Author Archives: admin
Dishing with Mark n Carrie…. Lightning PRIDE Night
Tampa PRIDE @ The Tampa Bay Lighting Pride Night.
Tampa Pride New Sponsors
Tampa General Hospital Health and Safety Sponsor
The Showbar Ybor City is the Water Sponsor
Ybor City Chamber of Commerce
THE NEW WEBSITES HAVE LAUNCHED!
Check them out! Chamber at www.ybor.org and Visitor Info. Center at www.ybor.org/vic
Adult Easter Egg Hunt
This is going to be FUN. After the SUNday FUNday Show there will be an Easter Egg Hunt at The Showbar Ybor. It will also be Miss Aprils BIRTHDAY!!!! There are many more SURPRIZES Coming this Week. CHEERS
Tampa PRIDE BINGO
Love Aissa Barrie!!! What will she be wearing this year?
Transgender Day of Visibility March 31
Thank You St. Pete Mayor Rick Kriseman
A Sad Day in Ybor City
The Honey Pot announced that they will not be coming back. There were 1,000’s of comments on Facebook this week. April captured the Ybor Spirit with her post.
April Cooper: Literally and metaphorically the closing of one door and opening of another. Treasure the memories, mourn the loss and be ready for bigger and better! #vivalaybor
Tampa in Top 10 Cities to live after the Pandemic
On the TODAY SHOW, Top 10 cities to live in after the pandemic, according to a top New York realtor
CLICK HERE
You Just Can Not Make This Up
Good friends of our purchased a home in South Tampa. The seller was also Gay and at the closing table, said that his roommate did not move out. He was also Gay and retired military. He always paid his rent on time and spent most of his time in the garden and his room. Our friends said they would give it a try. John (the renter) and them became good friends right away. John became an important part of their family. We meet John several times and he was always fun and a nice guy. 12 years later John passed away. In the later years John had made our friends his administrator of his estate. John said he had family but they had not spoken in many years. Some things went to charities and the balance of the estate to our friends. It wasn’t a lot. 1 month later the doorbell rang. It was Johns family wanting everything. All those years the family, that John never spoke of, lived 10 blocks away also in South Tampa. You Just Can Not make This Up.
Tampa Pride @ The Tampa Bay Lightning Pride Night
Dishing with Mark n Carrie …. Historic Gary in Ybor City
Gary, Florida
Things are changing fast in Gary.
Let’s 1st go back in time. Gary originally had no boundaries. It included East Ybor City, Spanish Park and Palmetto Beach. In 1898 the US Postmaster established a post office here and named it after himself, Gary. Then in 1903 this first official plat of land was recorded and called Gary-Town. Its boundary were 26th Street on the West to 40th on the East. 21st Street to the north and to the bay on the south. The City of Gary was incorporated 1915. Then in 1923 the City of Tampa extended its boundaries to include Gary.
Today there is much talk about redevelopment in Gary. The Tierra del Lago Cigar Co. located at 1908 N 36th St. is starting a major renovation. Check out these interesting links below.
Welcome to Gary!
https://www.fox13news.com/news/tampa-developer-seeks-historic-designation-for-old-cigar-factory
https://www.fox13news.com/video/914654
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_(Tampa)
Tampa PRIDE May 22, 2021
It’s a go for Tampa PRIDE 2021!!! Trucks are arriving everyday with things for this year’s events. Thank You JBD Wet Brush for your very generous donation!!!
It Truly takes a village to host Tampa PRIDE!!!! The New VOLUNTEER sign up are now posted at https://tampapride.org/volunteer/
The Tampa Pride Diversity Parade
The Tampa Pride Diversity Parade will be held this year at 4 pm on Saturday May 22nd in Ybor City. If your group registered for the 2020 parade you are registered for the 2021 parade. We need to know if you will be participating in the parade this year. Emails have been sent out requesting a yes or no response but many groups still have not responded. Let me know if you are still participating if you haven’t already done so. Your registration isn’t complete until the parade application packet has been filled out and sent back. Cutoff date is May 1st. Tampa Pride Diversity Parade is on! https://tampapride.org/parade/
Tampa Pride Entertainment Committee working hard for All of Us!!
