Florida Trip Report (Day 4)

Written by ceddammit

On my last trip to Florida a few years ago, I saw a couple of the grand hotels that were created by Henry Flagler, a railroad baron who was largely responsible for the development of Florida’s east coast. On my current trip, I saw one of the grand hotels that were created by Henry Plant, a railroad baron who was largely responsible for the development of Florida’s west coast. When it opened in 1891, it was known simply as the Tampa Bay Hotel. And it was iconic. See for yourself…

Note the curved windows
This is the garden side of the hotel; guests arrived by train on the other side.
Fountain erected in honor of the hotel’s creator, Henry Bradley Plant
The fountain has spitting FISHIES!
“Gingerbread” woodwork lines the veranda
Detail of the veranda woodwork
Detail of an arch over a doorway
Extreme Close-Up!
The back side (where guests entered)
The round room under this dome was the music room. Skynyrd never played here.
OK, now the architecture is getting silly.
I feel like a huge robot is peeking over the top of the building at me.
The old Tampa Bay Hotel seen from Kennedy Avenue drawbridge

These days, the old hotel is owned by the city of Tampa. The bulk of it is used by the University of Tampa, but a significant chunk of the first floor is the Henry B. Plant Museum. This is a very interesting museum, loaded with furnishings and artwork that are original to the hotel. There’s also a room devoted to the story of Mr. Plant himself, how he came to be wealthy enough to build such a place through the acquisition of steamship and railroad lines. Henry B. Plant spent three million dollars of his own money to build and furnish this joint – the equivalent of over NINETY MILLION DOLLARS in today’s money!

I took a brief walk along Kennedy Avenue after leaving the house that Plant built. Here’s a little of what I saw…

This cannon was once located in a fort that protected the entrance to Tampa Bay
Looks like it’s now used to demolish old buildings
This railroad drawbridge was open the whole time I was in the area.
Is the shape of this building meant to reflect Tampa’s history of importing Cuban tobacco for cigars?

Since I’m in Florida and have never tried it, I decided I must try some gator meat while I’m here. Based on a friend’s recommendation, I went to Skipper’s Smokehouse. The waiter explained that they use the meat of the alligator’s tail, which they soak for several hours in pickle juice. Well, I could definitely taste the pickle juice. And that’s about all my taste buds were detecting. Fortunately, they served it with a nice spicy remoulade on the side, so I did some dippin’ and et it all up!

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