Kansas Crimson

Anyone have any thoughts/suggestions/intel on Tampa and surrounds? Looks like I'll be there for a few days next month, wondering if it's worth having Mrs. Fish come along for a long weekend.

jfish26 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 08, 2024 2:54 pm Anyone have any thoughts/suggestions/intel on Tampa and surrounds? Looks like I'll be there for a few days next month, wondering if it's worth having Mrs. Fish come along for a long weekend.

"Mrs. Fish" and kids, or no kids?

jfish26 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 08, 2024 2:54 pm Anyone have any thoughts/suggestions/intel on Tampa and surrounds? Looks like I'll be there for a few days next month, wondering if it's worth having Mrs. Fish come along for a long weekend.

I'm the last guy who should be offering you advice but.....
If you want to hang out in bars and get drunk with rednecks from the northern areas of Florida who hang out in Tampa, then why not bring her?
If you want to hang out in strip clubs and get drunk with rednecks from the northern areas of Florida who hang out in Tampa, then why bring her?
I'm kidding. Sort of.

Shirley wrote: ↑Mon Jan 08, 2024 4:45 pm

jfish26 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 08, 2024 2:54 pm Anyone have any thoughts/suggestions/intel on Tampa and surrounds? Looks like I'll be there for a few days next month, wondering if it's worth having Mrs. Fish come along for a long weekend.

"Mrs. Fish" and kids, or no kids?

No kids.

RainbowsandUnicorns wrote: ↑Mon Jan 08, 2024 5:05 pm

jfish26 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 08, 2024 2:54 pm Anyone have any thoughts/suggestions/intel on Tampa and surrounds? Looks like I'll be there for a few days next month, wondering if it's worth having Mrs. Fish come along for a long weekend.

I'm the last guy who should be offering you advice but.....
If you want to hang out in bars and get drunk with rednecks from the northern areas of Florida who hang out in Tampa, then why not bring her?
If you want to hang out in strip clubs and get drunk with rednecks from the northern areas of Florida who hang out in Tampa, then why bring her?
I'm kidding. Sort of.

Don’t really want to do either of those things. Which is why I’m questioning whether to extend this trip at all.

A drive up to Tarpon Springs would fit.
Crystal River is a Manatee Mecca.
Weekie Wachee is badass

i read “tampon” initially…

Are you looking for out-doorsie things to do, or a nice place to stay, or

all the above? As I'm sure you know, the Gulf is too cold to want to get in.

I live so close I haven't stayed there in 12 or so years, but my daughter stays there often when she goes to Tampa to see Taylor, Lady Ga Ga, et al, so she doesn't have to drive home afterwards, and I can ask her.

Just things to do. Cool tours or unique history.

Looking for a recommendation on an all inclusive beach resort somewhere warm that allows kids. Cabo, Jamaica, wherever, not picky. Just warm and beachy around the holidays of 2024.

i hear Haiti is nice that time of year, and cheap

twocoach wrote: ↑Mon Jan 08, 2024 10:17 pm Looking for a recommendation on an all inclusive beach resort somewhere warm that allows kids. Cabo, Jamaica, wherever, not picky. Just warm and beachy around the holidays of 2024.

It’s not all inclusive, but Ramon’s Village in Belize is family friendly, and close to some great stuff.

Exchange rate is always $1 US= $2 BEL.

several years back the wife and i did an all-inclusive in Costa Rica, but it was more of a tour…spent some time in the cloud forest, some time on a horse ranch, and then ended with a few days on the beach. got to do some river tubing, zip-lining, horseback riding, a boat ride through a croc park, and even watch some local pottery getting made. i can dig up the company if you’d be interested in such a thing

we liked it because there was plenty of culture mixed in, as well as ample wildlife viewing opportunities…it wasn’t “just” a stale resort stay (not that there’s anything wrong with that)

you might also consider Cozumel

twocoach wrote: ↑Mon Jan 08, 2024 10:17 pm Looking for a recommendation on an all inclusive beach resort somewhere warm that allows kids. Cabo, Jamaica, wherever, not picky. Just warm and beachy around the holidays of 2024.

Will you have help with kids (or old enough to leave alone)? My STRONG recommendation would be to do an all-inclusive in Aruba (like Riu Palace, next to the Hilton). That way the kids can “buy” (and, sadly, waste) all they want…but you will feel free and safe to leave the resort for fun and dinners and stuff.

Aruba is such a sweet spot, the travel ease (and, for me, time zone ease) of the Caribbean, with the safety and “ease of being there” of Hawaii. Out of the hurricane zone so you really aren’t risking burning a vacation from inside the hotel room(s).

Bonus, you do US customs there on the way out, so when you land, you land “domestically.”

that’s a huge bonus, imo

KUTradition wrote: ↑Tue Jan 09, 2024 8:49 am that’s a huge bonus, imo

Oh yeah. Doing customs in Atlanta or Miami or some shit is a kick in the balls on a travel day that, with kids especially, is hard enough.

I haven't been to Tampa since my brother lived there in the 90s.
I do have a friend that likes to go kayaking there. He's sent some really beautiful pictures.

jhawks99 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 09, 2024 10:57 am I haven't been to Tampa since my brother lived there in the 90s.
I do have a friend that likes to go kayaking there. He's sent some really beautiful pictures.

I did see an outfitter offering a lit-glass-bottom-kayak thing for a night tour, which looked interesting. I suppose that would be highly dependent on the water being clear enough to, ya know, see things.

There's always Clearwater.

jhawks99 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 09, 2024 11:00 am There's always Clearwater.

That's where I think we'd stay if we added the weekend to my meetings.