Tampa Pride Street Festival
The Food Court is SOLD OUT!!!
Only a few other Festival booth spaces left. Get yours TODAY. https://tampapride.org/festival/
It’s a 1990’s FLASHBACK – SUNday FUNday
Fabstayz
Did you know that Fabstayz was started in Tampa? The owner had a store in Ybor City on 16th & 7th Ave. It was called Bourbon Street Boxers. All they sold was Boxer Underwear and the staff al wore just boxers too. Later this store was also at The SunCoast Resort. Check out the new Tampa page today
Metro Inclusive Health Ybor City
The new Ybor Home of metro Inclusive Health is coming along. YAAAAA
You Just Can Not Make This Up
I bartend with an incredible person. April looks like a young Elvira with a Jack Daniels attitude. 2 spring break couples walk into the bar. April smiles and asks what are you drinking. The one guy says “Do you have a drink menu?” April says no. But what do you like to drink? The guys said “Anything on a drink menu!” April, OK I’ll come back to you what is everyone else drinking? She makes the drinks and comes back. The guys said he will have a gin and organ juice. April makes a face and with a big smile said No, I’ll make you a vodka orange juice. Mean while I’m watching all this and laughing to myself. I walk over to the girl with this guy and ask…. “So… do you have a boyfriend?” she looks shocked and says not really. I pull out my business card and had it to her while say n YOU DO NOW! CALL ME MAYBE (it actually says Call Me Maybe on my card). Everyone breaks out laughing. I then turn to Mr. Drink Menu and ask him the same question. He replied no one has every asked me that question before. Laughing I handed him a card and said YOU DO NOW! CALL ME MAYBE. We all were laughing so hard. Then we told then to stay for the Drag Show. Mr. Drink menu asked what is a Drag Show? I told him the most beautiful women you will ever see in your life. Several hours later they left as our new best friends. I’m sure they will never forget Spring Break, in Florida, when they walking into The Showbar Ybor City and meet Miss April & Tea Cup. LMAO Here is my card.
Dishing with Mark n Carrie 3-18-21
Tampa PRIDE 2021
Everyone is very busy getting ready for Tampa Pride on May 22, 2021. This week the committee had a meeting at the Tampa Cuban Club. This will be where Tampa PRIDE at Night will be. Visit www.Tampapride.com
Like to help support Tampa Pride?
Donations are now been accepted on Venmo @TampaPRIDE
Amanda D Rhod
Our local favorite Miss Amanda D Rhod https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001213991871 is in Las Vegas competing for Miss Diosa Latina USA. The pageant is on April 18th. Good Luck from your Ybor Family.
Women’s History Month
To celebrate women’s history month, the Ybor City Museum has chosen to highlight Clarita Garcia, an influential woman in the Ybor City food scene and beyond. Garcia was born and educated in Spain. Before she married Manuel Garcia Jr., her mother instilled a love of cooking in her. Her mother was a perfectionist and taught Clarita most of what she learned. From the importance of caring for utensils to the picking the right ingredients, her mother prepared her to own a successful Tampa restaurant. During her life, she wrote two cookbooks, with the most notable being Clarita’s Cocina featuring Spanish recipes, some of which were used in the restaurant she managed, Las Novedades. She was arguably the first celebrity chef in Florida, hosting a cooking show on WTVT, and brought Spanish cooking to many.
Girl Scout Cookies
This sounds like the beginning of a joke. A girl scout walks into a Gay Bar…. Once again this year Bradley’s on 7th purchased 100’s of boxes. This is just another way Bradley’s on 7th supports the community. Thank You Bradley’s, you make us all so Proud.
Metro Inclusive Health
3/16/21 UPDATE: Metro Inclusive Health is adding new vaccination dates as doses are made available to us. We will continue to update this link with new appointments and information on those who qualify as it is made available. Please check back often for updates. https://www.picktime.com/MetroCOVIDVaccine
The Gary Elementary School
Who remembers the Gary Elementary School? Located just east of Ybor City =. This once proud build was “Demolition by Neglect!”
https://www.ghosttowns.com/states/fl/gary.html
NEW Dog Park & More
This week the Madison Street Park was dedicated. Located in Channelside this park is packed with amenities. Including a dog park, playground, volleyball, public art, and more!
