Ybor was a city I had been to a few times before; for the night life and only one other time in the day. It just so happens Saturday was a great day to visit there! I arrived right when the museum opened so I gave them some time to settle in as I looked around the farmers market that was going on in the square. I moved my car to the free lot the ranger suggested to me and then I came back in and watched a very interesting 20-minute video of how ‘Cigar City’ came to be. There was a yoga class in the courtyard so they wanted us to wait a bit before giving a tour. In the meantime, I took a self-guided tour that was very informative. I will tell you, this is the only time I have been to this city where I was fascinated enough by it to want to come back. I wanted to make sure I experienced everything but time was flying by and I had to make it to my reservation for the ferry boat out to Anclote Key.
The boat ride out and back to the key was the longest part of the trip. Anclote Key itself was pretty but we only got to spend about 20 minutes there. Honestly, I would have never even known it was a park at all if they did not tell me. This is a place you would want to go on a private boat and spend the day. I had a great time looking at all of the sponges washed up on the shore and I really enjoyed my time walking around the preserve. This is a beautiful place and I see myself coming back in the near future!
