Lunch Report: The Columbia, Ybor City...

You may recall that my wife and I yammered on endlessly about lunch at The Columbia in St. Augustine during our trip there in December. Well the original Columbia is located in Tampa in the historic Ybor City district, and since we just happened to jump off the plane during lunch hour, we thought we would take the kids for a visit. The setting in St. Augustine is certainly different than Ybor City, where, though it is certainly an area attempting to attract visitors, there is still local traffic and commerce taking place; don't be shocked if you experience an earthquake-like thumpity-thump of some sick ride with 20-inch rims and such. But once inside, you are transformed back to what we had expected of this old favorite.I'll dispense with the excess details and get right to the vittles. We were somewhat famished, so when the waiter brought us our loaves of Cuban bread with butter, it was like a feeding frenzy. Watch your fingers. Make no mistake, my wife was ready for the Chicken and Yellow Rice not long after we had made our reservations for the trip to Florida; she didn't even need a menu. This is not the same Arroz con Polla you'll find at a Mexican restaurant on the west side in San Antonio, but a Cuban version described as "one quarter chicken baked with yellow rice, green peppers, onions and tomatoes, spices and virgin olive oil". The difference is saffron instead of cumin. They have this dish down to a science and there were no complaints. My son-in-law opted for the original Cuban, a full sized sandwich not suitable for the timid. The menu describes the Cuban as "Smoked ham, pork, salami, Swiss cheese, dill pickle and mustard on hot Cuban bread" The bread is just so soft and wonderful on the inside even though it is sort of toasted on the outside. It came with fried plantain chips - pretty tasty.My son and I opted for the Half and Half. This is half a Cuban and half of a 1905 Salad. You already got the run-down on the Cuban. The 1905 is all sorts of good. The waiter comes to the table to finish building it, then serves it up. They explain it like this: "Crisp iceberg lettuce with julienne of baked ham, natural Swiss cheese, tomato, olives, grated Romano cheese and our famous garlic dressing (our 100 year old family recipe of fresh garlic, oregano, wine vinegar and Spanish extra virgin olive oil)" I love a really good salad and this one ranks right up there with the best I have ever had - seriously.

My daughter (and with everyone else taking bites from it) had an awesome cheeseburger called George's Burger. Not named after any presidents you know, but instead created by long time Columbia employee George Guito, they describe it as "Grilled seasoned choice ground beef topped with cheddar cheese, Ruskin tomatoes, lettuce, onions, ketchup, mayonnaise and mustard on Cuban bread". I don't know if it was just the novelty of putting it on Cuban bread, but I kid you not, this thing was good.Just outside the restaurant, there is a cigar shop that doubles as a gift shop. I'm not a cigar smoker, but the aroma is really wonderful. And it is kinda cool to see people sitting there rolling a few stogies.

Out on the sidewalk, we found a few entertaining sidewalk pavers. You know how people pay a fee to sponsor a paver and have their family name or some special message placed on there forever. Well, sometimes, forever might be a little more than you really want. Like in this case, whoever Lysa felt strongly enough about to buy a paver for, felt even more strongly about erasing any evidence of their relationship later!

I'll leave you with this important advice found on a paver in Ybor City in front of The Columbia:
UPDATE: I got an e-mail from Mr. Richard Gonzmart, the great-grandson of the founder of The Columbia. In addition to inviting us for a tour of the restaurant on our next visit, he provided me with the all important explanation of the "Lysa" Paver. Turns out a couple got married at The Columbia on Labor Day, then got divorced two years later. And then one night, during the cover of darkness, she took the ol' chisel out and erased the evidence! I'm only speculating here, but perhaps she loves the 1905 Salad so much she wants to be able to bring future boyfriends back without the bad memories. And this my friends is why you should always think twice about getting a huge tattoo on your arm that says "Heloise".

Mission of Nombre de Dios Report: Spectacular Walk...

Early Saturday morning, my wife and I stopped into Mission of Nombre de Dios which has a huge 208ft high cross visible for miles. The grounds are absolutely beautiful and there was a certain smell and sound to the calm morning which in my mind translates to Florida.

In the same way that certain colognes or perfumes or scents can take you back to specific places in time, I am also perceptive to these sounds that remind me of getting up early and listening to whatever noises nature has to offer, the birds, squirrels and perhaps a barking dog off in the distance. These sounds remind me of camping or on occasion, the neighborhood my great-grandparents lived in near the Hillsborough River in Tampa; and between the sounds and the damp, musty smell of Florida, it was quite a memory jogger.

Regardless of your faith or lack of it, you can enjoy visiting a place for its historic value and for the great care that others have given to make it a place of beauty and of quiet reflection. I didn't do a whole lot of reflecting, but as my wife followed the path from monument to monument, I did take in the beautiful weather and scenery. So without any further fanfare, I offer you pictures of what we saw.

