Strange is back at Skippers

A hefty work week deserves a good Friday...and to start off, Happy Hour was at Ricks on the River, they upgraded this place a bit, added a huge outdoor covering over the entire patio, and now have marble top picnic tables, with these signs on the tables you can turn over to alert the servers if you need service or not, great idea!! It was busy, on this beautiful warmer night than we have had over the past few weeks..with an acoustic guitarist entertaining the happy hour crowd. A few pitchers, and some wings, grouper fingers, and potato skins, and we were already relieved from the hectic work week we just finished up...with great views of the river and downtown Tampa skyline..a great start to the weekend.
After our happy hour, we headed up to a Tampa icon, Skipper's Smokehouse and the Skipper Dome...where three bands were playing, and my fav was the headliner, Buffalo Strange. Ive written lots about them before, they stopped playing for a while, but now are back it seems each weekend playing at various places throughout the Bay area, but mostly the Pinellas beaches,which is perfect for the very Florida, laid back, hoppin tunes, that gets the crowd forgetting all the worries and troubles, and to just RELAX!! Walking into Skipper's Dining section for dinner first, we were all seated promptly, in what appears to be just a Florida beach shack..with lots of Florida type stuff, and fisherman/seafood stuff all over the walls...old wooden plank floors and walls, very authentic. Trying this time was the Crab Stuffed Mushrooms, stuffed full with lumps of fresh crab meat and deep fried, and also the Skippers Platter, which has just about everything on the menu fried(Shrimps, Oysters, Gator Tail, Calamari, BASA fish, Hush Puppies), and all dinner come with two sides...also enjoyed were a Grouper Sandwhich and Chicken Sandwich's....and a HUGE order of Onion Rings. The place is primarily seafood...no frills seafood, and good, but you will be eating on Styrofoam plates, plastic utensils...its a Fish Shack, so you cant expect anything fancy here....after filling ourselves, we all went out to the Skipper Dome..a large live music area, covered by 100 year old oaks, lots of seating areas, and huge stage..where the live music entertained a few hundred people outside...comfortable, relaxing, take your shoes off and dance in the sand, amazing to see so many laid back people from ALL walks of life with smiles on their faces, just having a good time, and loving life for the moment.

Long Weekend due to Presidents Day Holiday on Monday...The Tampa Bay Rays is holding an open house Saturday and the Trop, Florida State Fair is in its final weekend, Gapsarilla continues with the annual Night Parade this evening in Ybor City, and the weather couldnt be better for anything outdoors....
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