St. Pete's Red Mesa - EXCELLENT Nuevo Mexican

Went to Red Mesa last evening with Debi, Jason and Bill, and again i'm thoroughly impressed by the tasty food and friendly, professional service. I call it "Neuvo Mexican", as it is not your typical Mexican joint, but the food has a Mexican flare...we all had seafood dishes this evening, Fresh Snapper with a crab/guacamole stuffing, Grouper, and a Shrimp dish, each with excellent, creative side dishes. The Sangria was good, a little sweet, but delicious.

TIA...and Red Mesa

Picked up a buddy at Tampa International Airport(TIA) Monday. It's great to know that the Long and Short Term parking are both free the first hour, and there is a Cell Phone Lot. It really makes it convenient to pick someone up. I usually just park on the top floor in the Short Term Parking Garage(9th floor), and watch the planes take off and land until my guests have all their luggage. Its great to look out over the Bay and all of Tampa, great views! The guests just take the elevators from baggage claim to the 9th floor..no traffic, no circling, very easy and FREE! Afterwards we headed to St. Pete to one of my fav restaurants, Red Mesa. It was early, and they have a Sunset Menu from 4-545pm. Most of the best dishes are $13 and include Sangria, Meal and Dessert. The Cedar Plank Salmon was amazing!! And the Guava Cheesecake for dessert was tasty too.

Spidey and St. Pete Fun

Friday I finished work a little early and headed out to International Plaza to do some shopping(clothes and furniture)...it seems they will be building a Crate and Barrel in the area where Westshore Blvd meets Spruce Street, adjacent to the Mall. Afterwards we hit Channelside IMAX to see Spiderman 3. Recommend seeing it in it's loudest, and biggest venue, they are a lot of action packed scenes, although the movie was nearly 2.5 hours. The storyline seemed to go from one area to another, but it was fun watching in IMAX. There was an Elivs Tribute going on in Channelside, and an Arena Football game at the Forum, so they area downtown was packed with people as we were leaving after the movie. For eats, we headed over to Red Mesa on 4th Street in St. Pete. Probably on of the BEST restaurants in the Bay area, it goes on my top five. Southwestern Cuisine in a very nice, but casual setting. The Sangria is great, but the food overwhelms you with tremendous flavors and portions, GREAT service. Expect a wait, but worth it. WE had the combination platters, one with a Southwestern Steak and Cheese Enchiladas, the other with a Southwestern Steak and Stuffed Fried Shrimps. A MUST go in the Tampa Bay area. After dinner, we headed downtown St. Pete to meet some friends at the Bishop Tavern. There was a great band playing tonight, and a lively crowd. St .Pete's downtown was hoppin, George Clinton was at Jannus Landing concert venue, and it was a beautiful night with very low humidity, and a nice breeze. We then headed to The Lobby, and ended the evening at Cafe Alma. Both have DJ's and play very laid back dance, acid jazz type music. St. Pete's downtown is great, very laid back, flip flops, friendly people...absolutely no attitude.
This weekend seems to be busy so far, Saturday there is the annual Pond Tour, great ot look at some really nice homes, and landscaped backyards with ponds, Arts Alive is in St. Pete also with all museums free on Saturday.