Tampa Thanksgiving: Hockey, John's Pass, Dali, and Manatees!

A great Thanksgiving Day loooong weekend in Tampa!
Wednesday, John, Steve and I went to the Lightning game against the NY Rangers. My friend John used his military ID to get us tickets on the third level(great promotion on behalf of the Forum, comp seats for members of the military in a certain section). It was a good game, but we lost 2-1. Prior to the game we ate at Andreychuks across from the Forum. There was a great guitarist playing on the outside deck, we were able to get a seat inside 30 minutes before the game, and order some food and drinks. The Philly Cheesesteak was large, and full of very thinly sliced beef and lots of cheese, peppers and onions, it was a bit greasy, but delicious. It was served very fast. After the game we stopped by Dubliner in Hyde Park area, the place and all of Hyde Park was very crowded. Alot of people were home for the holidays. I noticed at the Dubliner they built a high wall where the upper deck used to be, now a band plays in front of the wall where the stairs used to lead to the upper deck, making for a smaller outside area to socialize.
Turkey Day morning I picked up my brother Steve at TIA, which was empty, parked on the 9th floor of short term, and just came up and met me, the first hour in parking lots are free, plus there are great views form this perch. We picked up the pups from my house and headed to madre's. Stuffed from Turkey and football all day with the family, we watched Fantastic 4 second flick on pay per view and called it a night.
Friday we all went to John's Pass in the afternoon, my buddy Rob was to be playing guitar at The Hut today. Rob was no where to be found, but we did munch on some tasty black n blue burgers, and the Hut's special salad topped with shrimps, scallops and chicken. It was a nice day to walk around on the boardwalk and through the village. VERY touristy area, I typically am only here if there is a good band playing at The Hut, or maybe take certain visitors who like the touristy shops.
Saturday was with the family yet again, this time we headed to St. Pete to the Dali museum. Prior to entering the museum we grabbed a bite on the water a few blocks south of the museum at a place called Fish Tales. It's in a marina, and site directly on the water, very large bar areas, all open air, the menu was mostly seafood for dinner, but had lunch sandwich's and burgers. We got some cheeseburgers which were very plain, and seemed pre-formed and frozen, but the menu said "Angus", the Hammerhead Club was very large with turkey, roast beef, ham and cheese. Madre got the Lobster Bisque, which came very thin and luke warm , yet the half dozen lobster chunks were warm. Just ok, I would probably just come back from drinks. It was nice to watch the USF vs Pitt game during lunch(USF won!). The Dali museum was great as usual, we arrived for one of the tours that took us through his masterpieces, and explained his works. Dali was quite an interesting fellow and artist, his paintings are amazing to the eye. It was left over turkey sandwich's for dinner this evening.
Sunday we met up with the family again for brunch at madre's house, then took everyone to see the Manatees at the TECO Big Bend power plant. They have a great observation deck overlooking the bay area where warm waters are discharged keeping these gentle creatures warm during the winters. There were about 20 of them in sight from the deck. There is also a great museum detailing the Mantatee's and also the Power Plant workings. They have a long nature walk out towards the bay that also explains the coasts nature, mangroves and different species that live in the area. Best of all, its FREE! We then drove downt to Little Harbor area off Shell Point Road, there is a nice tiki bar/restaurant that overlooks Tampa Bay, with great views of the Skyway Bridge and downtown St. Pete. We were able to catch the end of the winning Bucs game against Washington prior to taking my brother Stephen to the airport. The weekend ended with family at Cappy's Pizza on Bay to Bay. This place is still by far some of the BEST pizza, with the crispy crust of the NY Style, rich garlicky tomato sauce, gooey cheese, but kind of light on the toppings. And also the dressing on the Greek Salads should be bottled, we can never get enough of that great Greek Salad, full with feta, olives, etc. They do a great job, service was quick and friendly(thanks Amy!), and they have outdoor seating as well.

This week, work brings me to Atlanta!

Treasure Island beaches and an Ybor City weekend!

