The Ybor City Museum
On Friday we took a trip with our daughter Cindy and her husband Alan to the Ybor City Museum.
Ybor City is a National Historic Landmark District. If you live in the Tampa Bay area or have visited here and haven’t been to the Ybor City Museum you’ve missed a wonderful opportunity to learn about the history of the city and area.
The exhibits of the museum illustrate the founding of Ybor City by Vicente Martinez-Ybor. Ybor City is a quintessential and important part of the identity of the city of Tampa, the Tampa Bay area and the state of Florida, and relate interesting and little known anecdotes about the history of the United States.
Tampa was at one point “The Cigar Capital of the World” thanks in large part to those immigrants from Cuba who were displaced by the Ten Years War, the war for Cuban independence from Spain. The part the city played in the “Spanish American War” and that war’s Cuban front was significant and helped shaped the United States into the country it is today.
You’ll learn about the different social clubs, one for each nationality living in the city (two for the Hispanic inhabitants). Each of these clubs provided for the social, educational and medical needs of its members.
And Senor Ybor furnished the workers with their own houses which they were encouraged to buy rather than rent, a feature that ensured a stable, loyal work force.
At the museum store next door you’ll find among other things the world’s longest cigar, a creation of Wallace and Margarita Reyes of 193.3 feet in length. And you’ll be able to pick up a copy of “La Gaceta” the nation’s only tri-lingual newspaper, printed in English, Spanish and Italian. And it’s a real bargain too: only 50 cents for all three languages!
And don’t forget to pick up a supply of hand-rolled cigars if you’re a cigar afficionado!
—THE OGGIE
The Henry B. Plant Museum
On Sunday Barbara, our friends Mike and Nancy Sexton and I visited the Henry B. Plant Museum in Tampa. The museum shares a location with the University of Tampa in the historic Tampa Bay Hotel with its magnificent Moorish architecture, built by Henry B. Plant in 1891 as one of the keystones of his far-reaching empire of railroads, steamships and hotels. For many years it was the prime vacation spot for Northerners trying to escape the cold winters. During the Spanish-American war it provided housing for our troops on their way to Cuba. It’s not like any barracks I’ve ever been in, I must say. Of course the hotel is no longer used for its original purpose, and is the home to the university and the museum. But the building remains the symbol of Tampa.
Its exhibits will give you a taste of the history of the “gilded age” lifestyle of the late-Victorian era and some interesting snippets of history—Tampa, Ybor City, Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders and the Spanish American War. It’s well worth the visit.
—THE OGGIE
New Website for Oggie Dolls
I’ve just finished a complete restoration of the website www.oggiedolls.com. The design is brand new with lots of new content as well. I think it’s a great improvement over the last version and a fitting tribute to the beautiful dolls that the artist creates. In the interest of full disclosure, the artist is my wonderful wife Barbara. I hope I’ve done her and the dolls justice. Take a look and let us know what you think.
—THE OGGIE
The Yalaha Bakery
Located just off Florida’s Turnpike at 8210 County Road 48 between Howey-in-the-Hills and Okahumpka (yes, really) is the town of Yalaha and its claim to fame, the Yalaha Bakery.
This German bakery has everything you’d find in a typical “bäckerei” in the Old Country—and everything is just as tasty. Barbara and I even found the specialty bread of her hometown of Emskirchen in Franconia. This “Frankenleib” (shown below) is a loaf of dark bread that is about a foot and a half round and six or so inches thick—chewy on the inside with a crunchy crust. Boy, were we delighted to discover what we thought we’d never see again except on our all too infrequent trips back to Deutschland.
Below you can see a small sampling of the goodies they have to offer. The variety of breads they bake on the premises is unbelievable and the number of different kinds of pastries (also baked on the premises) is staggering. The list goes on and on.
We were introduced to this wonderful place by our friends Don and Saretta Rathgeber on one of those mystery outings they arranged for us one Saturday morning. It’s about an hour’s drive from where we live, but it was well worth the trip.
Although they’re open for business every day of the week, Saturday is something of a special day. Every Saturday from 11am to 2pm they feature entertainment in the garden. Usually it’s something along the lines of folk, country, bluegrass or oldies. While you’re enjoying that al fresco entertainment, and if you haven’t filled up on coffee and pastries (or even if you have), you can enjoy a lunch of bratwurst, sauerkraut and all those sorts of delicious German delicacies that most of us love.
Be sure to check out their website at www.yalahabakery.com to find out more about this one-of-a-kind place located smack dab in the middle of Florida. They list the entertainment coming up too, so you’ll be able to plan your trip according to your musical likes and dislikes.
