"If we could follow that vanishing road to its far mysterious end! Should we find that meaning there? … Should we come at last to the radiant door, and know at last the purpose of our travel? Meanwhile the road beckons us on and on …"
— Richard Le Gallienne, Vanishing Roads, 1914
There's something about the idea of the road that carries a sense of romance and meaning beyond a simple strip of asphalt.The road is a central metaphor for our journey through life. Poems, songs, movies and turns of phrase celebrate the freedom of the open road, the adventure of a road trip, the choice presented by a fork in the road, the chance meeting at a crossroads, bumps in the road, the mystery of what lies at the end of the road.
In the past few years, awareness has begun to grow about the historic and cultural significance of roads in this country, followed by a move to study them and to preserve some, based on their historic, cultural, aesthetic or even engineering significance.
One of Tampa's most historically and culturally interesting roads is Armenia Avenue. As the major north-south route through West Tampa, Armenia Avenue has been a Latin street since the town's earliest days. Travis Puterbaugh, assistant curator of the Tampa Bay History Museum, says the street was originally named Armina Avenue, after the Armina Cigar Company founded in the 1890s. He estimates that the spelling was changed in the early 1900s, perhaps to make it easier to pronounce or to Anglicize it, though "Armenia" doesn't seem to fit either goal.
West Tampa and Armenia Avenue, like Ybor City, experienced a decline when the cigar industry fell apart, though much of the original building stock remains, leaving the bones of its history somewhat open to view. Unlike Ybor, speculators have not driven prices up along Armenia Avenue, so costs have remained low enough for small, independent businesses to continue to thrive. And that's what makes Armenia Avenue so special. It's one of those precious remaining urban commercial thoroughfares that retain a sense of place and independent entrepreneurial spirit.
From Main Street northward to Columbus, old cigar factories, tiny storefronts and wooden houses with deep porches, steep tin roofs and plantings of marigolds and banana trees bear testament to Armenia Avenue's Latin roots and character.
Farther north, the Latin Quarter Shopping Center, with its barrel tile roof, stucco walls and ornate ironwork, houses Paracas steak and seafood restaurant, Figaro's barbershop, a Spanish book and music store called Tampa Libros, and Cacciatore and Sons Italian market. It's a real old-style market where you can get produce, fresh-made Italian sausage, fine imported cheeses, genuine Serrano ham and a good selection of Spanish and Italian wines at below supermarket prices.
The northward expansion of the Latin community is evident in the newer businesses and buildings up the road. One of the more eye-catching is Guido Morana jewelry store with its three-dimensional neon diamond sign. Even the Kash & Karry strip mall has several Latin businesses and a Latin-style décor with barrel tile roof, bright orange paint and blue and green frieze work. Handpainted signs and murals also give Armenia Avenue a vivacious look. Among the best is the giant cup of coffee and Cuban sandwich on the tiny, neat-as-a-pin Pinar Café.
Helados Tropicales sells tropical ices and juices. Mambo's Café and La Casona have great Puerto Rican food. The Palladium offers dancing and Spanish karaoke. San Martin Botanica carries magic and religious supplies, and Bazar Esoterica Centro Internacional Paranormal advertises palm and tarot readings. For pinatas and quinciñera supplies, El Encanto is the place.
There are also plenty of non-Latino independent businesses on Armenia, including Antiquarian bookshop, Housewife Bake Shop, Wholly Smokes Bar-B-Q, Inkslingers Tattoo and Body Piercing, 3 Palms Grille, Aardvark's Music and Rental Center, The Perfect Place smoking accessories store, and Unique Video, one of the last — and most interesting — independently owned movie rental shops.
As the road narrows to two lanes just north of Sligh, it curves and begins to take on the character of the country lane it once was when it carried city folks to the string of lakes and springs north of town. This stretch is lined with Colombian businesses, including The K-Che Colombian clothing and gift shop and lots of small Colombian restaurants. Among them are El Kiosko, La Perrada, La Hacienda, La Curva Latina and La Cabana Antioquena, with its weird mural-size painting of a grinning chicken wearing shorts and sandals and holding a roast chicken on a platter.
Interspersed among the Colombian places are Asian businesses, such as Pho 99 Vietnamese restaurant, Tan-Phat Oriental Market and Evershine Square, a strip mall that contains almost all Asian businesses — including Din Ho market, China Yuan Cantonese Cuisine and Lucky Bamboo Bakery. The exception is a Costa Verde Peruvian Restaurant and Rotisserie.
North of Busch Boulevard, the road turns residential, curving east then north then west around Lake Carroll before heading north again.
Armenia Avenue doesn't have a clear end. Rather, like Galliene's vanishing road, it just sort of disappears at a lovely, luminous fork in the lush Lake Magdalene area, leaving the wayfarer to wonder which path to choose.
Contributing Editor Susan F. Edwards can be reached at susan.edwards@weeklyplanet.com
This article appears in Jul 8-14, 2004.