I didn’t stay in Ybor City very long, less than an hour, since there wasn’t much happening. I noticed that the skies looked increasingly threatening, and decided to hop on the streetcar back to downtown. I explored downtown Tampa a bit more.

This office development, with the handsome brick plaza and water feature, attracted my eye. Even though we’re in Florida, it had a northeast sensibility to it. Nothing like this exists in Austin. It’s nothing fancy, but it creates a man-made yet comfortable urban park setting. I’m drawn to the red brick and the lush, manicured boxwoods. Most everything in Austin seems to be made of white limestone, and I hunger for more variety.

The rains did come, and I was minutes away from a downtown Hilton, which I entered before the skies opened up. It rained heavily for at least an hour, and I stayed dry in the lobby. Welcome to the sub-tropics.

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