—OGGIE
New Oggie Web Phone Number 352-610-OGGIE
We’ve got a new phone number here at The Oggie Web, one that’s real easy to remember:
352-610-OGGIE
If you’re in the market for a website, now it’s even easier. And our prices are still remarkably low. This may be the one exception to the “You get what you pay for” rule! Check us out at www.theoggieweb.com. You’re sure to be surprised!
—THE OGGIE
Ye Olde Miners Pasty Shop
I took Barbara to Ye Olde Miners Pasty Shop on Saturday. This little gem of a food specialty shop provides a taste of Michigan at 35201 State Road 54 in Zephyrhills, FL. Allan Gower, the owner, serves only pasties, a delicacy native to the mitten state. Pasties are something like a meat pie that can be handled like a sandwich and dipped in gravy (or eaten with ketchup and hot sauce if that’s your bag). My grandmother used to make these for dinner (and I think for my grandpa to take to work with him the next day at the Pontiac plant in Pontiac, MI. These things are heavenly! Go! I know you’ll like them. You can get them frozen to take home too.
Here’s a link with some pictures of pasties like the picture above: http://www.cornishpastyco.com/simpleviewer/index.html
And here’s another where you can find out more about them: http://www.hu.mtu.edu/vup/pasty/history.htm
—THE OGGIE
And since I’m on the subject of websites, here’s another you need to know about if you have a sewing machine, serger or embroidery machine and are in West Central Florida: Sew N Save. Randy Kasberg will take good care of your machine, fix any problems you may have with it and get it back to you in record time. His wife JinaMarie does some pretty fancy custom embroidery too.
Check Randy and JinaMarie out at www.sewnsave.net.
—THE OGGIE
Martinez Appliance Repair is located in the Towne Square Mall in Spring Hill. Carlos will repair any appliance you have with a terrific smile, reasonable prices and an ironclad guarantee. He covers Citrus, Hernando and Pasco counties with 24-hour emergency service.
Check Carlos Martinez out at www.martinez-appliance-repair.com.
—THE OGGIE
You’ll want to look at this new website for Our Memories Gifts. This is another shop located in the Towne Square Mall in Spring Hill. Angel Malavet specializes in etched glass decals, colorful screen art decals, Wallpaper for Windows and other easily applied and easily removable decorative touches for your windows and doors at prices you won’t be able to beat anywhere.
Check Angel out at www.ourmemoriesfl.com.
—THE OGGIE
On line Sunday morning was the new website for the Crown of Life Church in Spring Hill. This new website provides a new and convenient way for its members to view each Sunday’s service as it is in progress, or to view previous weeks’ services simply by clicking on a button. The website is still being worked but is operational and should be completed this week. Coming soon thereafter will be a Spanish version of the same website.
Check them out at www.crownoflifechurchonline.com.
—THE OGGIE
The Oggie Web on Facebook and Twitter
The Oggie Web is now on Facebook and Twitter. To follow me there go to the links below:
www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Spring-Hill-FL/The-Oggie-Web/314789636362?ref=ts&ajaxpipe=1&__a=5
—THE OGGIE
New Oggie Websites on the Oggie Blog
As you’ve no doubt noticed I’ve begun announcing new Oggie websites here on the blog. This should help keep all of you updated on what I’ve been doing. Stay tuned for all the new things coming up. I’ve got lots of new ideas running around through the noggin. I think you’ll like what you’ll be seeing!
—THE OGGIE
The Oggie Web is proud to announce a new website for the Towne Square Mall in Spring Hill, FL. The Towne Square Mall is a place where local merchants are able to permanently set up shop and display their wares in a customer-convenient setting. Take a look at the variety of merchants at www.towne-square-mall.com. Then come and enjoy “shopping the way it used to be.”
Check them out at www.towne-square-mall.com.
—THE OGGIE
Another website you’ll want to visit is that of The Jewelry ER in Spring Hill. This shop is located in the Towne Square Mall. Debbie and Ryan Richardson provide “while you wait” repair of jewelry and many other services with a smile. Need a watch battery installed? This is the place to go. Lots of nice jewelry to purchase as well. Be sure to visit them when you’re in Spring Hill.
Check them out at www.thejewelryer.com
—THE OGGIE
Four Parts of Websiting
There are essentially four things to consider when creating and maintaining a website: (1) a domain name, (2) the look and functionality of the website itself, (3) the hosting of the website and (4) maintaining the website. These can be broken down into more parts, but these are the four basic considerations.
