Things to do in Tampa Bay

Recently, I've been thinking about what I can do on the weekends around town. Tampa has been my home for 12 years, but I have to confess that the only time that I do touristy things is when I have friends visiting. I usually just go to the same places and eat at the same restaurants. I want to change this and get out more often.

I like living in Tampa. I love the weather and having my family here.  I always said it was nice to live in Tampa because I didn't have many distractions while I was in college. That means there isn't much to do. During the week I usually work until 6:30 PM, and after work I've been going to spinning class. After that I'm exhausted and ready for a shower and my bed. However, on the weekends I want to have more options. I wanted to move for a long time to Miami or to the Northeast. After spending many days in Miami, I don't think I could live there. The North East is absolutely beautiful and full of excitement, BUT I can't live in the cold.

I have some ideas of places that I would like to see. I've always been curious about the Ringling Museum in Sarasota. The pictures of the Gardens are gorgeous. I love Sarasota, and I haven't been in a long time. Sometimes we drive to Anna Maria Island for the beach, but there other things to do in there. Thanks to Groupon I always see new places in the area that I've never heard of. I will keep an eye on this to get discount tickets or restaurant coupons.

Most weekends from March to October I go to the beach. My sister and my nephew love the beach. They always call me to pick me up. Andre is not a beach person, but sometimes I convince him to come with us. We always avoid the always crowded Clearwater beach. This beach is actually the closest, but traffic is bad and parking is always hard to find. My favorite beaches are Sunset Beach, Fort de Soto Beach, Tarpon Springs, and St. Pete Beach. 

Sunset Beach, Fl

Ft De Soto Beach, Fl

Honeymoon Beach

Last year we got the Disney annual pass. We have been once to each of the theme parks: Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios. My favorite Disney them park is Epcot. We decided to get the pass to have more things to do on the weekend. I hadn't been to Magic Kingdom in over 10 years, and I had never been to Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom. We had fun visiting all of the theme parks. Unfortunately, we don't go often enough to renew it for another year. We haven't been to any of the parks since October and we have to use it before April when it expires. We will probably go to Epcot tomorrow. 

Last week, I almost bought a ticket to a concert to go ALONE (again)! This time was to see Juan Luis Guerra. He is the best merengue singer in the world. I learned how to dance when I was a little girl with his songs. I went to Miami to see him in 2005. I never expected a merengue concert to be so good. I love dancing and going to this kind of concert alone is completely different than going to see Luis Miguel by myself. Andre and I have opposite tastes in music and he agreed to come with me if I bought the tickets. The real reason why I gave up on the idea was the price. The tickets are $200 each plus the trip to Miami. I'm crossing my fingers for a concert in Orlando. I could convince my sisters to come with me and just pay for my ticket. There is only one concert scheduled in Miami and one in New York City. I would really rather spend that money going somewhere else. For my amigos who don't know who he is, here is a video of one of his best songs:

Last year, I started doing a post every Sunday with sunset pictures. This was a good way to get me in the habit of writing in my new blog. Also, I was planning my wedding and had no travel plans except our trip to Colombia for the wedding and our honeymoon. We got married, went to Hawaii, and also went to Ecuador. I blogged about all that and one year later and now I'm back with no travel plans. Maybe I will start making "sunset sunday" posts as a way to find new/local places and at the same time learn how to use my camera. I'm getting ready to go to a place in South Tampa where last year I watched one of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen. I only had my iphone to take a few pictures. Hopefully today will be one of those memorable sunsets.