Dishing with Mark n Carrie… Holiday WOW

Thank you to the City of Tampa

On behalf of Tampa Pride, we sincerely express our gratitude for recognizing the Tampa Pride Diversity Parade as one of the top 5 events in the 2024 year review.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to all the sponsors and individuals who have played a vital role in making the Diversity Parade a reality. Your support is truly appreciated, and we are grateful for your contributions

This Saturday @ Southern Nights Ybor City

Holiday Spirt @ Bradley’s on 7^th

The Great Elephant Migration on Miami Beach – The Only Florida stop.

This is a carefully planned drone shot with red caution cones and security to fly my drone straight up and straight down without flying over people, The Herd will be there until December 8th! Between 36th and 37th street on Miami Beach.

These are life like reproductions made of branches from an invasive plant species, metal bases and other materials Photo by Lee Smith Photography

https://thegreatelephantmigration.org

Applications open for first-ever dog-friendly cruise

This Saturday The Judy B Goode & Paul Thomas Show

https://www.facebook.com/events/410902048461739/410902061795071

Hillsborough County LGBTQ Democratic Caucus

From Richard Gonzmart – Columbia Restaurant Ybor City

The grand chandelier in the historic Don Quixote dining room at the Columbia in Ybor is decorated for the holidays. For five decades, this elaborate chandelier has graced the room.

Purchased at an auction for $3,000 in 1972 from the Eden Roc hotel in Miami Beach, the chandelier’s worth was appraised in 2004 by a lighting expert at $250,000.

The chandelier has five layers of curved brass arms, each holding a candle-shaped light.

The chandelier has 360 small prisms and 105 large prisms that hang from 15 arms. Long sparkling prisms dangle from each candle base like icicles. Others, shaped like sea shells, are worth more than $500 each.

After discovering the fixture’s worth, research revealed the chandelier’s story: It was crafted in France in the late 1800s and took a craftsman close to two years to complete. In 1956, it arrived in Florida, where it hung in the Eden Roc. At the time, the hotel was a luxurious destination for celebrities, including Elizabeth Taylor, Lucille Ball and Ann-Margret.

When the hotel closed for renovations in the 1970s, the Columbia’s third-generation owners, Cesar and Adela Gonzmart, purchased the chandelier for their restaurant.

Columbia Hall of Fame employee George Guito, who worked at the restaurant more than 60 years, brought the chandelier to Tampa and spent nearly four days hanging it in the Don Quixote, which opened as Tampa’s first air-conditioned dining room in 1934.

The chandelier was a natural fit in the Don Quixote room, a large dining room where painted tile artwork dots the walls and flamenco dancers in bright dresses entertain crowds.

In 2005, the light was refurbished in time for the restaurant’s 100th anniversary. Eighty-four of those prisms were replaced at a cost of about $15,000. Three years ago, the chandelier was removed and cleaned during restoration of the dining room’s ceiling.

(Portions excerpted from the Tampa Bay Times)

Just For Fun

Florida’s Futuro House on top of a Strip Bar.