Happy Holidays Tampa!

A great long holiday weekend has concluded, only to be followed by another short week and long weekend this week for New Years.
Tuesday evening a bunch of us went to a buddies annual Holiday Party in the Seminole Heights neighborhood...lots of food, drinks, and laughs...over 60 friends and acquaintances showed up through the night.....and we couldn't end the night without a stop by the Green Iguana Westshore near my house..good times!!
Wednesday was Christmas Eve, easily picked my brother up at TIA to head to Madre's house outside of Sun City Center for the annual Italian 'Feast of the 7 Fishes' Christmas Eve dinner with family.
Christmas Day was nice and warm, near 80, sunny skies. We met up with my Aunt and Uncle at Centro Ybor in Ybor City to see the opening of the movie "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button". This was a very different routine for us on Christmas, but discovered that ALOT of people actually go to the movies on Christmas Day, the theaters were busy. Ybor City itself was a ghost town, with most shops and bars/restaurants closed during the daytime hours this Holiday. The movie was EXCELLENT.
Friday, decided to venture out to International Plaza with a buddy and grab some eats at BayStreet's Bar Louie. We got a great table outside, perfect for enjoying the warmer than ususal temps this December day, and people watching. Bar Louie's food was good, started with a Hummus Platter, which unfortunately had more taboule than hummus, and I decided to get the Friday Lunch Special, 3 Baja Fish Tacos served with Guac, Salsa and Black Beans and Rice, very filling and good; my buddy enjoyed the Buffalo Chicken Sandwich, which was Buffalo Chicken bites on a soft roll with Lettuce and Tomato...fries on the side....there wasn't as many people walking around the Bay Street area, but once we entered the Plaza, it seemed a bit busier this day after Christmas.
Saturday, took the bikes up to Wilderness Parks off road biking trails, we biked a few of the more than 15 different trails, through all kinds of terrain and topography, the only wildlife we saw today was a few Armadillos. After that biking, we went over to Lenny's down the road off Fletcher Avenue for great sandwich's(there are a few Lenny's throughout Tampa), sitting outside an relaxing...then it was a bike tour of the USF campus, where I reminisced about the good old days, and couldn't believe the amount of construction and new buildings all over campus, it was a busy campus when I went to school there from '87-'92, and continues to grow to this day. A few hours of rest, and it was off to the Tampa Bay Lightning v Florida panthers Hockey game, and again our tickets included the Champions sports Lounge where we noshed on White Castle burgers, Parmesan Meatballs, Clam Strips and Roasted Turkey being carved, along with the all you can drink drafts and wines, and excellent view of the game...we pulled a third straight win, 6-4. A short 10 minute walk to a friends Clubhouse in the Seaport Apartments in Channelside area of downtown, and it was another Holiday Party for all of us to enjoy.
Sunday was a disappointing loss for the Bucs against Oakland, and we are officially done with the season. I met up with my family at AMC Westshore for another blockbuster movie, Valkyrie. There is just something about these true stories concerning Hitler's Germany that are very chilling and emotional to say the least...very good movie, I will probably see this one a second time, it was that good.

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)