USF Bulls > Cinebistro > Kayak >Pops in the Park > Bike > Stone Crabs and Jazz

Wow, I love this time of year, weather gets cooler, and something is going on!!

Thursday evening went to the USF Bulls vs Cincinnati Bearcats nationally televised football game for Big East Conference dominance....It was a great game, but the #8 ranked Bearcats dominated the second half and beat the Bulls 34-17 in front of almost 65,000 fans. We arrived about an hour before the game, easily parking in the #10 lot on the corner of Himes and Columbus...met lots of other alumni in the game.

Friday was the Grand Opening of a new movie watching concept, Cinebistro opened in Hyde Park Village. Great concept, purchasing your tickets on line like a concert or play, you choose your seat in advance...when arriving you are greeted by a very modern lobby/lounge area where you can pick up your tickets, and about 30 minutes prior to the movie, they open the theater and you are ushered to your seat with a menu....the theaters are HUGE, nice brand new, state of the art, and the chairs are the most comfortable, bigger then a First Class seat on the fanciest of airplanes, with large armrest, and they are in pods of two, so you are never to close to strangers but perfect for a date or couples, and since there are only about 30-50 seats per theater, it makes for a very intimate evening. The menu is good, lots of different choices, Calamri Appetizers, served in a popcorn box with popcorn, and two dipping sauces. Also we tried the Seared Ahi Tuna, a small portion served atop some Field Greens, and the Chuirassco Steak, another small portion with a 'scoop' of black beans mixed with rice, and a few thin stands of Paps Fritas...when you order a soda, its HUGE(probably 24 oz.), and the bowl of popcorn, also HUGE. No paper or plastic here, real utensils, glassware, silverware, plates, etc....Everything is 'served' to you, no need to wait on lines, their is no 'snack bar'...it is service at its best...a remote keypad is punched in with your order, and goes directly to the kitchen..within 15 minutes, your order arrives right at your seat, and you pay right then at your seat. There are about 15 minutes of previews, and after that, the theater goes dark, and the service stops, no one getting in your way, etc. If you want anything, just go to the cocktail lounge bar, and ask for it. Full Bar, Full Menu, and its 21 and older only.
I will definitely be coming back to watch a movie here for special occasions, to impress someone, ability to reserve a seat. Probably wont be dining here except for sodas and popcorn, maybe an appetizer instead of popcorn, or even just dessert. The meals were OK, I felt like they were more of 'banquet/catered' type meals, nicely displayed, with OK flavor. Its also kind of awkward eating on the trays in front of you, and dont even think about getting an Appetizer, meal and dessert together, as everything comes out at once, and there is no room for all that. A great experience, great concept, exclusive niche that is sure to be very successful in Hyde Park.

Saturday we took the kayaks up to Canoe Escape to be transported to the Hillsborough River, again a great trip, LOTS of wildlife and birds and gators, the weather was perfect...just so serene and relaxing.
Saturday evening was a trip to downtown St. Pete's Vinoy Park, found parking easily off Coffee Pot Bayou near the City Pool, for 'Pops in the Park, a free concert held throughout the year and the Tampa Bay area by the Florida Orchestra. It was great to be able to relax in the waterfront park, listening to the music, with the St. Pete Skyline in the background.

Sunday we were all off on the bikes, drove to Clearwater, and started on the Pinellas Trail south of Clearwater(parking off Turner Street)..we biked over the Memorial Causeway Bridge to Clearwater Beach for Frenchys Stone Crab Fest...a pound of large claws for $11...delicious!! Then biked along the new beachwalk to Shepards for some football and people watching, listening to a live band. We then biked back to downtown Clearwater's Coachman Park where the Clearwater Jazz Holiday was happening for its last of a 4 day run....laying on the grass, sun in our faces, listing to great Jazz.
We wrapped up Sunday with a stop at Whiskey Joe's on the Coutney Campbell Causeway, if you ever wanted a place with amazing views, this is the spot...LARGE bar area, with some couch seating, and a large outdoor deck. The food we had seemed to be mediocre at best on this trip..Beer Cheese Soup, which was very watery for my liking, my friends stated it tasted like canned nacho cheese sauce with some water. Then onto Sliders, 4 small burgers, which were overcooked...and they didn't come with any fries...I would order the full burger next time, and cut into 4 pieces if someone wants sliders. Fish Tacos, very minimal piece of grouper split between two soft flour tacos, but you get a HUGE topping of cole slaw, these were more like 'Cole Slaw Tacos, with some fish', they came with chips and a good salsa. We also shared a chopped salad with Chicken, and although tasty, it was DRENCHED in dressing, we found it needed to be eatin with the chips to give it some sustenance. Soooo, for watching some great sports and cold drinks in the HUGE bar area, or enjoying the outdoor deck..this seems to be a great spot. And the views throughout the place are incredible, we almost felt like we were actually on a boat. Maybe next time ill try some of the main entrees.

