top of page

12 Ybor City, Florida

Writer's picture: Megan GilesMegan Giles

February 27, 2022


I left Sanford early on Sunday trying to make it across the state to St. Raphael’s in Tampa for mass. St. Raphael the Archangel is one of my faves. He’s the patron saint of travelers and happy meetings. In the book of Tobit, he helped Tobias travel to a relative’s house only to find that Sarah had a demon in love with her who killed every man she married. Tobias wanted to marry Sarah and her dad agreed. Dad started digging a grave on their wedding night! BUT St Raphael had equipped Tobias with something to drive the demon away. He survived their wedding night and they could live happily ever after. (This is my paraphrased version. Check your Bible for the details.)


Back to my drive… traffic was pretty terrible and I wasn’t going to make it. I pulled over and found a closer church with mass starting soon.

The Church

The priest at Mary Help of Christians Center near Tampa had a very spot on message this Sunday. “You aren’t stuck in traffic. You are traffic.”


Noted. The irony is not lost on me today.


We aren’t stuck in the middle of a crazy world. We need to look into our own lives and make a change. Stop shaking our fingers at others. There’s still so much good in the world. We have to live our faith and spread the good. God loves each of us (even the difficult ones) and we can pass that love onto others.



Unexpected Stop

After getting a good lesson on traffic in the world, I still had the very real vehicular traffic to deal with on the interstate. I was looking for any excuse to pull over again. I spot a brown road sign that read “Historic Ybor City” and turned on my blinker.


I was greeted by chickens. Yes, chickens. The historic Cigar Capital of Florida, Ybar City, has protected chickens roaming around. They are direct descents of the ones brought over from Cuba back in the day. You can get ticketed and even arrested for messing with them!




These next two photos say Ybor City's claim to fame better than I can recall.



Would I visit again?

Yes, with friends. I hear the nightlife is hopping!


Would I live here?

Nope. Too much concrete still.


Enthusiasm level: 8. I’m almost to the beach!


Here’s to not being traffic,

Megan “Spread the Good” Giles


Get The Shirt


Placeholder for a future fun shirt I have yet to design. 😉


42 views

Recent Posts

See All

2 commentaires


brandee.beal
30 mai 2022

Love the updates and the wisdom my friend! Bountiful blessings! 🙏

J'aime

Drew Bird
Drew Bird
29 mai 2022

You are getting close to my old stomping grounds!!!! :)

J'aime

© 2022 MG Graphics LLC

bottom of page