The Staycation Series: Tampa Bay
Last week, my
brother Kariem came down to visit me in Tampa and it was the perfect
opportunity for a staycation. And what is a staycation, you may ask? It’s a
vacation that you spend “at home” instead of traveling. It can involve
day trips around the area or visiting local attractions.
Well my friends,
I live in Florida, so why not take advantage of the beautiful weather, beaches,
and attractions? It’s a great way to have some fun without breaking your
budget. We had a blast!
Kariem arrived
on Tuesday evening and our first stop was “Taco Tuesday” at Green Lemon in Soho.
They have margaritas the size of my head, $2 tacos, and a live DJ. Perfect combination!
The wait for a table was about an hour and a half long but I finagled a bar top
table in record time. #Finesse
Eight tacos and
six margaritas later, we were nice and full. Our next stop was Hyde Park Café
for hospitality night. If you work in hospitality, you get in for free… And as
I stated before, I love a good discount. We certainly got our workout in out on
the dance floor and even showed these Floridians how to Baltimore two-step.
We ended the
night at home with a 3 a.m. game of Jenga and how I lost five times in a row, I
will never know. It was sabotage, I tell you.
The next
morning, my friend Flavia made breakfast and we sat around the table planning
our week. The Bay area is known for its beautiful beaches so we decided that we
were going to a different beach every day of the week. I absolutely love going
to the beach. It’s like a free spa day. What’s better than that?
For lunch, we
went to Bella Brava in downtown St. Petersburg and then walked down the street
to a gelato shop. Next we went to Upham Beach Park in St. Pete and swam around for hours until
the sun set. It was beautiful. St. Pete Beach is actually TripAdvisor’s #3 Top
Beach in the U.S.
After the beach,
we
decided to go to Peabody’s. It’s a bar, grill, and pool hall in the University of South Florida area.
Their specials on Wednesdays are $2 slices of pizza and $1.25 wells and drafts.
And they have really good wings!
On Thursday, I
made breakfast and we began our next day of adventures. Restoration Hardware
was the first stop. It’s an upscale furniture store in Tampa’s International Plaza. I had a ball designing my imaginary future home!
Our next beach
was one of my absolute favorites: Siesta Key Beach in Sarasota, FL. It’s about
an hour and a half away from my home in Tampa but it is absolutely worth the
drive. Siesta Key was ranked as TripAdvisor’s #1 Best Beach in the U.S. this
year.
It’s
ridiculously beautiful. The sand is fine and white and you can see the fish
swimming around in the clear water. We even saw dolphins swimming out in the
distance. After we swam around for about three hours straight and watched the
sunset, it was time to go.
That evening, we
went to the Ybor City Jazz House where we saw the Beat Down Band perform live.
It was a nice vibe with good music.
On Kariem’s last
full day in Tampa, we had a whole slew of events planned. I found a Groupon to
go ziplining at Empower Adventures in Oldsmar, FL and it was only about 30
minutes away from my house.
When we arrived,
it was pouring down raining… Typical Florida weather. The guides were really
nice. We signed our waivers and got weighed in as they explained everything to
us.
I had to wear a
bigger helmet because I have a head full of faux locs and they weren’t going to
fit under the regular sized one. Awkward. Once they got our 20 pounds worth of
gear all hooked up, it was time to go! And, thankfully the rained stopped and the
sun came out.
We walked up
170-something steps to the top of the platform where we would begin our zip
line adventure. To me, that was one of the scariest parts of it all. I’m not
really afraid of heights but steps that you can see through give me the heebie
geebies.
Flavia decided that she would go first, followed by Kariem, then me, and the
four others behind us. I think we were all a little scared at first but once we
got past that initial zip, it was a breeze!
In addition to ziplining,
we also participated in four different elevated obstacle courses. Those were a
challenge.
For about two
and a half hours, we zipped through the trees and faced our fears. One of the
participants was a seven-year-old boy and he was hilarious. If he could do it,
I certainly could too!
Once we got
through all of the lines, the last obstacle was to walk off a cliff…
Literally. I said the steps were the worst part. Well, this had nothing on the
steps. I stood there screaming for about five whole minutes. I swear to you,
this was the scariest thing I have EVER done in my whole life. Ziplining was nowhere near as bad as this! The height wasn’t bad… It was just the fact that I literally
had to walk off a ledge! I couldn’t jump. I couldn’t run. I couldn’t scoot off.
There was nothing to hold onto. It was terrifying!
If my brother
hadn’t pushed me off, we would still be standing there today. I wish someone
could’ve recorded it. It was honestly one of the most hilarious things I’ve
ever witnessed in my life. We can definitely check that one off our bucket
lists!
Once we got back
down to the ground and laughed til we cried for a good 15 minutes, it was time
to go to our next stop. Originally, we were going to Clearwater Beach to
continue our “one beach a day tour,” but by then, it was 3 pm and we had plans
that evening so I didn’t want to go too far.
Instead, we went
and had lunch at Jerk Hut and it did not disappoint. I had jerk chicken, Kariem
had curry chicken, and Flavia had brown stew chicken. Delicious!
That evening, we
went to Aja in the downtown district of Channelside for $20 all-you-can-drink
happy hour from 5-10 pm. In the words of my brother, “They don’t have anything
like this in Baltimore!” They played Caribbean music on the outside patio and
oldies inside. The DJs were great.
Once happy hour
was over, we walked down the street to Channelside Bay Plaza to Wet Willie’s frozen daiquiri bar. It’s a nice place to sit and have a drink.
We
had a really good time. We did a ton of activities without spending a small
fortune. My advice: Try a staycation and see what you can find! I bet there are
so many fun things in your local areas that you have no idea exist. Check out
Groupon! Step out of your comfort zone and let me know what you find!
I'm going to make it my goal to go on a different affordable staycation once a month for the rest of the summer! Stay tuned!
-A.
The Staycation Series:
Three Sisters Springs
Sweetfields Sunflower Field
WTR + Sparkman Wharf
-A.
The Staycation Series:
Three Sisters Springs
Sweetfields Sunflower Field
WTR + Sparkman Wharf
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