The trip to Tampa was bumpy. The winds had kicked up and the trip was about three hours. We had to follow the channel to get in, and was a lot of commercial traffic as well as a large Coast Guard cutter that came up on us and then passed us on the way in. We had made reservations at the convention center docks to stay for two night. We arrived early in the day and came up to the docks. There was someone there to assist and we found our slip. As we were pulling in, the wind was pushing the boat sideways. Oh boy, here we go. Lauren tossed a line to the kid on the dock, who was busy on his cell phone. She went to to secure the midship line, and I was running down to get the rear. I looked up and the front end was swinging out, so I yelled at the kid to “pull the line!” He looked at me startled and started pulling while putting his phone away, but the wind was really pushing us. Trying to stop the momentum of a forty thousand pound boat is not easy and it kept swinging out. I ran back up to the flybridge and tried to use the engine to straighten us out, but we were swinging sideways now. Show time again! Now we are almost sideways in a two slip dock. Another dock hand made his way over and was able to assist with the lines. I was able to get us somewhat turned and close enough to get him a spring line. Using the engine and the spring line, I was able to get us straightened back out and we finally were secure. Once the lines were set I filled our water tanks as they were getting low and Lauren walked Frank. We then set out to see what Tampa has to offer…
The dock was in a great location. There was a pathway that ran right along the river and we were in the center of downtown. There was also a free trolley that runs through downtown with a dozen stops in between. We hopped on and went to Ybor. “Lively Ybor City is known for boutiques and vintage shops on 7th Avenue, which also hosts Cuban and Latin American eateries. The Centro Ybor mall offers indie fast food, bars, and a cinema. Housed in a 1920s bakery, Ybor City State Museum has exhibits on the cigar industry and the area’s immigrant communities. The GaYBOR district around 7th Avenue and 15th Street attracts a diverse crowd to its bars and clubs. It was founded in the 1880s by Vicente Martinez-Ybor and other cigar manufacturers and was populated by thousands of immigrants, mainly from Cuba, Spain, and Italy. For the next 50 years, workers in Ybor City’s cigar factories rolled hundreds of millions of cigars annually giving it the nickname “Cigar City””. We walked around and found the center where they have wild chickens roaming around. We saw a few chickens and continued on our way down the main street, dodging rain drops as it had started to rain. We ducked in to a place: Zydeco Brew Werks and had to try some of their beer. Once it had stopped raining, we continued on down the street. The rain continued on and off as we walked. We eventually stopped at another spot: Rock Brothers Brewing. “Rock Brothers unites craft beer and music to support great artists, great beer and even greater fans. In the ever changing climate of the music industry, artists are looking for new revenue streams, while fans are looking for new ways to connect with their favorite musicians… We believe this authentic partnership of music and beer brings that home in a new and innovative way. From recipe inception, brand creation, artwork design and even the name of the product itself, the band is involved every step of the way. A few of the bands include Hootie and the Blowfish, Umphrey’s Mcgee and 311. They make different beers for the different bands, and it was a cool spot. Here we waited out the rain some more, then rode the trolley back to the marina. Frank got his walk and we retired to a rainy and windy night at the dock, but we were secured.
Day 2- The morning was again windy and slightly chilly, but the rain had stopped. We took the bikes and rode along the pathway until it ended into a neighborhood, then we turned around and went back the other way. We found our way to Heights Public Market: “Heights Public Market is a food-lover’s dream and a truly innovative concept in Tampa. The 22,000 sq-ft industrial market features an open floor plan with communal seating surrounded by restaurants showcasing the top chefs and restaurateurs in the Bay Area. Heights Public Market also includes a “Show + Tell” workshop that hosts an array of events such as cooking classes, wine tastings and pop-up dinners in collaboration with market tenants.” This was a really cool spot to stop for lunch! We had some veggie chili dogs and mac and cheese, then some ice cream from someone else. I cannot stress enough how cool this place was- a definite stop if you’re ever in the area. Now that we had lunch, we continued on our bikes; Lauren had researched and found a cidery somewhat nearby, back in Ybor. We ended up at Cigar City Cider and Mead just as they were opening at 3pm. The bartender was friendly and we tried some ciders and mead. He told us about a new brewery that had just opened a few days ago not too far around the corner, so we decided to check that out too. BarrieHaus Beer Co. is where we ended up. They were friendly and a lot of other brewers were there talking to the owners and hanging out. It was a fun stop too, but we had to be on our way to get back before it got too dark and let Frank out. We made it back and prepared dinner while deciding on our next stop.