First,the cross which seems to mark the first Catholic Mass performed in the US. No, they didn't have aluminum back then or a crane to hoist it in place - this one was put up in the 70's. The 1970's.As we walked over this bridge, the gulls seemed to lift off the railing as if they were doing the wave for us, and then they would return to their perch as soon as we were by them. A single picture doesn't do it justice, but posting ten pictures of birds on a bridge might seem a bit over done.This is an 11ft tall statue of Father Francisco Lopez. He is the guy who gave the first mass here. I don't believe he was actually 11 feet tall in life.Here is the small chapel and shrine of Our Lady of La Leche. I'm not sure if this is any relation to the breastfeeding people, but it was a very nice chapel.As we wandered through the cometary, we happened upon a marker for a young child who my family believes to be a relative of my great-grandmother. This Colee baby only lived about three months back in the 1800's.

I actually took a boat load of pictures from this place, but the links above have pictures with complete descriptions if you have an interest in things of this nature.

Lunch Report: The Columbia, St. Augustine Style...

A premiere dining experience in Tampa's Ybor City district is The Columbia. Regardless of the many exciting and wonderful menu items they may have to offer, one need look no further than the Chicken and Yellow Rice. The problem with The Columbia is, it is not a fast, in a hurry experience. They want you to sit down, relax, enjoy the atmosphere and enjoy the food.

When my wife learned that there was a Columbia in St. Augustine, she made it clear that lunch would be a requirement.

As much as I tried to talk her out of it - sighting time as a factor - she persisted, and I have to confess, I was glad that she did.

On Saturday, as various groups of family members wandered about St. Augustine, some eating late breakfast and others checking out the abundant historical sights, my wife and I went back to the downtown area to take pictures and explore the shops.  And suddenly, there was The Columbia.
The restaurant is beautiful inside and out with several dining rooms to enhance the dining experience.
We were in the door as they opened at 11am and like most of the other guests for lunch, asked for outdoor seating on the upper balcony so we could people watch along the streets below.Our waiter, a very nice young man originally from Connecticut, was a pro.  You know you are in good hands when the waiter can easily interact with the diners at multiple tables, making each feel as though they have his personal attention, while moving along to insure everyone is served in as timely a manner as the restaurant's system will allow.For us, we probably saved ten minutes by knowing exactly what we wanted when he came to take the drink order; no menu needed, no special of the day requirement, this was a Chicken and Yellow Rice moment.
After our drinks were served, we watched as the couple next to us had their pitcher of Sangria de Cava made.  It looked very tempting, but we had way too long of a day ahead of us to break the weekend Noon rule - especially considering it was only 10am San Antonio time!
Following drinks, the next course was the delivery of the Cuban bread.  I asked our waiter what the difference between Cuban bread and French bread was and he was kind enough to consult the head chef and the general manager, both of whom disagreed.  The thought was that Cuban bread is not made with eggs whereas French bread is.  Wikipedia says it is the lard versus the oil.  No matter, freshly baked Cuban bread is so awesome that if they offered us an entire loaf, I'd eat it and probably never leave.As we waited for the en tree, we were entertained by a street musician down below the the restaurant.  The thing is, when we first walked up, he was playing some awesome sounding Spanish and classical tunes.  But once we were seated, his selection changed to Kansas, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Led Zepplin and older classic rock tunes.  I'm cool with that, but I have to confess it did change the atmosphere from Famous Romantic Cuban Restaurant, to High School Keg Party with Mediocre Garage Band.
So we used our time wisely and watched the many interesting people walk by below us.  I particularly enjoyed this group of four in their convertible Bug.  The couple in the back had some fancy hairdo's for sure.
One of the ways to enjoy many tourist communities is via scooter or in this case, weird three-wheeled vehicle, like these ladies.

My wife had pointed out a lady wearing a fairly see-thru sun dress, but in all honesty, I could not get my camera to focus quick enough after she suggested I take a picture instead of gawk.  Sorry.
There was an interesting incident of another inappropriately dressed lady who we watched walk into a corner shop.  She was wearing very short shorts and stripper heels (CFM's if you understand the lingo), and we both commented on how out of place it seemed, what with no strip clubs nearby.
After a few moments she excited the shop and was followed by a man.  Over the next three or four minutes, they stood in the middle of the street with the lady in  apparent tears while the guy seemingly yammered on about something.  With this, my wife began a dramatic dialog filling in both sides of the conversation as though she had seen this exact event unfold in a scene from a soap opera.
In her version of events, the stripper lady had walked in and caught the man in the store gawking at another woman.  The man was explaining to her that she was just a stripper he gave a few dollars to and that was as far as the relationship went and would ever go.
When the lady whipped out her camera to show that she had captured the man cheating on film, the man suggested she scroll back to last nights photos where she was... well, you get the idea.
Our little show was over when the food arrived and it was suddenly the moment of truth.  Would the St. Augustine Columbia live up to our memories of the The Columbia in Ybor City?
Looking at the picture makes my taste buds water.  The rice has somewhat of a sticky quality to it.  The chicken falls off the bones and in all honesty, I could probably make myself ill if it were an all you can shovel down your gullet type arrangement. As my wife took three or four bites of her lunch, I promptly inhaled
mine leaving only bones and the cloth napkin that wasn't as tasty as the rest of it.

