Egmont Key: The Island Fortress You Can Only Reach by Boat
At the mouth of Tampa Bay sits an uninhabited island with a historic lighthouse, the brick ruins of a Spanish-American War fort, and beaches full of gopher tortoises.
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Anna Maria Island: The Old-Florida Beach Town That Said No to High-Rises
Just off Bradenton, Anna Maria Island keeps the high-rises out, the pace slow, and the old-Florida charm intact, anchored by a historic wooden pier and miles of quiet white sand.
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Fort De Soto: The Island Fort That Became America’s Best Beach
A Spanish-American War fort on a barrier island south of St. Petersburg, Fort De Soto guards some of the best beaches in America, plus miles of trails, a paddling trail, and old mortar batteries you can still climb.
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The Dali Museum: The Surrealist Masterpiece Collection on the St. Petersburg Waterfront
The Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg holds the largest collection of Dali’s work outside Spain, housed in a hurricane-proof building with a massive free-form glass structure that looks like something the artist dreamed up himself.
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Tony Jannus: The Pilot Who Launched Commercial Aviation from Tampa Bay
On New Year’s Day 1914, a 24-year-old pilot flew one passenger across Tampa Bay in 23 minutes. It was the world’s first scheduled commercial airline flight. He’d be dead three years later.
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Vicente Martinez-Ybor: The Exile Who Built Tampa’s Cigar Empire
A 14-year-old Spanish runaway turned Cuban cigar king turned Tampa city builder. How Vicente Martinez-Ybor created Ybor City and made Tampa the Cigar Capital of the World.
