Category: Spots – Places to See

Places to See

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See Creeping Things and Changing Scenes Along the Little Manatee

Little Manatee River State Park – North Trail, Ruskin

What fun activity does Ruskin offer when the orange picking and manatee sighting is out of season? My modest research online led me to the Little Manatee River Trail. I glossed over the helpful (as usual) info on Florida Hikes!, threw some equipment in the sporty little runabout and Christa and I cruised down U.S. 301 headed for Little Manatee River State Park for what would become the longest short hike I’ve ever accidentally not accidentally tricked my wife into completing. Continue reading “See Creeping Things and Changing Scenes Along the Little Manatee”

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A Sultry Ruskin Threesome: Citrus Picking, Savory Eats, a Scenic Bay Beach

Dooley Groves, Mariane’s Sub Shop, S&S Tacos and Stuff, and Apollo Beach Preserve, Ruskin

We needed to get to Dooley Groves to pick some tangerines and tangelos before they closed for the season. Inside, however, a deeper need was smoldering: the need to feed on those infernal mom tacos from S&S Tacos and a warm Italian grinder from Marian’s Submarines. So I suggested we make a stop on our way back from the groves for some subs and Christa was game.

I said not a word about my plan to also get tacos. Even when nearing twenty years of marriage I still don’t want to come off as a complete glutton. 

Continue reading “A Sultry Ruskin Threesome: Citrus Picking, Savory Eats, a Scenic Bay Beach”

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Photolog – The Paved and Unpaved Paths of Pine-Filled Flatwoods Site

Flatwoods Conservation Park, Thonotosassa

Phew. Being gluttons for punishment, Christa and I decided we hadn’t walked quite enough after visiting the USF Botanical Gardens, so we jumped back in the sporty little runabout and headed over to the nearby Flatwoods Site of the Hillsborough County Parks and Recreation Department. The Flatwoods Site website boasts a seven-mile paved trail as well as a two-mile paved extension connecting to Bruce B. Downs Boulevard. I wasn’t a particular fan of paved trails, but Christa is, so we went. Then I discovered the unpaved trails.

Continue reading “Photolog – The Paved and Unpaved Paths of Pine-Filled Flatwoods Site”

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Hike Tampa’s Gallery of Aging Urban Aesthetic

Bayshore Boulevard and Hyde Park, Tampa

Have you been burned out from nature hikes? Not completely, of course, but just for the moment. With week after week of sandy trails, weathered boardwalks and an endless sea of scrub, hammocks and pine flats, an antidote to the temporary blahs of abstract nature can be found by venturing into an orderly landscape of precise concrete, shorn lawns, and harmonic traffic noise.

Wait. Hear me out. I know the city seems like just the thing you’re trying to escape, but is it entirely? Or is it the hectic nature of daily life that just so happens to coincide with the urban setting? Is it the toil and drudgery of work and life in the city and it’s choked suburbs that have you clawing at the walls.

Continue reading “Hike Tampa’s Gallery of Aging Urban Aesthetic”

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Take a Hike Through Shrinking Alafia Scrub in Gibsonton

Alafia Scrub Nature Preserve, Gibsonton

What do you do in Gibsonton? It was there that I had already found two of the three key ingredients needed for a destination spot. We had secured spots for vittles and entertainment. An activity was needed to complete the trio and I found it: a hike in Gibsonton wilderness at The Alafia Scrub Nature Preserve.

Gibsonton has several great places to eat including A.J.’s on the River and The River’s Edge.  The Riverview 14 movie theater offers endless new things to see and there’s also a carnival museum across the Alafia. A spot to hike would add a fun physical activity to the mix—an even payoff for burgers, beer, and popcorn. Continue reading “Take a Hike Through Shrinking Alafia Scrub in Gibsonton”

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Cure the Subtropical Homesick Blues by Showing Visiting Family a Whirlwind Tour

A Vist from the Parents – Sarasota and St. Petersburg

How do you remedy homesickness? The glib answer is to just go home. But it’s a big world with lots to experience and staying home just isn’t for us. That doesn’t mean we don’t get the longing and depression that comes now and then when remembering the people you left behind and the places you used to frequent.

A great way to shake off the homesick blues is to open your home to family and friends who’ve traveled far to see you. Quality time can be well spent with a tour of the town, a taste of the local fare, and plenty of moments spent together living, laughing, lov…I have got to stop cutting through the home decor department of Walmart. Continue reading “Cure the Subtropical Homesick Blues by Showing Visiting Family a Whirlwind Tour”

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Find a Wealth of Sunny Sand and Surf and Tasty Frozen Treats

Treasure Island and St. Pete Beach

Do you like to take off in the car, motorcycle, or hovercraft to explore someplace new without any planning at all? It’s almost perfunctory these days to pull out the smartphone and get to Yelping or Tripadvisor-ing even the po-est of dunks. “Hmm. They don’t show a place to eat, but Rhonda’s Hair Port gets three stars.” We landed on Treasure Island with a map but without a clue as to where to eat or what to expect.

The name Treasure Island invokes a romantic ideal. Not in the modern sense, but in the pirate and booty sense. Which, now that I type it, sounds a bit romantic in the modern sense, too. Corsets and cocked hats aside, I wanted to assess the cut of the beach community’s jib. So one capricious morning we rigged the sporty little runabout and set sail on the macadam sea for Treasure Island, with no plans other than a cruise down the main drag, a walk on the beach, some tasty vittles and come what may. Continue reading “Find a Wealth of Sunny Sand and Surf and Tasty Frozen Treats”

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Get Your Fill of Aggregate Fruits at the Strawberry Fest

The Florida Strawberry Festival, Plant City

Do you love fresh, sweet strawberries? Do you love food fairs? You should be aware that our hearts throb for both and The Florida Strawberry Festival was right up our alley and S.R. 39. We had been hearing all about its glory since we moved to Tampa and its time had arrived.

To me, strawberries are as much a part of Florida as citrus, sunshine and that damned mouse. When visiting Florida in my younger days, we’d take a trip to Parksdale Farms for shortcake or bring the ripe fruits home and enjoy them with biscuits and whipped cream. To me, Florida equals strawberries.

Therefore, the Florida Strawberry Festival was a must-visit on our list predating our move and we were all hopped up and ready to go.

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Don’t Gang Agley around the Anclote Anchorage

Key Vista Nature Park – Anclote River Park – Fred Howard Park, Holiday

It was one of those mornings when you can’t decide what to do, but you just need to do something; get out of the house. Get. Out. So I set to making plans for a grand day out. Since we know what becomes of best-laid plans, you’d think I’d expect that things would go dreadfully awry. Considering that these plans were poorly laid off the cuff while I sipped my morning coffee, we should have expected that they would shit the damned bed. 

Continue reading “Don’t Gang Agley around the Anclote Anchorage”