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Thursday, September 1, 2016

The Columbia


Tampa is well known for all the great local restaurants we have...My favorite by far is the grand old Columbia Restuarant



The Columbia is the oldest operating restuarant in Florida and the oldest Spanish - Cuban restuarant in the United States

It has been in this same location in Ybor City on the corner of 7th Ave and 21st St. since 1905



The same family has owned and operated the Columbia for all of it's 111 years 



Inside and out it is a beautiful place. The tile work outside is beautiful










The entry way

Inside it's many dining rooms are also beautiful and a great atmosphere







The food is spectacular...starting with a 1905 salad and ending with the amazing and not to be missed guava turnover





Places like this make the Cigar City special...if you are in Tampa don't miss the Columbia




Thursday, May 19, 2016

Pearl Harbor

We visited Hawaii a few years ago. This blog will be some pictures I took at the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor



Everyone has seen the images from December 7, 1941 of the Arizona as she lies burning in Pearl Harbor



The scene is much more serene today as you look across the harbor at the Arizona Memorial and the mighty USS Missouri keeping watch



At the visitors center you board a boat and the Park Service takes you across to the Memorial


People are very quiet as they walk up the ramp. This is the final resting place for 1,102 of the 1,177 men that died on the Arizona


A gun turret sits above the water line


75 years later she is still leaking oil





And the most somber thing about the Memorial....the names on the wall



An aerial view that I did not take

As you leave the Arizona Memorial you can drive across the bridge to Ford Island and visit the USS Missouri




The 16 inch guns on the Mighty Mo


The spot on the deck where the Japanese signed the unconditional surrender ending World War II


For the final pic I am standing in a spot where you can see the beginning and the end of World War II in one photo