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A December Tampa Bay Weekend

The weekend kinda got started on Thursday, with tickets to the Lightning game against Colorado, our tickets included a trip to the Champion Club..all you can eat and all you can drink, great views of the game from a private Lounge...unfortunately, the game ended in a shootout, and we lost.

Friday, even though I was supposed to be on vacation, I worked most of the day, but took the kayak out for a few hours down the street at Picnic Island, it let me get out some stress from end of the year, and dealing with my new promotion..all is good!! Later Friday evening, we went up to Hyde Park neighborhood for some eats, and grabbed some excellent Burritos and Quesadillas at Taqueria Burrito Joint on Howard Avenue...lots of outdoor seating, great to watch people getting out and about in Hyde Park going from bar to bar, getting their Friday's on....we then met some people at Dubliner across the street, and decided to check out a new Wine/Beer Lounge called Cork, across the street from MacDintons....GREAT place, they re-did the old Gelato place, and made into a swanky, loungy wine bar, very good selection, not expensive..we did a few bottles of Kim Crawford Savigone Blanc, perfect, and also decided on some late night munchies(some of us had not eatin'), so they had some pizza's, and garlic bread appetizer with different dipping sauces....VERY GOOD!! Service was excellent, i look forward to when they get the outside tables and chairs. A short two block walk to Mangrove's for some DJ tunes....and then it was a cab ride back home.

Saturday, we went up to Wrights Gourmet Deli for some early lunch...as usual this place never disappoints..grab a menu, get on line, and order away...large sandwich's, fresh homemade soups, and tables outside for taking advantage of this perfect December Florida weather.
Then headed over to St. Petersburg for the Inaugural St. Peterburg Bowl, my alma mater USF Bulls, vs the Univ of Memphis Tigers....was interesting seeing a football game in Tropicana Field, we had great seats, but watching the game was kind of awkward...in addition there were so many commercial breaks, it made the game very slow moving, and on top of that, USF killed U of Memphis...41-14. Taking one of my buddies back home after the game was a treat, he lives with his family in the Roser Park neighborhood of downtown St. Petersburg...very old historic area, they were having the Holiday Neighborhood Party, there were luminaries lit up all along the creek. We stopped by Georgie's Alibi for a few appetizers(never will be eating in that place, just the greasiest of fried foods...it is a bar afterall).....

Sunday was a great day to watch the Bucs at home, but they lost to San Diego..before the game we went over to Nina O's for their Sunday Brunch menu...food was good, service was Extremely slow.

Im looking forward to spending Christmas in town with some family this week.
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A visitor in Tampa from LA

A buddy of mine came to Tampa for the weekend, stayed downtown at the Hyatt Regency, nice hotel, had a great view of the Pool deck and Harbour Island and Hillsborough Bay. Saturday we walked over to First Watch for breakfast, a few blocks from the hotel in downtown Tampa. As usual the place was busy, about a 10 min wait, but they always have fresh coffee and ice water available while waiting, and it was worth the wait for fresh omlets and French Toast, very friendly service. Afterwards I wanted to see how things were progressing on the Riverwalk, Tampa Museum of Art and Tampa Bay History Center, all under construction downtown. Most of the segments of the Riverwalk from USF park near Borein Street to Channelside is all complete. The history center was looking almost complete, it was due to open in January. The museum of Art looks huge, alot bigger than the older one, and a perfect setting next to the Performing Arts center along the Riverwalk. I twas nice to take a few hours and walk around downtown, there has been alot of progress over the past year, and they are really getting things ready for SuperBowl.

Afterwards, we took the kids to the Park/Beach at Picnic Island, there weren't many other dogs on the beach, it was a perfect day, temps around 70, clear blue skies. Late in the afternoon, we decided on some burgers, so walked over to the Green Iguana, and again, PERFECT burgers(Baja and the Feta Burger), chilling out watching some football in the tiki deck.

Saturday night after a cocktail on the Lobby bar of the Hyatt, which was very busy, we cabbed it to Ybor City to check out a new restaurant that opened up in Centro Ybor called Teatro. From the street the outside balcony was busy, and they had music playing...we get up there, and it the Benz Modeling Agency annual party, and we were welcomed with open arms...and an Open Bar, and Open Buffet...we even mingled with a few people, and were asked to come in off the balcony at one point by the owner Steve Benz, so we could hear his speech....just a big THANK YOU to Benz...Teatro is an upscale restaurant and bar, it was a highlight of the night. By midnight we ventured off the the 2nd Anniversary of G. Bar, and ended the evening with a cab ride over to City Side.

