The stretch of Adamo Drive leading up to the Port of Tampa is a veritable horn o'plenty of industrial goodness. The area boasts numerous features including but not limited to: homeless people (in the spirit of the current administration let's call them shelter deprived), cracked and weed-infested sidewalks, dingy warehouses that seem to radiate death and squalor, rusted out railroad depots, neon strip clubs, faded billboards, cigarette butts, crushed soda cans and water bottles, etc etc. I can't think of a better place to park on a romantic evening than the vomit-stained crosstown overpass. There aren't many restaurants if you get hungry, but there is one convenience store where you can buy beef jerky and American flag keychains (not to mention the current issue of Swank.)I like these parts of town. They are rough around the edges and no-nonsense. These are the bleak streets that the mayor desperately hopes out-of-towners won't see. She would rather have you visit Centro Ybor, where you'll find a multiplex and a deadly, soul-sucking gamut of overpriced novelty stores. Or how about Channelside? There's, um...another multiplex. And, uh, novelty stores. And corporate bars with $10 cover charges and a white guy playing Bob Marley on acoustic guitar. Sing those songs of freedom brother!
6 comments:
They've managed to completely suck the soul out of Ybor. Not that there was much left anyway, but even 10 years ago you could still feel the history hiding behind the goth kids and tattoo parlors. Now it's been caucasianed. Channelside had no soul what-so-ever. I'm white, and I'm offended by the incredible whiteness of that place.
That whole Port of Tampa area is rife with mob activity. That area will never be cleaned up, mainly due to the fact that they don't want to waste valuable crime lab time identifying bodies that have long since decomposed.
Magnus, where is the picture of the warehouse with the eagle head? I swear that eagle looks directly into your soul. I usually focus on the damn thing so much, I lose control of the vehicle and swerve into oncoming traffic(Which is why I normally take N-75).
Ole Ybor may be a rundown parking lot with overpriced bars, but we're all forgetting the amazing history! Where else can you see the Spaghetti Warehouse(in state)? The various cigar factories? I'm sure there is something else out-of-towners would want to see.
Right now, as we speak, a film called "Ghost of Ybor" is being filmed. Thanks to the historical district(all of it, if you ask me), these film makers only need to rely on costumes and props. I think this goes back to the saying: One man's trash is another man's treasure.
Channelside use to be the premiere place to watch movies. There were no crowds. It was also the place to go to catch out those indie films that Regency had no interest in showing. I remember Channelside screened "Bowling for Columbine" while Regency did not because they were preparing for an "Untitled" Vin Diesel.
Channelside is now filled with stores that brought over everything that made Regency 20 so bad(Yes, they also have a Hooters). The once empty and barely stable movieplex now has a West-Shore Pizza and is surrounded by over-priced bars, a fancy steakhouse(I think suit and tie. I don't know, I never went inside), and a bowling alley.
I miss Madstone(Sunrise).
"Shelter deprived"! Like that one. That's a good Frank Luntz word, like Clear Skies Initiative and Death Tax, these euphemisms are meant to convey the opposite of what's really going on. Like calling a missile The Peacekeeper!
"Old" Ybor does still have some soul. Places like Crowbar and Orpheum are great music venues that bring quality bands to Tampa on a regular basis. Hell, even the Castle at least has a genuine, non-corporate flavor that adds to the uniqueness of the area.
JRuthless, that eagle mural does seem to pierce the mind, laying bare all your deepest fears. I too have to force myself to keep my eyes on the road, lest I fall victim to its spooky trance.
Warden, this administration has shown a frightening mastery of orwellian language. Let's see what else we had...healthy forests initiative (actually a way to allow further deforestation, under auspice of "thinning" them), the Patriot act...ie, you're unpatriotic if you don't want to submit to warrantless wiretapping, datamining of telephone records, monitoring of library histories, etc. We'll get a Ministry of Truth before too long...
Yeah, even Department of Homeland Security sounds like something out of 1984. I almost think 1984 is the Bush blueprint, with its endless surveillance, perpetual war, fear mongering, enemies becoming allies and vice versa at the drop of a hat. Looks like Iran's president is the new Goldstein, just like Saddam before and Osama before that. If these scary adversaries didn't exist, the CIA would have invented them. Wait a minute. They DID invent them!
I like Swank!
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