Manatee Viewing Center

Several weeks ago we went with Jimmy to run an errand for work and realized we were right by the Tampa Electric Manatee Viewing Area. Of course we had to make a pit stop!  There were soooo many manatees and it was very cool to see. The runoff from the plants makes warmer water, which is why they congregate there.

More Gasparilla Fun!

We spent the week in between Children’s Gasparilla and actual Gasparilla sporting all of our pirate gear and even had a special visit from real pirates at Charlie Banks’ school. So fun!  Gasparilla morning, Jimmy was invited to ride the pirate ship from downtown to the Yacht Club, where it picks up the krewe of pirates. We met him at the yacht club and had no clue what the expect. Whew!  There was definitely a learning curve to this whole Gasparilla thing and we will know a little more next year. The yacht club was literally insane with soooo many people that we really couldn’t even put the kids down. So, that was short lived, but seriously so fun to see. We then headed home to post up at our apartment for the rest of the day. Our apartment was right in the thick of all of the craziness so Jimmy and I grabbed some beverages and laughed all afternoon. We saw people sick, using the restroom, passed out on the ground, flashing, etc all from our porch!  I think my jaw was literally on the ground for most of the afternoon. It was quite the experience!

Children’s Gasparilla

Our first Gasparilla as Tampians!  It certainly did not disappoint and will be such a fun “season” to look forward to every year. It is truly just that...a season here. Gasparilla is a huge pirate parade/festival where the pirates invade the city!  The children’s parade was so much fun and I know in the coming years the boys will be so into it. We met up with one of Jimmy’s co-workers and his family to enjoy the parade.  We ended the night watching the fireworks from our apartment.  I am already going to start recruiting our Charleston people to make it an annual trip with their kids to visit us!  Any takers?!?

Busch Gardens x 2

It took awhile for us to finally check out Busch Gardens!  Mainly because it took awhile to weigh the options of regular tickets vs year passes and then the different year passes, etc. But, we have year passes so will be visiting a lot now that we are learning the ropes.  I was nervous that there wasn’t much for our boys ages, but there really is!  Our first visit we spent checking out the Sesame Street area!  There is a precious show featuring Cookie Monster and Grover, bumper cars, rides, sand play area, bounce area, etc. I was so happy that both boys could ride most of the rides!!  Our second trip we set out to see a different area of the park to see the animals.  We saw all sorts of animals and then took the safari train ride to see the zebras, giraffes, kudus, etc. Both were super fun and we can’t wait for our next visit!