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?
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