Tampa

We will be visiting St Petes /Tampa later in the year.
Any info on the area, what to do and see, car hire, good eating places,
beaches, transport and any other good info would be very appreciated.

Thanks in advance

"Bob Heath" wrote:
We will be visiting St Petes /Tampa later in the year.
Any info on the area, what to do and see, car hire, good
eating places, beaches, transport and any other good info
would be very appreciated.
---------------------------------
I just returned from a visit. For beaches, go to Fort Desoto Park
at the very Southern tip of St. Pete. Its the #1 beach in the USA.
If you miss the last left turn to the park, you'll shortly end up on St.
Pete Beach in front of the Don Cesar Resort, a venerable and still
great hotel -- very expensive, but maybe a stop for lunch.

Another beach is Honeymoon State Park that's North of Clearwater,
where you can also catch an $8 boat ride to Caladesi Island, the #4
beach in the USA. If you're into wildlife, rollercoasters & water rides,
go to Busch Gardens. IMO, it better than WDW's Animal Kingdom.

For dining, there's Bern's Steakhouse and in historic Ybor City, the
Columbia Restaurant. For dining on the water, I like Landry's on the
Courtney Campbell Causeway. If its cool, sit outside on the bay.

Taxis are reasonable in Tampa, but if you're going to cross the bay
into St.Pete, you need to rent a car. I'd search for the best rates on
a "compact" on www.orbitz.com and then try to rent thru the car
company's website which may give you a better deal. =R=

On 07/09/2005 10:41 AM Rog' while holding "court", exclaimed:

"Bob Heath" wrote:


We will be visiting St Petes /Tampa later in the year.
Any info on the area, what to do and see, car hire, good
eating places, beaches, transport and any other good info
would be very appreciated.


---------------------------------
I just returned from a visit. For beaches, go to Fort Desoto Park
at the very Southern tip of St. Pete. Its the #1 beach in the USA.
If you miss the last left turn to the park, you'll shortly end up on St.
Pete Beach in front of the Don Cesar Resort, a venerable and still
great hotel -- very expensive, but maybe a stop for lunch.

Another beach is Honeymoon State Park that's North of Clearwater,
where you can also catch an $8 boat ride to Caladesi Island, the #4
beach in the USA. If you're into wildlife, rollercoasters & water rides,
go to Busch Gardens. IMO, it better than WDW's Animal Kingdom.

For dining, there's Bern's Steakhouse and in historic Ybor City, the
Columbia Restaurant. For dining on the water, I like Landry's on the
Courtney Campbell Causeway. If its cool, sit outside on the bay.

Taxis are reasonable in Tampa, but if you're going to cross the bay
into St.Pete, you need to rent a car. I'd search for the best rates on
a "compact" on www.orbitz.com and then try to rent thru the car
company's website which may give you a better deal. =R=




Parts of downtown Tampa are serviced by open air trolleys. You can pay
one inexpensive rate for an all day get-on-get off pass. I've taken one
from in front of the Florida Aquarium on Channelside over to Ybor City.
If you like things aquatic, the Florida Aquarium is a good stop.
Admission also gets you onto two floating ship museums. Dolphin and
Whale watching boats (extra fee) leave from the aquarium on a regular basis.

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Brian M. Kochera
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