Welcome back to the Tour Director travelers!

We hope you had a great weekend, and are looking forward to reading our new blogs this week. Jeff starts things off for us, so enjoy!

A visit to the Tampa Bay region and all it’s many attractions include some diverse history and culture tours. An educational tour to the Tampa Bay History Center, located in downtown Tampa, offers an in depth look at Florida’s rich and varied past. The Center, which is a Smithsonian Institute Affiliate, offers both permanent exhibits and temporary collections. It is considered one of the premier cultural venues. Educational tours to Tampa can explore the Florida’s First People exhibit, located on the first floor, to learn about some of the artifacts, tools and artwork of Florida’s early people. Also on the first floor is the Cigar City exhibit, which chronicles the immigrant communities and the cigar industry that is so prominent in the Tampa Bay Area.

After lunch of a Cuban sandwich or Spanish bean soup at the Columbia Café, a historic Spanish restaurant located in Ybor City,  a visit to the second floor of the History Center offers more cultural education related to Tampa Bay. “Cowmen and Crackers” highlights Florida’s cattle ranching history, and “Your Tampa Bay” allows visitors to view historic photographs and see significant landmarks around the region. Educational tours to Tampa can peruse the second floor which contains the Witt Research center, a comprehensive collection of state and regional resources. Some of these include census records, rare Florida books and private papers such as manuscripts and journals.
The Center is open daily and also includes student discounts as well as a museum store.

Until next time,

Jeff.