Friday I did what is now becoming a bit of a routine, but a good routine, seeing my friend Rob from the band Buffalo Strange play solo at The Hut on John's Pass, Madeira Beach. This time I ordered the Black n Blue burger, and the burger just seemed to be a bit tough. My friend Debi advised me last time that her burger was also a bit tough. The mellow tunes kept us happy, it was very warm, we haven't had the typical afternoon thunderstorms in about a week to cool things off during the day, but there were plenty of fans blowing in this LARGE tiki hut on the water. After taking Debi home, John and I wanted Ice Cream, and found the Dairy Inn, located on MLK Blvd(9th Street) near 11th Avenue in St. Pete. Kind of like Dairy Joy in South Tampa, a walk up window with soft serve ice cream cones and sundaes, with a few covered tables. There is a video game room in the back with a few 'old school' video games. Lisa and Brian gave us a shout to join them at their Beach Condo they had for the weekend on Treasure Island, so we ventured back out there. It was nice overlooking the WIDE white, sandy beaches of Treasure Island in the evening from the condo. For a late night snack, we venured out to Monster Slice Pizza on St. Pete Beach, for some very good, very thin and crispy pizza. They were loaded with toppings, and plenty of cheese.

Saturday, John and I ventured back to Treasure Island, and brought our bikes. We saw a bike/walking path behind the condo along the beach, and wanted to bike it today. To our surprise it only went about 6 blocks to the north of the condo, and about 10 blocks to the south. I would have thought it to be much longer, and span the entire Treasure Island beach behind all the hotels, motels and condo areas. What was nice was you can bike or walk to a few good places for a cool drink and maybe catch a band or guitarist(runs behind Bilmar Resort, Thunderbird Resort, and many mom and pop type motels as well as two Public Beach areas for Treasure Island with restrooms and snacks). For lunch by the pool at the condo, we headed to ABC liquor for refreshments and The Floridian for Cubans. I have heard about The Floridian(located on the causeway heading to Treasure Island), and how famous their Cuban Sandwiches are, and no doubt, some of the best. Piled high ham, roast pork, swiss cheese, mustard and pickle slices.
Saturday night, we cleaned up and headed to Ybor City for dinner. Italian was on my mind, and there is no better than The Laughing Cat on the corner of 8th Ave and 15th Street. The dark skies, and rain kept most of the crowds away this evening in Ybor, so we were able to be seated promptly. The menu is huge, as is the portions. It is best to split most of the items, they are that big. I had the Salmon with Mussels, very Large portion of Salmon, with about 8 HUGE mussles in their shell around the Salmon in a light tomato/garlic, white wine sauce. The others had Chicken Fettuccine with huge chucks of chicken, and Farfalle diMare, loaded with Seafood and Boe Tie pasta in a Vodka Sauce. Everything is FRESH, and can be made to order. For fun we then ventured out to the area of Ybor what is quickly becoming known 'gaYbor' district(bordered by 9th ave and 6th Ave and 12th street to 16th Street). Lounge 7-14, G. Bar, Flirt, MC Film Festival, and soon the new location of Wranglers are all in this area. I dont venture to these type places much, but Lounge 7-14 was actually very cool, we played darts, and there was some great rock and commercial tunes/videos playing. G.Bar was just opening when we went so there was no cover, and you can play pool there for free, so we did just that until the crowds started filling up(around 11:30). We then headed to Wranglers, only to find out they are closed until there new location opens up soon. A quick drink in Green Iguana, which used to be my favorite hang out in Ybor, was barely holding a crowd, and the people there this evening seemed a little sleazy(two very heavy set women, with barely any clothes on, pole dancing in front of the band and making out together). Its difficult to listen to a live band, when there is dance/hip-hop blaring from the room next door, they should place a thick curtain between the two rooms. We went back to Lounge 7-14, which had become filled, and very smokey(seems they need a filter to get rid of the smoke that quickly fills up this lounge when more than a few people are puffing on some smokes).
All in all, and nice weekend to get out to Tampa's beaches, and explore the Tampa's historic district.

Johns Pass-The Hut; Orlando's Rainforest Cafe; The Brunchery and Hairpsray Movie!

Nice weekend started out with cocktails and listening to my friend Rob from Buffalo Strange play his awesome music solo at The Hut on John's Pass near Treasure Island/Madeira Beach area of the Gulf Coast. It's always nice after a rough work week to kick back on Friday's and listen to the upbeat music from Rob, he plays guitar, flute, bongos, and has a synthesizer to put together all the instruments, and an amazing voice that carries you away to anther place where everything is OK. The Hut was busy this early evening, but we were seated immediately, and glad that Rob was able to join us for great eats after his set ended at 6pm. Afterwards we headed to Debi's house and sat on the Dock, while the cooler than usual breezes blew by, and the almost full moon was peaking through the whispy clouds above. REALXING!!!