Sunday was watching the Bucs win over Detroit, and went with some friends to my Alma Mater, USF, last home game against UCONN, which we won.

A short week, but work takes me to NYC Tuesday, and i'm looking forward to Turkey day with the family and a relaxing long weekend in town.
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USF Homecoming; Biking and Jazz in Clearwater

Saturday afternoon, we went up to my Alma Mater's Homecoming Football Game, USF Bulls vs Syracuse Orangemen. We killed Syracuse, 45-13, in an exciting game for most of the first half, then we just dominated. It was alot of fun, tailgating before hand and seeing some Alumni in the Stadium at half time near the Ship as we do every year.

Sunday, we took the bikes over to Clearwater, and rode the Pinellas Trail through downtown Clearwater, then over to Clearwater Beach along the BeachWalk which is looking great, a major improvement to the area. Lunch was at a place I havent been in a while on the beach, Post Corner Pizza, probably the best Greek Salads, huge hunks of Feta Cheese, and they came with some Gyro and perfectly seasoned and moist chicken on top...back on the Bikes, we went to downtown Clearwater again, listened to some Live Jazz at the Annual Clearwater Jazz Holiday at Coachman Park along the Intracoastal...we then hopped on the bikes and rode the Pinellas Trail up to Dunedin, a great little town, with excellent shops and restaurants, a few blocks off the Intracoastal waterway...a perfect day to be outside, Fall is settling in nicely here in Tampa Bay area.

Sunday night was the Rays clincher against the Red Sox, we WON and are off to the World Series against the Phillies. GO RAYS!!

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USF Bulls and The Bungalow

After flying back from Greenville, SC on Friday, a good buddy of mine and I went to my Alma Maters(USF) home game against Kansas....parking at the Westshore Marriott hotel, we took the hotel shuttle, with about 8 KU fans, to get dropped off about 2 blocks form the stadium...we met up with his co-workers who were having a nice sized tailgate party, food, beers and all..being that this was nearly a sell out crowd for tonight's game(59,000)..the fields outside the stadium were packed with tailgaters...Good Times!! There is nothing like a night College Football game against two ranked teams...between the USF marching band, the overflowing Student section, and everyone just excited that the young USF football program has done so well. The game was one of the most exciting i've seen, from KU dominating the game in the first half, to USF taking on a substantial lead in the second half...only to be tied up by the end of the forth quarter, and what looked to be an overtime game, a field goal was kicked within seconds of the end of the game to pull our South Florida Bulls ahead of KU and WIN!! It was good to see some of my alumni I graduated with, we always meet up at the Pirate Ship deck behind the student section at half time each home game.

Saturday morning, went over to Mama's Kitchen on Dale Mabry Hwy, just south of Gandy Blvd..as usual, the greasy spoon diner like restaurant pulled through with another great breakfast....
For dinner, a few of us went over to a new place on Kennedy Blvd in Hyde Park area called The Bungalow. It's a very large Bungalow house built in 1919, they did a great job with an open bar area, and small dining area...very nice, wood floors and brick walls, there are pictures of the old house through the bar area. With flat screen tv's throughout, you can catch any game whether in the bar area or dining area...the crowd is very Hyde Park pretty, there is a front porch as well with some tables. Food was good as well, starting with the Buffalo Chicken Wings, they tasted more like Fried Chicken Wings then Buffalo style....dinners included the Surf and Turf sliders(1 burger, 1 ahi tuna, 1 grouper, and 1 crab cake), when I asked what I could get instead of Fries, the server advised that I could only get fries, even though there are about 6 other sides that you can get with other meals(Asparagus, Grilled Veges, Island Cole Slaw, Mac n Cheese, Yucca Fries and Fries)...I demanded the island cole slaw instead of fries, he said he would see what he could do(I got the cole slaw)...the sliders were good, the burger and crab cake were about the size of a .50 cent piece..tiny, the grouper and tuna were a decent size for sliders....I think they should skip the crab cake and go with the jerk chicken slider instead so you would have two turf and two surf sliders.......we also had the Jerk Chicken sandwich which was said to be ok, and the Ahi Tuna dinner which was said to be excellent, cooked rare and flavorful.
The place can get very noisy, there is some music in the bar area...a very nice new addition to Kennedy Blvd.

