Tampa 2014 Trip: A day of firsts (Day 13, 1/16/2014)

I shower in the motor home for the first time! Although I am careful not to use much water, thinking “bird bath” as one customer described it, the water is hot and the pressure is good.  Even the cleanup is easy. I’d rate this experience an A+. We are busy most of the day showing the RVs to potential clients. At the end of the day, I get to tour some of the show and enjoy seeing the other Class B campers. For dinner, we are joined by Rob, one of our cabinets makers who drove down to Florida separately, and we go back to Ybor City, finally getting into the famous Columbia Restaurant, established in 1905 to serve the Cuban cigar makers working in the factories set up here. We share the 1905 salad made at our table and enjoy the Cuban/Spanish fare. The restaurant itself is amazing: spread over a city block, it is packed with customers and the hundreds of industrious staff weaving between tables carrying trays aloft in an amazing choreography.  It is decorated with colorful tile; plaster arches, columns, and statues; and pictures of the family owners, now fifth generation. In the background we hear the Flamenco music from the floorshow in the next room.