Tampa Dinner, St. Pete Live Music

Took Lisa out for her Birthday last night, we decided on a favorite in Hyde Park, Bella's for Italian. Arrived at around 7pm, complimentary valet parking. The bar area was packed, we were seated immediately, and of course given the complimentary Bruschetta as always for a start. We shared the 1/2 chop salad, chopped crisp greens, small pasta, diced chicken in a delicious Italian dressing. The Meza Luna pasta, stuffed with Asparagus, Prosciutto and cheese that I ordered was delicious, although I saked for a Vodka Sauce instead of the plain tomato cream sauce, and they tacked on $5(my Laughing Cat fav in Ybor always lets you vary the menu to your liking without an charge), but it was delicious. Lisa enjoyed her Chicken Marsala, two breasts of chicken, lots of mushrooms, and a side of Broccoli.
We wanted to hear some live music, and Lisa has been raving about Matt Winter, he was playing at Dan Marino's Martini Bar at Bay Walk in downtown St. Petersburg. It was a quick 25 min ride to Bay Walk, a great crowd was hanging out in the Martini Bar, with the Matt Winter band playing above the bar. Plays alot of covers(Dave Matthews, Oasis, Sublime), also has many great originals..I now have another local band to follow that were very entertaining, Lisa got to chat with Matt afterwards for a bit, and we had lots of laughs with the drummers wife who was hanging out with us at the bar.
They only played until 10pm, so we headed back to Tampa, and hit up our local favorite, Green Iguana Westshore, walking distance to my house. The very friendly John and Theresa were manning the bar outside in the Tiki area, there was a lively crowd, and of course a great entertaining band inside. We kicked back and enjoyed the people watching, and chatted with several people(it seems you can never go to the Green Iguana without ending up talking to someone for the first time).
We got a call from some friends to meet up at City Side for a late cocktail, so we cabbed it there, and spent the last few hours of the night socializing with the ever so Happy alternative crowd at City Side...I really like the VJ there, he plays some great tunes.

St. Pete Pride!...Gulfport Dinner(yuck)...Alafia Biking!

Another great weekend in Tampa Bay comes to a close. Saturday, me and some buddies decided to venture to an unknown territory, our first Gay Pride Festival. Boasting itself as the largest in Gay Pride Festival in Florida, and largest St. Pete Festival, with close to 50,000, and over 300 vendors, bands, and a diverse crowd, I was curious to see what its all about, and glad we went. The parade(or "promenade") was over two hours long, and interesting to say the least. The amount of businesses and community that came out to support this day was amazing, I really had no idea there was such a large community like this in Tampa Bay area. The 15 blocks of the Grand Central area of St. Pete was hopping with more entertainment than the eyes and ears could handle, even more interesting was there was only about half dozen protesters. And there were an unusual amount of straight couples and families with kids that also attended the day long event. Im putting this one on my list for an annual participation, it was a a great time, talked to many interesting people. That evening, went to dinner in Gulfport to Aqua Bella's, and to see my favorite local band, Buffalo Strange. Aqua Bella's is a nice casual place along the beach front in Gulfport, a cute little artsy town on Boca Ciega Bay. Buffalo Strange was missing their lead singer, Rob, but they still sounded good. I have only had drinks here, and now know why...the food was awful!! We ordered Beer Battered Onion Rings to start - they were dripping with grease, and very little batter, kind of like oily onions. Then we had a cheese burger which was the blandest tasting burger, that came with limp fries. We also ordered a chop salad with meats and cheeses, what came out was a soggy lettuce mess, small slivers of turkey and ham, and warm...Uggg! We will be back for the cocktails and great views, but plan to eat elsewhere in Gulfport.
Sunday, my brother and I ventured out for some more Tampa Bay area off-road biking, this time it was Alafia River State Park. Its a good 45 minute trip from Tampa, but well worth the drive. I have NEVER seen this type of topography any where in Florida, the trails simply just blew me away. Large rollarcoaster type hills, all kinds of terrain, very woodsy to swampy..totally kicked Flatwoods and Wilderness Parks off-road biking, but be prepared, cause some of the trails are NOT for the novice. They make helmets a requirement, and I understand why...next time I plan to hike the Expert trails before riding(we rode the easy and intermediate trails..the intermediate was difficult enough), during the ride, my chain broke off, and I had to walk my bike out..you really get a better glimpse of the abundance wildlife(deers, wild boars, exotic plant species), lots of shade made it great to ride and not get overheated.
My brother made an announcement at the family fun day dinner tonight, that he and my sister in law and their new baby are moving to Colorado in 2 weeks!! He got a job to move back, but we are all hoping that little Sebastian will be back in Florida by the time school starts in 5 years. It was nice having them around, but i'll be happy visiting them outside of Denver, and my other brother and his family in Colorado Springs. I had to include his pic of him helping me to repair my bike on the trails today.

My Brother Greg trying to Fix my bike at Alafia River State Park (nice look Greg..LOL)

Tampa Pond Tour, Gulfport

Saturday was the bi-annual daytime Pond Tour through South Tampa. It is sponsored by Pondscapes, and donations benefited the Tampa Bay Humane Society. It was a great tour, with 10 homes in South Tampa showing off there landscaped backyards and built in ponds. It really gives you a great way to see the different neighborhoods throughout South Tampa, and great ideas for landscaping and if you wish to put a pond in the backyard. Also a great opportunity to meet interesting folks from the area. The night Pond Tour through South Tampa homes is still my favorite, as most of the home owners usually have small parties, its like going from one party to another, and viewing these beautiful landscaped yards of South Tampa.
After the Pond Tour, we headed over to "Arts Alive" in St. Pete to partake in the free museum day for Hillsborough and Pinellas residents. We went to Sunken Gardens, as I have been to most of the other St. Pete museums. Although there were more than usual amount of people at Sunken Gardens in St. Pete, it was a great casual stroll through the many different types of plant and tree species. Great picture taking and scenery.
After Sunken Gardens is was time for a few late afternoon cocktails so we decide to go to the small village of Gulfport, just south and west of downtown St. Pete. It's a great little artsy town located right on Boca Ceiga Bay. Gulfport has an interesting vibe, many art galleries, and small cafes and restaurants along the main street, and lively bars with live music along the waterfront. Most of the cafe's have outdoor patios. We settled on Aqua Bella's for some Run Runners, and great views of the Bay and Intracoastal from the top deck. From there we went to Pia's for Italian..they had a great menu at Pia's in Gulfport, mostly Pastas with different sauces, and over a dozen types of Panini's. Eating on the outdoor pation reminded me of what it would be like in Italy, with Italian music in the background, and lots of trees shading the back area. There was a Saturday Evening Stroll happening in Gulfport, live music and art filled the sidewalks of this quaint little town.
We ended the night at Debi's backyard in the St. Pete neighborhood of Riviera Bay. It was comfy out sitting along her waterfront backyard gazing at the stars, and some good conversation.