USF Homecoming

Another loss, 3rd week in a row, what a tough game. On another note though, it was great to see so many alumni at the game, and familiar faces. I noticed differently this year was the number of kids running around compared to years ago during homecoming...man i'm getting older! The stadium packed in about 58,000 for this years homecoming, but the loss to Cincy(38-33) did not make the crowd too happy as the fireworks went off behind the stadium.

VICTORIOUS USF BULLS; Hyde Park Art Fest, and Lunch in Hyde Park

What a night, What a game! The euphoric feeling was everywhere in Tampa last night. Being an Alumni, and going to most games since day one, this is what we look forward to, these victorious happenings..coach Jim Leavitt is amazing, the City of Tampa is so proud, and there are lots of new Bulls fans all over the Bay area! Makes me want to go back to USF just for the student rush that's happening on campus.
After the game, we headed over to the Green Iguana Westshore, by 1am, the place was packed, Bulls fans everywhere, and those that were new to the Bulls rage congratulating everyone. It's amazing what a football game can do to people, uplifting spirits, strangers hugging strangers, high fives all around.

Today we got out to the Annual Hyde Park Art Festival, it was a nice crowd, and good breeze on this late September warm day. It was nice to walk around, see some interesting and creative pieces of art, amongst the interesting people. We then walked around Hyde Park area, looking at the historic homes, one of my favorite neighborhoods. With stomachs grumbling after a few hours at the Art Fest, we headed to Howard Ave for lunch, Strings and Rings was only serving a Breakfast Brunch all day, so we went to Evo's for some healthy eats. All their food is fresh, and healthy, very low in fat, no grease of fryers. The Buffalo Chicken Wrap and Thai Chicken Wrap were very filling and flavorful, they have different types of fresh brewed iced teas, and a variety of ketchup flavors for the "AirFries" which are cooked with very hot air, rather than fried...yummy! On the way home we stopped by Pondscapes on the corner of Manhattan Ave and Wallcraft Ave, around the corner from my house, to view the variety of Ponds and Fountains they have on display, actually kicked back for a while in the back area by one of the ponds, very relaxing. They have alot of backyard and outdoor items you normally dont see around.

Finally Got my First Tattoo!

After nearly seven years of procrastinating, I finally got my tattoo, and mostly cause of the bet I made to get one after USF beat Auburn a few weeks back. Check it out!. Went to Ybor City, lots of Tattoo Parlor's there, and just went to a couple of places and finally decided upon Phat Katz Tattoo's on 7th Avenue, mostly cause they could do it at that time, and they were relatively around what I wanted to spend. The girl at the counter was very friendly and explained about the procedure, shrank my design to fit my leg, and the artist "Ozzy" was able to quickly draw it up. I proceeded upstairs, where i thought there would have been separate rooms, but it was one large room, i'm just glad there was only one other person getting a tat, but it also made for good conversation with the other artist and patron. There are windows all around looking out on 7th avenue in Ybor which made some interesting people watching, or they are watching you. Ozzy was very friendly, explained the procedure again and the tools used, the whole process took about 30 minutes, and basically just felt like someone was pulling the hairs from your skin, a little discomfort, but not painful. I was very pleased with the outcome, Ozzy assured me to come back if it needs any attention, but he is moving to New Zealand in November. Ozzy explained the care for my tattoo, but I wish they could have handed me a one-pager that went over the instructions. All in all, a great experience. John and I walked over to Lounge 7-14 to throw some darts and celebrate afterwards. Ybor was a little busy for a Wednesday night, with most stores and bars open.

I'm looking forward to Friday nights game...18 USF vs 5 West Virginia, sold out crowd of nearly 65,000(largest for a Big East Conference game), the Sun trust building downtown will be glowing Green and Gold. We all had a feeling when attending these games 10 years ago something good was going to happen with the Bulls football program, I am proud that I was a there from the start in 1987 when I first moved to Tampa and attended USF, and when the discussions started to turn into actions.

We Are the BULLS, We Are the BULLS; We Are, We Are, We Are the BULLS!

Just to make a note.....Big East SOUTH FLORIDA BEATS SEC AUBURN 26-23 in OT. My brother went to Auburn, and always said USF was just a rinky dink little commuter school, that would never amount to anything, and doesn't know why I never went to a great Football College like Auburn. Well, in only 11 years, USF has done alot with it's football program, and watching the game last night, although frustrating at times(5 Auburn turnovers, with no points made, and three USF missed field goals) gave USF alumni, students and the Tampa community something else to cheer about. I'm looking forward to the rest of the season. GO BULLS!
Now I need to find a place to get my tatoo I promised myself if USF won(the 'U' insignia on my lower leg).