Rome Yard
The City of Tampa has chosen Related Group to build the Rome Yard. Located on the Hillsborough River just West of the Armature Works. Soon there will be 954 families living here.
You Just Can Not Make This Up
Over the past years flavored vodka has become popular in America. We like to think this is a new thing. In the 1990’s we were in China. In one very high-class restaurant there were jars and jars filled with things like reindeer penises, dead snakes, rats and many more very unusual things. All were then covered and soaking in vodka. In China there has been flavored vodka for 1,000s of years. Of course, we tried many of them. The walk on the Great Wall of China was interesting after these shots. LOL
Caught @ Bradley’s on 7th
Dishing with Mark n Carrie…. Bars That Were
Bars That Were
About 10 years ago we went on a mission to list all the LGBT Bars that were in the area. We stopped at 244+ WOW. We know it needs to be updated again. Many times, people write to us their memories of the club. We try to add them to this list. Here is a letter we received just this week.
Hi Guys, I’m writing from Los Angeles, but grew up in Tampa. I’ve really enjoyed your “Bars That Were” section, but I think I can give you one more. It had to have been around 1968-69, and a buddy at Plant High School told me he was gay. And he told me I was too! In any event, he decided he was going to take me to a gay bar that he could get us into. We were 16.We drove to St. Pete, somewhere around downtown. He led me into a dingy neighborhood straight bar, with loud sports playing on a TV. There were maybe three drunks slumped over their drinks. But my friend led me past all that, to a door at the back of the room. He knocked on the door and someone on the other side slid open a small peep panel. My friend said the word “Fugativa” and the door was opened. Inside was a bigger room with quite a lot men – and a few women who looked like men – all much older than we were. Instantly, I felt like I’d walked into a den of wolves. We only stayed long enough for my friend to get served alcohol, without any questions. And I gulped down a Coke. But the hungry eyes of the male patrons were too scary for me, and we left fast. My buddy was pissed, but I had been to my very first gay bar. In essence, it was a speakeasy, and the name was Fugativa. Which he told me meant fugitive in Spanish. Well, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it! Use it on your web page if you’d like. Maybe it will spark other guy’s memories of that time or place.
Regards, Nancy
PROUD of Tampa
This week we were asked to be on a City of Tampa panel to discuss understanding diversity and how it can be taught to all city employees. This course will be called “Implicit Bias, Diversity and Cultural Competency Training for City of Tampa Employees.” It is also known as The USEA Enrichment Program (Understanding, Sensitivity, Enlightenment & Awareness). What a positive and proactive approach to making Tampa a better place to live. Their motto sounds like Ybor City & something we all can live by. Each color has its own mission. Altogether they “Invigorate the Tree of Life.”
Tampa PRIDE
Help Support Tampa PRIDE. Go to Smile.Amazon.com and pick Tampa Pride, Inc. ( 46-5680985 ) as your charity. Thank You
Bradley’s on 7th 10 Year Anniversary
Click HERE for more Photos
http://www.mcfilm.co/category/great-photos/caught-bradleys-on-7th/
NEW – Metro Inclusive Health’s Youth Market
Starting this Saturday, March 13th https://www.facebook.com/events/1158136831285435
From Metro Inclusive Health….
METRO absolutely loves our LGBTQ+ youth and young adults, and we’re proud to say that these young folks are incredibly talented. That’s why we think it’s about time we share their talents with all the amazing folks who support us! Our first ever Youth Market is an opportunity for the young and emerging queer artists involved with METRO to have a presence in the community without the typical barriers that come along with vending in a market. So come on down to our welcome center and discover (and purchase) the beautiful artwork of these talented young people! All proceeds go to the artists and we accept cash and Venmo!
The Watermark Wave Awards
The 2021 Wave Awards are HERE!!! There is a lot to be proud of in the Tampa Bay Area!!!!
http://www.mcfilm.co/category/great-photos/special-events-photos/
Ybor City
Who can recognize this building today?
Here is a Hint.
SUNday FUNdays @ The Showbar Ybor City
CLICK HERE for More Photos
http://www.mcfilm.co/category/great-photos/caught-the-show-bar/