Discover Tampa through our eyes!

The Captain and I have been all around Tampa for one reason or another.  Since we recently got married, there have been so many IDs to get, change, update which have taken us from one part of town to the other . . . numerous times.  It gave us the idea of doing blog posts featuring the diversity of Tampa, what makes it so special and why I would not live anywhere else in the world.

Today we went off just for fun.  MacDill Air Force Base was having a Veterans' Appreciation Day, so we started our day off with an awesome brunch at the dining room usually designated for active military only.  WOW I was impressed with the quality of food and the great service we received.  After doing some shopping and checking out all the various veterans association booths (did I mention that I love being a military wife?), we decided to continue our adventure and forget about going straight home.

Our first stop was Ballast Point, which is located on Tampa Bay . . . down the street from the base and across the bay from downtown and the Port of Tampa.  We checked out their lovely pier and relaxed at the picnic area, enjoying a beautiful Florida day, taking lots of photos along the way.

Ballast Point is off of Bayshore Boulevard, which runs along Tampa Bay, leading to Downtown Tampa.  I kept clicking photos throughout the drive all the way through downtown.  It was at that point we decided to make it a dedicated photo taking day.  We took some awesome and unusual shots of gorgeous buildings surrounding downtown, ending up in Historic Ybor City, which is where we finally landed, parked the van and headed out to our adventure.

My roots are in Ybor City and the changes made through the years have made me so proud of my latina heritage which lies in the historic district.  

The highlight of our day was a ride on the streetcar from Ybor City, back towards downtown to Channelside, home of The Florida Aquarium, the Tampa Bay Lightning (St. Pete Forum), cruise ship terminals, dining ships that include a tour of Tampa Bay and the quaint shops and restaurants of the artsy Channelside district itself.

The new ultra-modern condos that have gone up and still going up around Channelside and downtown are each unique with gorgeous architecture and landscaping . . . quite the contrast a streetcar ride away from the historic Ybor City architecture that takes you back to another time, very reminiscent of Bourbon Street in New Orleans.

We had a blast . . . but the bad news is soon after jumping on the streetcar to begin our journey to Channelside, the camera batteries died.  Major bummer . . . we are planning on going back tomorrow, weather permitting, to take even more photos of Ybor City and finally take some photos at Channelside.

It is awesome to show The Captain around his new home and share my roots with him.

I'll take each section of town as a blog post with lots of photos to share my city with all of you, along with a little history and some "back in the day" memories.

Can't wait to continue our adventure tomorrow!

UPDATE  :(  

IT IS TOMORROW AND AN UGLY

RAINY DAY IN TAMPA!

NOT A GOOD DAY FOR PHOTOS

. . . maybe next weekend?

Fort Desoto Park ~ St. Petersburg, Florida

The Captain and I recently spent a beautiful and sunny Florida day on the white sandy gulf beach at Fort Desoto Park in St. Petersburg, Florida.

We couldn't have picked a better day . . . no rain, no storms . . . very unusual for this time of year.  There is nothing like sunning on the beach and cooling off in the warm, salty and refreshing Gulf of Mexico.

Our day started very early in the morning . . . we arrived as the sun came up . . . daybreak on the Gulf of Mexico beaches is awesome!

The park offers great diversity with a wealth of bird life, sea life, wild life and plant life.  We just visited the beach, but the park also includes two fishing piers, campgrounds, the historial forts, museum, boating and so much more.

Although it has been many years, it was one of my favorite places to go camping, where you can encounter cute raccoons that are very adept at stealing food, hiking or biking through the trails or fishing from your camp site.  An awesome place to go camping, if that is your thing.

  

The park consists of 1,136 acres of protected islands . . . home to beach plants, mangroves, wetlands, palm hammocks, hardwoods and native plants.  It is the one place in this area that I imagine is as it was when the Spanish explorers first discovered its vast beauty.

The park's natural ecosystems provides a home to more than 290 documented species of birds and the beaches provide refuge to the loggerhead sea turtle as they nest between April and September.

  

Fort De Soto's three miles of white sandy beaches was named America’s Top Beach for 2009 by Trip Advisor, the world's largest online travel community. In 2005, “Dr. Beach,” named Fort De Soto the nation’s #1 Beach.

Here are some photos we took . . .

Click here for the official website of Fort Desoto Park.

We plan on visiting again very soon to check

 out other amenities the park provides . . . 

hopefully for a couple days of camping and fishing!

This post has been linked up with the

following blog hop/meme . . .

Cheetah Hunt at Busch Gardens

Although we had every intention to make it to Busch Gardens for the opening of the new ride Cheetah Hunt, between Florida thunderstorms and life, we didn't make it until the other day.  We got there in the very late afternoon and it got too dark to continue taking photos, so there wasn't enough time to explore the new section to go with the ride.  

Hopefully we will return next week . . . 

but in the meantime, here is a peak at the new ride . . .

The landscaping at the base of this section

 of the ride is gorgeously tropical!

A photo from our last visit . . . the landscapers 

busily preparing the grounds for the opening

of the new Cheetah Hunt section.

What a difference a few weeks makes!

One of our favorite spots to chill out.

I love this water feature!