A Tampa Dog Beach, A Tampa Diner, A Tampa Neighborhood, and A Tampa Evening

Took the kids to their fav beach, Picnic Island Dog Beach/Park. This excellent Tampa Park and Beach is just down Westshore Blvd at the very end, almost a hidden Tampa treasure. In the mornings there are very few people and their dogs on the dog beach section, which is very long and wide. The park also has a large hill with wide open spaces for them to run around, and great views of the Bay, and downtown St. Pete. It's nice to have this within a few miles of home.
Afterwards John and I headed to Three Coins Diner on Nebraska Ave in Seminole Heights. I have heard about this place, and wanted to check it out, I miss the real diners of the northeast, and there are very few in this area. It's a small place, maybe a dozen or so booths, and a counter with a few stools. But a diner it is, and the menu shows the variety of choices that are often scene at diners. I like the 24 hour breakfasts, and the Triple Decker Club Sandwich's that come with Onion Rings and Steak Fries on the menu. I decided to go for the Feta and Spinach Omelet. It was rather large portion, stuffed with alot of Feta and Spinach, and with fresh home fries and buttered toast. Not the best of breakfasts, they cook the eggs on too hot of a skillet which causes it to brown slightly, but this greasy spoon diner find is good and worth the trip. The service is top notch, the atmosphere and diversity of people is even better, (over heard conversations ins Spanish, and a few patrons with many piercings and tattoos) an interesting part of Tampa.
I have been wanting to discover more of Tampa's neighborhoods, and we drove around Riverside Heights after brunch. A very nice small neighborhood a few miles north of downtown Tampa bordered by the Hillsborough River on the west, N Boulevard on the east, Columbus Ave and MLK Blvd. A variety of homes, large and small, brick lined streets, large mature oaks.
Saturday evening we met up with a bunch of friends to celebrate a birthday at Channelside. First stop was Splitsville, there was 10 of us all together, we ordered mostly sliders(small cheeseburgers), salads, sushi and chicken fingers. The food was very good, although sushi is not their specialty, but then again this is an upscale bowling alley. The place was very busy, there was a 2 hour wait to get a bowling lane, and most of the patrons were all young professionals. Tunes from the 80's/90's kept the crowds heads bopping, we opted to play pool for a while instead of bowl. Outside in the Channelside courtyard there was a band set up on stage. We then headed to McGraw's, which was just starting to get busy. They were having line dancing lessons early on, but later, there was a mixture of dance and country tunes. We played darts, and boxing, while doing some people watching. It's a Big space inside, the ceiling fan is something to see at this place, must be the biggest one ove ever seen, got to see it to believe it. We then ventured from Channelside up the street about a mile to Ybor City, and Lounge 7-14. The last stop of the evening before going home was Green Iguana Westshore, walking distance to home. A round of pool, and listing to a great band topped off the night. They have been doing some major renovations at this green Iguana, a larger space inside, and the pool room area is also getting a make-over and bigger. Im going to miss the small, dive place this used to be, lots of memories in the 17 years i have been going here.