Tampa and Beyond - Saturday, July 12, 2008

So after a good night's sleep at a local hotel, off we go to explore Tampa and vicinity. "We're really close to the University of South Florida," the Biologist says. "I hear they have a nice Botanical Garden there. We should go check it out. It will be really nice and peaceful there on a Saturday morning." Okay, so it turns out there was a plant sale going on at the Botanical Garden and it was complete bedlam, but there was a Carnivorous Plant Bog there that was really worth checking out!

Back in the SUV, the Biologist says "You know, we've been talking about taking a cruise. We should stop by the Port of Tampa to check out their cruise terminals. Maybe we'd rather depart from Tampa than Port Canaveral or Jacksonville." The Marine gave the Biologist a suspicious look, but off we went to the Port. Darn it! There weren't any cruise ships in Port. How can you possibly check out a cruise ship terminal if there isn't a ship in port?!!!

Feeling discouraged, the Biologist says to the Marine "You know, I think we should get out of town for a little while and go for a nice drive in the country. Let's drive through Zephyrhills and Dade City. I've never been there." (Or visited the two Highway Giants or this particular Z Welcome Sign). After stopping at the Giants and getting ridiculed by the mechanics at both establishments, the Biologist oh so subtly mentioned that she'd heard the town of Center Hill, just a bit further north and east, is a nice, peaceful place to visit. The Marine just shook his head, but off he drove. After stopping at a couple of Florida Historical Markers, we arrived in Center Hill. "Oh, look at that cool old building," the Biologist says. "It looks like it has Gender Separated Entrances. Imagine that!" (The Biologist saw an Orlando Sentinel newspaper article a few months earlier that mentioned that the old Center Hill High School had Boys and Girls entrances and had been biding her time to get over this way!). After taking the necessary photos and coordinates, the Marine said it was time to head back to Tampa as we had some dinner plans.

After stopping by our hotel and cleaning up, off we went to Indian Rocks Beach and Keegan's Restaurant, a place the Marine had seen highlighted on the Food Network Show "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives." He loves that show. He wants Guy Fieri's job! So after a great meal, we headed back to the hotel for our last night in Tampa. By the way, did I mention that we stopped at Boca Ciega Millenium Park on our way to the restaurant to look at a Time Capsule that was Made for the Millenium? I didn't? Imagine that...