florida trip, part I

I didn't realize it had been so long since I last blogged- I'll try to do better.  We've been a  bit busy.  What have we been up to?  So glad you asked...:-)

Eddie was away in Tampa, FL, most of the month of May preparing for the opening of the new Crate & Barrel store.  I flew down to meet up with him at the end and attended the store opening party.  The opening parties are always fun and I enjoyed meeting the friendly Tampa crew and many other top-notch peeps that Eddie works with. It's always nice for me to be able to meet the people he's been telling me about and finally put a face to their name.  The Tampa store is gorgeous and sits on a pretty lake filled with tropical birds and even an alligator or two, no joke.

Here's a few pics from the party:

Arrghh matey!....what's a party in Tampa Bay without a pirate eye?

After the store opening we took out to begin our mini-vacation.  First stop, food!  We drove down to Ybor City, a very historic area of Tampa.  We stumbled upon the Columbia Restaurant, the oldest Cuban restaurant in Florida.  Inside and out, the restaurant was filled wit historic charm, photos of the family generations that have ran the restaurant and beautiful Cuban architecture and tiling.  Apparently Food Network also liked it since we saw a framed article on the wall about them naming it a "must do" for Tampa.

cool keyhole doorway into an old ballroom that's now a dining room


the gorgeous original bar from the early 1900s.  

delicious Cuban sandwich with amazing hot, fresh homemade bread

incredible Cuban sampler platter with meaty yumminess and plantains

hands down, the best mojito either of us have ever had! and that's real sugar cane.