@tbep.org.

This workday is sponsored by the Tampa Bay Estuary Program, the Tampa Parks Department and the South Seminole Heights Civic Association.

When: Saturday, March 15 9:00 am - 1:00 pm
Where: Rivercrest Park 4802 N. River Blvd. Tampa, FL 33603

The Three Coins restaurant in Seminole Heights recently went to a 24 hour a day format. With few other late-night options in Central Tampa, third shift cops are taking their coffee breaks at the Three Coins. Of course, the pros and johns don’t want to be seen by any cops, so they are making themselves scarce.

Which leads to an obvious question. How far away were these cops driving out of the neighborhood to take a break in the past?

In spite of having lived in the Tampa Bay area for over 20 years now, there are still bars and restaurants I’ve passed hundreds of times that I’ve always wanted to visit but have just never gotten around to actually doing so. That list got a little shorter recently when I stopped for lunch at Nicko’s diner.

It’s one of those classic “railroad car”-style diners covered in stainless steel. Between that and the fact that they serve breakfast very late (I was able to get an excellent Greek omelet and hash browns after 12:00 noon), I liked the place immediately. The service was very quick and efficient, with plenty of attention in the way of coffee refills which is always a huge plus. Further enhancing the experience was getting to sit at the same booth where Elvis Presley dined after a show at the Fort Homer Hesterly Armory back in 1956. I’m not the world’s biggest Elvis fan so I had no idea until I sat down and saw the commemorative plaque, but it was still cool.

What wasn’t so cool was once again being revealed as the schlimazel I truly am. I learned from watching Laverne & Shirley as a child that a schlemiel is someone who spills their soup in a diner and a schlimazel is someone who has soup spilled on them in a diner (the fact that I’m able to retain life lessons learned from Yiddish speaking Italian-American sitcom characters but couldn’t tell you the value of X with a full pad of paper, a sharp pencil and a scientific calculator will give you a little clue about my level of intelligence). Only in my case, today, it was ketchup that somehow wound up being spilled on me. I still don’t know if the people eating at the booth behind me were startled by a hornet or what happened exactly. This is the kind of thing that happens fairly regularly to me but probably never, ever happened to Elvis, even though we both sat in the same booth. But my waitress graciously comped part of my bill and the food was excellent, so overall, I would recommend Nicko’s highly to anyone. Just be careful when they’re passing the condiments, unless you happen to be The King of Rock and Roll.

(Cross posted at Ridiculously inconsistent trickle of consciousness)

This post is a bit overdue, due to limited Net access until just days ago, but I thought some of you would still be interested in how our last two weeks of dining in Tampa went before our move up to Gainesville.

The weekend before last, we decided to stop into Castellano & Pizzo Italian Gourmet Foods on Henderson one last time. This time, instead of bringing my parents, we went with Traci’s dad. In addition to enjoying another pressed Cuban sandwich, we also ordered dessert this time from their bakery, too. Mazzaro’s is the king of local Italian markets/delis, but I will still miss Castellano & Pizzo.

We hadn’t been to Interbay Meat Market in several months, but were looking for a cheap and quick meal one night that was close by and thought of Interbay. On our previous visits, we had stuck to deli sandwiches, but on this visit we went with some of their cafeteria-style Cuban food. It’s hard to beat a big serving of ropa vieja, black beans and yellow rice for five bucks (and no, I don’t want to think about how long that food may have been sitting there). No frills and good food always works for me.

Speaking of no frills, we also stopped into El Taconazo aka “the Taco Bus” on Hillsborough in Seminole Heights one day for lunch. While I didn’t love the place after my first visit maybe a year ago, the Taco Bus has grown on me with each subsequent visit. The “specials” for lunch - two soft tacos with refried beans and rice- are a good deal. The tacos are small but tasty (you do have to be a fan of cilantro to like ‘em) and the thick green hot sauce on the table makes things taste even better. The Bus will be missed.

On our last week in town, in a break from packing, we hit Mel’s Hot Dogs on Busch one day for lunch. I ordered a “Reuben” dog and Traci went with a “Chicago” dog. Mel’s is a cool little place full of history and I’m glad that multiple readers suggested we visit Mel’s before we moved. Mel himself unfortunately wasn’t there when we stopped in, which, from what I understand, is part of the unique experience.

I also re-visited another reader favorite, the Tampa Bay Brewing Company, one day for drinks after work. To me, the Brewing Company’s new location in Centro Ybor doesn’t have nearly the charm of their previous location a few blocks away, but the beer selection is still great (I’m a light beer wimp and like their True Blonde Ale the best). The outdoor bar and patio area at the new location is a good addition.

We also couldn’t leave town without having going-away drinks out night at Kahuna’s, our neighborhood dive bar on Gandy across from Derby Lane. The food at Kahuna’s can be dicey, but the drinks are stiff and priced right. People that think this place has a rough crowd probably spend too much time in SOHO.

Finally, we went ahead and splurged with a Sunday brunch at the Don CeSar Hotel on St. Pete Beach. While the Vinoy and Oystercatcher’s may have better brunches, we have a warm spot for the Don since Traci grew up in South Pasadena/St. Pete Beach and we used to spend a lot of time in the area. For me, the fresh seafood selection was the highlight of the brunch. Traci liked the made-to-order pasta station. We were also able to get a table near the window with a direct view of the beach and the gulf.

There’s lots of additional local restaurants we would have liked to hit before we moved, but we ran out of time. While some of the criticism of the Tampa Bay food scene is justified, the area certainly isn’t starved for good food and good local restaurants either - if you know where/how to look. Granted it does take time, effort, experimentation (you can’t find “hits” without being willing to eat at a fair share of “misses” as well), talking with your friends and neighbors, and just keeping your eyes and ears open.

Again, I’ve greatly enjoyed contributing to Sticks over the past year and sharing local restaurant reviews with you. Thanks again for reading and for all of the restaurant suggestions - that’s all for me!

Rivercrest Park is located in the South Seminole Heights neighborhood north of downtown Tampa.

From the City of Tampa website:

Rivercrest Park runs along much of the Hillsborough River as it winds its way from Hillsborough Avenue to Martin Luther King Boulevard. Park amenities include a pier, playground area, picnic tables and grills.

One of the best features of this park is its location on the Hillsborough River. Since I have been going there I have seen alligators, bald eagles, manatees and osprey. There is a decent sized gazebo in the middle of the park and is often used for birthday parties. The children’s area has two playgrounds which are both shaded by many oak trees. That shade helps to provide many great spots for picnicking, too.

Rivercrest includes a nice walking and jogging path that goes around the majority of the park. There is also a long dock on the water, where you will find numerous options to take nature photos without having to leave the city.

While there are not any basketball courts or softball fields, the city has added new in-ground garbage cans and the park is kept relatively neat. The number of parking spaces are few, but there is a handicap space with a ramp in close proximity. Your best bet when driving there is to use West Osborne Ave from Florida Ave or Nebraska Ave.

Overall grade: B-