Cookie Cutter U.S.A

Now, I'm not well traveled. I've been a few places across the Southeast United States. I've been just barely out towards the Southwest and I've been up north a little around Chicago and Michigan. I've also had the pleasure of visiting our nation's Capitol for a week many, many years ago.

But other than that, I really haven't been anywhere.

So maybe my comments are a bit unfair and off base.

With the exception of Washington D.C., some parts of Chicago, and Louisville, KY, all of the parts of the United States that I've been to seem like they were produced out of a cookie cutter.

I've flown over to a different time zone, but I can't find anything different to eat than what I can find back at home. At least, not yet. And I haven't seen anything different or captivating so far when compared to the current city in which I live.

I'm sure something interesting is out there somewhere, but where is it???

In the training class I'm attending, our instructor is a native of Cuba. He came back from lunch and complained that the so called Cuban restaurant where he visited wasn't authentic enough.

I'm in Tampa, Florida as I write this. I wasn't too familiar with Tampa before I got here. But from what I've noticed in just staying here one day is that there ought to be some really good Cuban food around here somewhere. I mean . . . I've seen Spanish billboards here that have no English translation. If you don't speak Spanish, that advertisement just wasn't for you.

Not to say that everyone who is Hispanic in Tampa is from Cuba. But, I bet a lot of Cubans come here to Florida. So . . . there ought to be some Cuban food that a native Cuban would call "authentic".

If he is having trouble finding some authentic and unique, how can I find something new and different in a town that is just a mirror image of where I already live?

Maybe that isn't a fair question. Perhaps I've made a false correlation. But, I feel like all hope is lost when it comes to doing something that's unique in Tampa-- something that I can't do back home. Because so far, everywhere I've been in Tampa looks the same to me.

The sweltering heat is the same.

The afternoon thunderstorms are the same.

OK, no palm trees where I live. But, I see plenty of other trees back home.

"Variety is the spice of life", I hear. I think that saying has some merit.

Ah well . . . I can't complain too much. Our hotel is really, really nice and familiarity is also comforting. But still, I'd like to see something a little different from back home. Just a little.

And on a side note: although I miss my kids, I've got a really, really, really, really, really nice break from them. They stayed back home with other family members while my wife and I traveled together. And by the way, they are doing just fine.