Where you get the feel of a big city and a small town all in one.

– Me

Visiting a Friend in Tampa, Florida

To kick off my 10 days of freedom before I started a new job, I decided to visit my best friend that moved to Tampa, Florida. I hadn’t been there since I was a child and all I did there was go to Busch Gardens. I was interested in seeing what Tampa was all about and reuniting with my friend and her family.

Getting there

I booked my ticket from LaGuardia Airport through Delta for $236 dollars. LGA has had a little makeover. However, the Skylounge was closed so that was a fail. They had another location entrance, but I was lazy so I just chilled with the common folk (jk jk). The flight was about 3 hours and everything went well. No delays, turbulence or any of those annoying flight issues.

Everything I did in Tampa

Dinner at Salt Shack on the Bay

My best friend has young kids so this wasn’t a party vacation. The suburb she lives in is a community with luxury amenities like several pools, a gym, conference room, basketball court, tennis court and more. First meal thing I ate was a fried chicken sandwich from Publix, my favorite supermarket in the South. Later for dinner we went to Salt Shack on the Bay, a waterfront restaurant off Old Tampa Bay. The wait was crazy long, but we killed time by watching the sunset then sat around drinking beer. Finally, we were seated and the slow service continued, but the meal was good. My friend got the mahi mahi tacos and her husband and I got the coconut curried shrimp. I didn’t have really high expectations for Caribbean cuisine there, but the dish was flavorful. If I ever went back I’d try the mahi mahi tacos since Tampa is known for it.

Beach Day at St. Pete’s Beach

For my friend’s husband’s birthday we went to St. Pete’s beach. I forgot it was Spring break until I saw what looked like teenagers twerking all around the beach. I’ve never felt older. Meanwhile, I was making sand castles with the kids. It was a good time though. I drank Blue Moon and relaxed. The beach was clean and it was fun.

Pool Day at the Community

My last full day was spent at the apartment complex. Started off with a caramel cappuccino. I’m a hot mess and realized I booked my flight to Panama from LGA instead of Tampa airport so I spent a good amount of time on hold with Delta until I got that fixed. After that drama, we went to one of the pools and I drank a peach mango Angry Orchard cider which was good, but a little sweet for my taste. We ended the day with dinner. My friend made pasta and we cut a cake for her husband’s birthday. Overall, it was a great trip. The next day I departed for my next adventure: Panama City, Panama.