Where: Tampa, Florida
When to go: year-round
If you like: history
Why you should go: A century ago, some two hundred factories churned out more than a million cigars a day in Tampa’s Ybor City. And though only twenty-five of those factory buildings still stand, now filled with shops and artists’ lofts, with only one—J.C. Newman Cigar Co.—remaining operational, the cigar era is woven into the fabric of this quirky cobblestoned enclave. “It’s such a unique part of the South and different than anywhere else in Florida,” says Drew Newman, J.C. Newman’s fourth-generation owner, of Ybor City. His company’s clock-towered headquarters, nicknamed El Reloj, offers tours and cigar-rolling classes, and it’s expanding its footprint to a forthcoming inn and cigar lounge in a neighboring building. But you’ll have to head outside to see one indelible part of Ybor history: the sleek, jewel-toned street chickens—descendants of the backyard flocks of factory workers—that freely roam the sidewalks, peep out of bushes, and nest on historic grounds. “They rule the roost of Ybor City,” Newman admits.
G&G tip: If you don’t get enough fowl play on the streets, head to Hotel Haya, where a local chicken rescue hosts monthly yoga for people and birds alike.
