Tampa Travel
Tampa
TAMPA , the business hub of the west coast, has been one of the major beneficiaries of the flood of people and money into Florida and boasts an impressive cultural diet envied by many larger rivals. A small, stimulating city with an infectious, upbeat mood, it's well worth a stop: in addition to its fine museums and Busch Gardens , one of the most popular theme parks in the state, it boasts in Ybor City the West Coast's hippest and most culturally eclectic quarter.
Tampa began as a small settlement beside a US Army base built to keep an eye on the Seminoles in the 1820s. In the 1880s the railroad arrived, and the Hillsborough River on which the city stands was dredged to allow seagoing vessels to dock. Tampa became a booming port, simultaneously acquiring a major tobacco industry as thousands of Cubans moved north from Key West to the new cigar factories of neighboring Ybor City. The Depression ended the economic surge, but the port remained one of the busiest in the country and tempered Tampa's postwar decline. Little seems to stand in the way of Tampa's continued emergence as a forward-thinking and financially secure community.
Museum of Science and Industry, and Busch Gardens
A twenty-minute drive northeast from downtown Tampa takes you to the colossal Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI), at 4801 E Fowler Ave (daily 9am, closing times seasonal, tel 813/987-6100; $13 including IMAX; www.mosi.org ), where topics such as health, the environment, and space and the stars are tackled through hands-on activities and a program of shows. Plan your day around the Challenger Learning Center (more space adventure where you can defy the laws of gravity), the 75mph Gulf Coast Hurricane and the IMAX shows.
Nearby, at Busch Boulevard and 40th Street, Busch Gardens , one of Florida's most popular theme parks (daily 9.30am6pm; longer hours in high season; adults $48.76, children $39.22, parking $510; tel 813/987-5082, www.buschgardens.com ), offers the Southeastern US's fastest, largest, most nerve-jangling roller coasters, incongruously set in an interpretation of colonial-era Africa. A sedate monorail journey allows inspection of a variety of African wildlife, but by far the most popular of the twenty-odd rides is Gwazi , a double wooden roller coaster that pits the two against each other in a race to finish first. Other winners include the nerve-jangling Montu and the enormous Kumba . For those weary of the G forces, the water rides Stanley Falls and Congo River are a refreshing alternative on a hot afternoon.