A visit to the Tampa Theatre located in downtown Tampa is always a treat.  Whether you are visiting to see a show they may be showing on the screen or taking one of the tours they offer to see the theatre it's always fun.  Recently we took the tour to see the 'behind the scenes' of this historic old theatre.  Unfortunately, we were not allowed to use tripods which was forcing us to play with 'low light' photography and increasing the ISO (for those of you into the photographic world).  I did learn a lot about the theatre in this tour - so if you're interested in history, I definitely recommend that you check this out some time.
 

For me, I found out that 'Nickelodeon' is not just a television channel!  They actually did have old silent movies that are about 20 minutes in length and cost a nickel - hence the name for these became nickelodeon.  The other interesting tidbit that I learned is that the Tampa Theatre was one of the few early air conditioned places that people in Tampa could escape the summer heat - a very good reason to catch a show.
 

My first question after entering the theatre was "Where is the bathroom?"  The girl was very kind and said there is one in the basement - now I have heard that this theatre is haunted, so I'm questioning whether I really want to be in the basement alone.....but I was the only one that I saw there, so I guess it all was clear (the ghost spends most of his time in the projection room).
 

This was the water fountain that is located outside of the ladies parlor in the basement of the theatre.  The staircase to the upper level of the theatre is done with a lot of ornate decorations.
 

In the main room of the theatre where movies are shown you will find a blue sky with stars on the ceiling as well as ornate decorations around the screen.
 

The lower area of the theatre has seating for a good number of people.
 

The Tampa Theatre is a unique historic building of which there are few of these left to be enjoyed.  Take time to see a movie or perhaps a tour of this lovely place on Franklin street in downtown Tampa!