(1) The domain name. Your domain name is something like “theoggieweb.com” or “cnn.com.” This is a very important thing to consider and the critical first step. The name of your website needs to be something simple, descriptive, not too long and something catchy that is easy to remember. After all you do want it to be remembered—at least long enough for your “reader” and potential customer to get to it. There are a few tricks to choosing domain names that your webmaster should be able to help you with. Ask him about them. Another thing to remember about your domain name, and this is very important, is that once you have purchased and registered it, it belongs to you and you alone and to no one else. Many people aren’t aware of this or forget it and are sometimes even told that they have to pay again for it in order to keep it. Remember, it’s yours!
(2) The look and functionality of the website. When you create and develop your website, you need to consider the purpose of the website, your potential audience and the best and most effective way to get your point across or to promote your product to that audience. Of course it should be logically constructed so that it can be navigated easily. That’s important: you don’t want your visitors to get lost and give up on you, do you? Another thing to consider is the look and feel of the website; it needs to be inviting and easy to look at. Once you’ve laid it out, a site map is something that might help you and your viewers know where to go to find what they want. Even if you have hired someone to create a website for you, you still need to be intimately involved in its creation so that you are sure that you are getting the website that is best for you. Your developer can offer suggestions based on his experience and expertise, but in the end it’s up to you to make sure it’s done the way you want it to be done. It’s really unfair to the developer and, most importantly, to yourself to simply tell him, “Build me a website!” It’s a team effort and your input is critical. And don’t forget, as I’ve said in another blog, your website needs to emphasize the “steak” and not the “sizzle.”
(3) Hosting. Once you’ve created your site, it needs to be physically placed on a computer or server somewhere out there on the internet so that your viewers can access it. There are many good hosting companies that will do this for you relatively inexpensively. Different hosting companies offer different options and add-ons, so you need to choose the one that offers the services you desire. For a person who has little web experience and just wants to get a website up and running, it’s probably best to utilize the hosting company that your website designer recommends. He can frequently get the best deal for you based on what you need, and he probably has more experience than you do. After all, that’s his business!
(4) Maintenance. Different types of websites require different levels of maintenance. If your website will be relatively static, you may not need a maintenance or service agreement at all. Some designers offer a certain amount of updates as a part of the hosting agreement. (The Oggie Web offers this with each of its website packages.) Some designers offer this at an hourly rate for website owners without an agreement or in case you exceed the hours specified in their hosting agreements. (The Oggie Web does that too.) If you know your website is going to need lots of updating (a restaurant’s daily menu changes, for instance, or lengthy monthly or weekly redesigns) and you want your hosting arrangement to include that, then you’ll probably want to negotiate a separate maintenance or service agreement with your designer, your hosting service or someone else you know and trust to take care of that for you. (Of course The Oggie Web will take care of that for you too.) Or if you have the necessary expertise, you can do it yourself.
So you see there are quite a few things to consider when you’re thinking about a website. You need to put a lot of thought into it. But, after you’ve done your homework and research and with a little help and guidance from the person you’ve chosen to be your webmaster, it’s not nearly as forbidding as I’ve probably made it sound. Really it’s not. A good webmaster will make it as easy as he can for you.
If you’d like more information, you’re welcome to blog me here. I’ll answer whatever questions you might have on the subject.
Or you can always call me at The Oggie Web at 352-346-0607 or email me at terry@theoggieweb.com or by using the form on my website.
—THE OGGIE
Steak or Sizzle?
People ask me frequently about the use of flash and music on their websites. Is it a help or a hindrance? I can of course only speak from my own experiences and prejudices. Quite frankly I find them for the most part pretty annoying. And what they do to me is make me want to leave the website as quickly as I can. I would much prefer to find a website that is quiet and not flashy to my eyes.
Let’s be clear about the purpose of a website (especially a business website). It’s to disseminate information and get your point across. And of course in the case of a business to sell a product or service of some sort. The purpose is not to dazzle the spectator.
The name of the game is to keep it simple. When you’re designing a website remember the old saying: Keep it simple stupid. You don’t want your viewers to be so wowed by the “sizzle” that they don’t stick around for the “steak.”
—THE OGGIE
Welcome to the Oggie Blog!
This is the first entry in this blog. There will be many more.
The Oggie Web was designed with the small business in mind. We specialize in affordable websites for businesses with limited resources, but with big ideas.
Please let us know how we can help you. We will be posting lots of information on this blog so keep your eyes open! And come back often! Your participation is a vital part of the conversation. With it we can help the small business community; without it everyone suffers!
—THE OGGIE
