We did have a fantastic time visiting our grand babies, daughter, son in law, and friends in the Tampa Bay area. We also got an opportunity to meet our in law’s twin grandsons. OMG, are they tiny compared to our babies!
Earlier I posted about some of our travels in Tampa. We did not do as much as last time in Florida. It was about baby time, and three days of our trip was full of rain. Being winter, it is not much fun being rained on in the cold even if it is Florida.
We visited Fred Howard Park in Tarpon Springs. It was a cool windy day when we arrived. I kept chuckling while there. Tracy asked what was so funny. I was remembering my first winter in Florida. I was in High School and on Christmas day the family made the trip to Clearwater Beach. I remembered there was about three families out on the beach. We were the only family who went into the water. At Fred Howard, most license plates were from out of state, that is why I was chuckling. We walked the beach for a while, but the water was just too cold to walk in. It is free to go inside the park. But there is a cost to park along the water. I think it is $5. You can hang out at the beach, fish all around. There is an area where you can rent sail boards and other floating play toys. On the main land there are hiking paths and picnic areas.
We then decided we wanted some authentic Greek pastries. The only places we knew were at the Sponge Docks. So off we went. We drove around looking for an open parking space along the road. Our day exploring was a short one, and we didn’t want to pay for parking if we were only going to stay there for a couple of minutes. I highly recommend a trip to the docks. We were pressed for time so off we went to pick up one of our friends to head to St Pete to meet another longtime friend.
We stopped at Dickey’s BBQ on Tyrone. Being from Texas we are kind of a snob when it comes to smoked meat. I can honestly say this place was not bad. The meats had good bark, good seasoning, and good flavor. Our group stayed there for about three hours. While there Tracy was pulled aside and invited to a surprise birthday party.
So a few days later we headed to the Key West Bar and Grill in St Pete. We really enjoyed this place. It is old school just what you would expect for an older bar in Florida. Our party was in the patio and there was about 50 for the surprise party. There was a two-piece band that only would play music that was at least 30 years old. They have a very nice menu and the food was really good and fair priced. We had a blast. It is definitely a do over.
Key West Bar is located in the Grand Central Historical District We did not know this until we were looking around waiting for our friend to arrive. Of what we saw, there are a few micro breweries, sports bars and blocks of buildings we couldn’t tell what was inside. I think our next trip to Tampa Bay will be exploring the District. Looking at Maps, there is also a Florida Holocaust Museum east of the bar. Sounds like a good day trip.
We as a large family visited Broken Yolk a few times in New Port Richey This place has been here a long time. It is a hole in the wall. Serves comfort food. The food is good.
Now I did make a couple of trips with my friend Ronnie to the Tampa Bay Clays. Ronnie got me hooked a few years ago. To me it is like playing golf but with a shotgun. Golf is more of you and the ball. You are your own competition. Shooting clays is the same. It is just you and the shotgun. Each time I go I improve my score. Last trip I shot at 40 clays and hit 30. Ronnie hit 48. Yes he gave me grief too!. The staff there is very friendly. You ride a gold cart to each area. It takes about three hours to go through one of the courses.
One day after our clays we met up with Tracy at Toast in Holiday. They are only open for breakfast and lunch. You guessed it, most of the meals are based around toast. They have great omelets, hamburgers, and such. Very nice staff, and great atmosphere. We don’t go after fancy stuff. We just like a good meals and great service. This is located in the Bealls strip mall off of 54 and Rowen Road.
And you guessed right, we went Greek again. We went to Mr Souvlaki’s for dinner one night. And we ordered carry out another night I suggest you arrive very hungry or split your order with someone. Their plates are huge. This place has been around for over 30 years serving home made recipes. It is located on Alt 19 just off the Sponge Docks. Our other favorite places is Momma Maria’s and Mykonos We highly recommend all three restaurants. Being family recipes, if you order the same item from each, they will all taste a little different. We have had lamb at Maria’s and Souvlaki’s.
All in all we had a fantastic time. We got our baby time, family time, and friend time. We do plan on going back in a few months.
But for now it is time to start focusing on some Texas travel time.