Saturday I continued to clean up around the house(having both bathrooms redone-I have an AWESOME handyman helping, more on him when he's done), and then John and I headed to Lakeland to meet his friends and all have dinner together at Rainforest Cafe in downtown Disney. We stopped through Plant City first to run an errand, and I was surprised by the downtown and historic areas of Plant City(I have only been to the Strawberry Festival). It reminded me of Historic Hyde Park but larger, with bricklined streets, large mature trees, wrap around porches, like the old south. I want to go back to Plant City and maybe do some biking around the historic area. Rainforest Cafe seems to be an annual event for John and his friends, and its been awhile since they have all been together, there were 9 of us all together,and we were seated promptly in the bar area at Rainforest, by-passing the 90 minute wait time which is typical. The food was good, but the company was better. Afterwards we walked around downtown Disney, there is alot to see in this area, and lots of people watching as well. Its nice to know that within an hour from Tampa, you can be in one of the largest tourist destinations in the world, and take advantage of all the entertainment/dining/retail, etc. A trip back to Lakeland and I was introduced to the Wii video game player. WOW is all I can say for Wii, not your typical video games,and great with friends to participate, which is what I believe Wii is all about. Forget about board games, Wii is it for lots of laughs and fun amongst a group of good friends or family. We played Tennis together, Golf, Boxing(I got KO'd in two rounds). I should have one within a month.

Sunday was very relaxing, had breakfast at a South Tampa favorite, The Brunchery on MacDill Ave. The service was very prompt and friendly, but the meal was not as I remembered on my last visits, The eggs in the omlets ordered were still runny, and the hash browned potatoes were VERY dry and crubbly, not browned at all, and the meal itself just lacked any flavor. Im not sure I will be back here soon, First Watch and Pach's Place are still my fav independent types in South Tampa for breakfast. I then did some stuff for Mom at her new house while she is still on her cruise in the Nordic Seas, and then headed to Ybor City to my fav theaters, Muvico's Centro Ybor Theaters. We did valet again as usual(only $3 with validation), and saw Hairspray. I barely remember the original movie with Ricki Lake(she makes a cameo appearance), but this movie was some of the most fun I have seen in a film in quite some time. FUN is the word for it, mostly a musical, lots of comedy, and all out "FEEL GOOD" movie. If your feeling a little down, or just need a smile and feel good energy, this movie will definitely NOT disappoint. Westshore Pizza wrapped up the evening, they mistakenly put a Sausage Calzone in place of the Meatball Strombolli we ordered, but it was GREAT none the less anyways.

Another Great Tampa Bay Weekend!

I ended work around 4pm Friday, Lisa was on her way over, and we were heading out to John's Pass at Madeira Beach to see my friend Rob play at The Hut. He's an awesome musician and singer, plays a WIDE variety of tunes(his band is 'Buffalo Strange'). The food at the Hut is great, I ordered wings this time, and Lisa had the Chicken Tacos. Wings were HUGE, with a flour breading and baked..the chicken tacos were stuffed with lots of chicken and cheese. The Hut is a great place on the Intracoastal, where you can watch boats coming in and out of the Gulf through John's Pass. There are tons of shops and restaurants/bars in John's Pass.
Afterwards we headed to meet some friends at downtown St. Pete's First Friday event. They close a few blocks of Central Avenue downtown, have a band, and lots of locals from around St. Pete and elsewhere have a great time. St. Pete has a great downtown, Jannus Landing was open to the public this evening with a free Reggae Concert, and the Blues Fest was going on at the waterfront Vinoy Park. We hung out at "Taste for Wine' bar on the second floor on Central Ave between 2nd and 3rd streets. It was great to watch the crowd below from the outdoor balcony seats we had. The place has all kinds of wines by the bottle and glass, and a few appetizers which were very pricey, and very small in portions(cheese and fruit plate).
We left St. Pete to head closer to home in Tampa, and ended the evening meeting some other friends at Green Iguana Westshore, a happenin spot always, the live band was great tonight, and they finally finished the new bathrooms which are AMAZING as far as bathroom's go...a great change from the past.
Saturday we went on a buddy's boat, out from Tierra Verde to Shell Island(the island just off the northern tip of Fort DeSoto). Lots of people hanging out, relaxing along the beautiful island, crystal clear aqua blue waters are getting warmer..and the temps outside are also getting warmer..it was a perfect beach, boat, sunning day.
Sunday was 'Family Fun Day' as my brother and I call it, so we headed to my Moms new house in Southern Hillsborough, and all went to the Prime Outlet Stores in Ellenton, lots of bargains to be had at the outlets, and me being not the shopper found a few things with the help from the family.
The work week takes me to NYC this week, be back on Sunday, just in time for Mother's Day!