Make no mistake, the 45 minute wait was entertaining, and the end result was worth it.  Going against my disfavor of hoity-toity, we'll feed you when we get around to it type restaurants, we have to give the St Augustine Columbia multiple Tasty Treats.  Try whatever you like, but you can't go wrong with the Chicken and Yellow Rice.

St. Augustine Report: Historic Downtown...

This would probably be a lot better if I could write well enough to weave our little trip to St. Augustine into some sort of historical context, showing a trail of sorts of the places we visited and attaching them to significant events in the history of Florida and the oldest city in the United States, but the best I can do is just tell you what we saw and add in a few links and pictures to give you an idea of how cool St. Augustine is, and an understanding of why we must go there again.

And I'll try to avoid long-winded, run-on sentences.

First, a little background about why we went. Having spent most of my adult life in San Antonio, I consider myself a Texan - you know the kind that has the bumper sticker that reads, "I wasn't born in Texas but got here as quick as I could" - just without defacing my vehicle with the actual bumper sticker.

Anyway, my parents and most of my brothers and sisters live in Florida, near Tampa (Go Bucs!), but my maternal grandmother's family is from St Augustine. Besides being rich in family history, it is a city that my parents simply love to visit. So, this past weekend most of my family converged on the small, haunted town and though we had very little time to really explore the place, we had a great time seeing family and learning about my great-grandmother's family.

St. Augustine has an historic downtown area that is pretty much blocked off to all vehicle traffic. The older homes in the area have been converted into shops selling the usual touristy things, all sorts of arts and crafts, and loads of great restaurants, pubs and places to spend hours browsing.

In the same way that you might be able to see all of San Antonio's River Walk in a single day, but not actually visit each store and restaurant; there is no way you could fully appreciate St. Augustine's historic area in a weekend. My wife likened the area to our La Villita, full of shops that lend themselves to unexpectedly large Visa bills and luggage full of souvenirs you had no idea you needed.During our first night in St. Augustine, we met up with family in front of a small cemetery containing the crypts of some relatives of ours. Between one of my brothers and another sister, we heard the details of who it was who died, how we were related and what sightings of ghosts had been seen over the years.It was exciting and all, but when my oldest brother and his wife suggested a slice of pizza and a beer at a place called Kozmic Bluz on Spanish Street, I was in.For me, this little shop had the feel of English Pubs I visited when I lived in the UK. We found a table in a room that was so small, it only had one table! Great pizza and a friendly waiter and atmosphere. I can see how people would enjoy walking through the St. Georges area at night. The weather was great and people everywhere we went were friendly. But if you want to appreciate the architecture of the old homes and shops, you really need to see it during the daylight hours. And we did. I hope you will enjoy a few pictures of our visit to the downtown area.One of our family names is Oliveros, and along St George was Oliveros House.

My wife and I posed by it just in case any passersby wanted an autograph.  None did.

Up and down St. Georges Street, There were interesting shops including a place that really creeped me out.  This artist will take your picture and then transfer the image onto a weaved carpet of some sort.  I don't know, is it just me or does it look like either this carpet didn't work out as planned, or was the original picture of a freaky looking kid?  No offense if this is your picture or your carpet.
I happened to see two different pirates walking about.  The first one I saw, I whipped out my camera and took a picture, then felt stupid just as quick.  A couple walking behind us, obvious locals said, "Hey look, that guy took a picture of the pirate; that's something you don't see every day."  Then, after the appropriate comedic pause, the guy added, "...Unless you live here."
While we did not see a single panhandler during our stay (Are you listening San Antonio Chamber of Commerce?), there was an abundance of street performers.  This guy was playing the harmonica so we walked up to him and listened for a minute then tossed a buck in his coconut.  Just then, he paused in his song and said "Thanks. I'm Coconut Bob as seen on Mad-TV!" then popped himself on his head to make a weird coconut sound and went on playing.  Too funny.  Yea, I looked on Google and did not find any such character.
In some factions, calling someone a Cracker is considered offensive.  In St Augustine, it is a restaurant.
If you are thinking about checking out St. Augustine but worried about the long walks around, they do have several trolley systems where you pay a fee (like $20.00 or so) and you can ride around the town on the trolley, then jump off wherever you choose to shop, then get back on later.  We didn't partake of it, but it does seem like a good idea.  By the way, we found parking to be plentiful, though not free.  On Saturday, we paid $7.00 to park all day which is very reasonable.If you want to try another way to get around, you can do what my brother and his wife did and bring along bikes.  They really could get around and there were plenty of places to lock up the bikes when they felt the urge to walk.
Like when we stopped at the Rendezvous, home of the largest selection of imported beer in the city.
Again with the feel of a small pub, the waitress was very nice and beer-knowledgeable.Whereas my brother was prepared to try lots of exotic things, I went with a known entity, the Boddigntons Pub Ale - which by the way was outstanding.

Suffice it to say, if you like San Antonio, you will love St. Augustine.  Plus, there is a beach.  I could write more and more on this (and may), but my wife has cautioned me that I am entirely too long winded.  Therefore, I'll leave it here for a bit.