Tampa Recap

B and I had a lovely mini-vacay down Tampa way. It was so nice to get away and explore somewhere new for a few days. Lemme recap it for you:

1. Went to Busch Gardens, where my macho man honey promptly declared his fear of mechanical malfunctions on roller coasters upon viewing Sheikra. On the other hand, I adore roller coasters and had planned a long day of gut twisting rail riding. In a wonderful example of compromise, B agreed to ride the Gwazi with me. Yay B!


The weather was great, I got to see animals and birds galore, and the park was not crowded at all...until early afternoon, when we noticed an influx of middle schoolers on their end of year field trip. After several hours of being surrounded by screaming pre-teens with a penchant for cutting in lines, throwing things at animals/people, and general disorderly behavior, we left. It was a fun day, but further reinforced our current decision to hold off on becoming parents for several more years.

2. Went to St. Pete and the Dali museum. Amazing. Amaaaaaazing. The current exhibit about Dali and film was super cool, and even included a scene and several original pieces of artwork/preliminary sketches from one of my favorite (and seriously underrated) Hitchcock films which Dali worked on. I also got to see some pieces that clearly inspired one of my favorite contemporary artists. I loved visiting this museum, and will definitely go back any time I am in the area.

3. Went to a restaurant that had been recommended to us by several people, and that B had actually been to some years past. We were so looking forward to a pitcher of sangria and an assortment of tapas, but after being seating, we waited 25 minutes with NO service...during this time, three different servers walked past us and refused to even look at us. We said screw it and headed to Columbia in Ybor City, which we were afraid would be the biggest tourist trap of all time. We were pleasantly surprised to find delicious food, excellent service, and a big ass pitcher of freshly made Mojitos, as well as a live Flamenco show, when we arrived. I cannot say enough good things about our experience at Columbia. Bonus: cafe con leche made with coffee roasted right there in Ybor City, and super yummy tostones. Mmmmm. Tostones. 

4. I did NOT set foot in a yarn store the entire time we were on vacation. I KNOW! Are you amazed? I am.

5. We WILL be heading back to Tampa/St.Pete (most likely in the Fall) armed with the knowledge that Tampa traffic, most hours of the day,  is more horrendous than the 405 during rush hour. We'll also be staying in a more centrally located establishment next time, eating at a highly recommend Ethiopian restaurant, and will be hitting MOSI and the Lowry Park Zoo. Oh, and we will never take the long way home again...scenic as it was, it was a very long ride.

Hey, Tampa/St. Pete locals, can you answer one big question the boy and I have? What is with all the bowling alleys? Never have I seen so many bowling alleys in one place!

We made t back to Tally in time for B to rock out on Saturday night; his band played their first show over at their practice space. It was a lot of fun, if you're remotely interested, you can check them out here.  Viva SB 82!

I've got tons of stuff I'm planning to knit, but have promised myself I have to finish or frog all my WIP's before I can start anything new. So far, my plan is working, I've completed both Vesper toe-up stripey socks and will be adding their afterthought heels this evening.

I've also been in a bit of a cowl craze thanks to a certain someone, and have a few FO's that are more neckwarmer than cowl awaiting buttons and end-weaving.

Once the socks and the neckwarmers are done, the only WIP left are my Heritage Socks that I started, what was it, last summer? Socktoberfest the year before? Something like that. Anyway, I have to cast on and knit sock #2, and then add the heels for that pair as well. Then? Then I'm free to cast on for this....or maybe these.....decisions, decisions.

One more thing to make this post just as long as I possibly can today: last time I asked y'all for good vibes regarding a certain situation I'm dealing with, good things happened. I'm still workin' on this particular situation and should have a definitive answer by the end of this week/beginning of next week. Please cross those fingers, wouldja? I need the positive vibes on this one! 

Comments

[Kelly]

You know, now that I think of it, we do have a lot of bowling alleys! Let us know when you will be back in town, some of us Tampa knitters would love to get together and shop at the yarn stores or even just get together for some knitting!

[Stacey]

Wooden rollercoasters are awesome. Steel ones are cool too...but I feel the need to praise the wooden ones because I feel like they get a bad rap due to lack of loops and twists and whatnot. God, I haven't been on a rollercoaster in a long time. Now I want to go to Magic Mountain. I better bring a bulletproof vest though ;)

[Jacki]

You know, I'm so glad you got to go to the Dali museum. I used to have family that lived in Tampa and St. Pete, and once when I went there with my parents, I made them take me to the Dali museum. They were kind of bewildered (I was about 14 at the time) but we went, and it was awesome! I could not believe the size of some of those paintings! I also liked how the paintings were arranged chronologically (at least, they were then) so you could see Dali's descent into weirdness. I'd love to go back there again.

Also, roller coasters rock. Middle school kids? Not so much.

[JulieFrick]

Cowl it up, lady. Cowl. It. Up.

[Leslie]

I second the meet-up request when you get back down to Tampa. And I'm surprised that you didn't get to Fiber Art!!!! At least it gives us something to do when you get back down.

Bowling alleys . . well, the only thing I can guess at is . . we have a lot of migrants and for some reason they think it's a ton of cheap fun. I often see a lot of people that are Mexican or Latino in them. Asian people too. I think it's just that it's a piece of Americana and it's pretty inexpensive. Also, the bowling alleys down here usually have bars in them . . so people go and drink too. That's my best guess. *shrug*

[Nell]

Glad to hear you had fun! And even happier to have you back!

[Sarah]

My husband's aunt lives in the Tampa area, and we try to make it down there every year or two to visit her. We LOVE the Dali museum! And we always go to Bush Gardens to get our rollercoaster on. :-)