Tampa Bay

[BigN8]

im meeting up with about 10 dudes in late Oct in the Tampa Bay Area for a USS South Carolina reunion. Anyone have any ideas if places we should go or do while there that is dude acceptable?? Was thinking about maybe renting a large poontoon and running around on that.

 

[LBFloats]

Hey BigN8!
I'm inclined to answer this as I grew up in Tampa Bay and both my sister and brother-in-law are Navy folk and got married here out on St Pete beach. From Bachellor party experience I can tell you that no crew should set foot in port without a visit to the fine gentlemens establishments on Dale Mabry in Tampa. Aside from that, if you guys want nightlife and clubs in walking distance as well as good food and other daytime amenities and have the option to do it, go for Downtown St Pete. Short hop on the highway will take you over to Tierre Verde for boat rentals which aren't ridiculous and gives you the option of going East into Tampa Bay or up the intercoastal to Clearwater. You can also go down to Egmont Key which has an old lighthouse and Endicott Era forts and Fort Desoto is one of the better beaches going. But ideally if you want to cruise then go north up the ICW to Johns Pass and even Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks if time allows. If you're shacking up in Tampa no worries, rent a boat out of MacDill, ask the local guys about some of the islands (Beer-can comes to mind) and bring a loaded cooler and some decent sun protection. If you're in North Pinellas (like Clearwaterish) then rent a boat out of Belle Harbour in Tarpon Springs (fairly cheap although their 'toons won't win any races) and go out by Anclote Key which is gorgeous and cruise around... Finish off with some solid drinking at Rusty Bellies on the Sponge Docks or anywhere else thereabouts. Might also think about renting a fishing charter out of any of the beaches or St Pete... I'm sure there's a way to go wrong with that but I haven't found it yet and that's saying something. We have the Tampa Bay Bucanneers and Tampa Bay Lightning, they're both fun and the Lightning have the added bonus of being well air conditioned. Depending on the day catch a Lightning Hockey Game in the evening if there is one and hit some of the channel side bars thereafter if it's a weekend... Or catch a streetcar to Ybor City which is Tampa's Little Havana and has some solid clubs and hand rolled cigars, just don't wander off the main drag there as the surrounding areas are sketchy (not talking about the IKEA). Its hard to go wrong down here and hopefully this gives you some options, hit me up if you want to know about something specific. I'm sure some more of our Tampa Bay peeps will fire off on some stuff I didn't thus far.

 

[BigN8]

Dude! Great info. Thank you very much!!

 

[LBFloats]

Dude! Great info. Thank you very much!!

Hey also forgot to throw out that golfing is always an option down here. You can throw a dart randomly at a dartboard and prob hit a decent golf course and thanks to all the rain we've had this year most of them should be lush and it's hard to go wrong. Like a bad handicap, even a mediocre course can be a whole lot more fun with a little alcohol

 

[luckie_529]

Tampa bay Grand Prix is a cool go kart track. There is a dog track and horse track in Tampa. Caddys on the beach in St.petersburg is a fun place to drink on a gulf beach