Sun, storms, and the Cuban sandwich
Tampa gave the country the Cuban sandwich, assembled in Ybor City by Cuban, Spanish, and Italian cigar workers who each contributed a layer — the salami is the Italian addition, and leaving it out is how you start a fight with a Tampeño. Ybor was a company town built around cigars in the 1880s, complete with lectores who read novels and newspapers aloud to workers rolling at their benches. The city sits on a natural harbor on Florida's Gulf Coast and became a shipping hub long before theme parks arrived inland. It is also among the most lightning-struck places in the United States, which is where the hockey team got its name. Beyond the Riverwalk skyline, Tampa is one of the fastest-growing cities in the Southeast.
