touring with Old School Bill

I arrived in Tampa late on Friday night and crashed at the motel.  In the morning I gave Old School Bill a call and he came over to show me around the city.  I was up for just about anything.  I didn't really need to do the touristy stuff, I just wanted to enjoy the weather.  It was perfect weather here.  75-80 degrees, sunny, warm breeze.  Perfect. 

First we drove across the bay and visited Dog Beach - a local beach that was pretty empty.  I was excited to put my feet in the bay.  Back across the bay again, we stopped in a little park to watch a barge go through a canal and look for a couple geocaches.  We didn't find the two we looked for, so we took off. 

We drove around some more and stopped at one of Old School's favorite restaurants - La Teresita.

  I got the recommended pork special and it was DELICIOUS!  Yum!  The service was great and the food arrived quickly. 

With full bellies, we drove off to look around Davis Island.  We passed an air show at the airport on the island and drove by the super wealthy gated community on the opposite island.  Next stop was the Jose Gasparilla pirate ship.  It is part of a big festival celebrating the pirating history of the area.  I was a little nervous to climb up on it because it was a 3 ft gap and a 10 foot drop to the water and I was certain I would fall in.  But I didn't.  I'm not sure if I should post the pic, as it may be evidence.

Next we stopped at Williams Park.  I was happy to see sharks in the water, but then I realized they were dolphins.

  I guess those are pretty cool, too.  Bill brought me to a local bar, the Rivers Edge, where we sat and enjoyed a beer out on the patio overlooking the water.  Very nice and relaxing.  We chatted about places we've traveled, people we've met, and just enjoyed the day.  It was a very low tide, so there were no boats pulled up to the docks of the bar. 

My family was to arrive shortly, so Bill and I parted ways.  I decided to check out some geocaches while I waited.  I stopped at a little park over by the football stadium, then I drove over to Cypress Point Park - wow!  Beautiful park!  I walked along the shore, over the dunes and along a paved trail.  I stopped at a few geocaches and caught a beautiful sunset.

  What a great place to watch sunsets!  There is also a place where the landing planes fly right over you, very low.  It was a little scary.  It was pretty windy, so you could see the planes struggling to make a smooth landing.  It felt like they would fall right out of the sky and land on you.  But still, very cool.

I got back to the hotel just as my family was pulling in.  We had to make an emergency trip to the mall so my brother in law could get his phone replaced at the Apple Store.  We decided to just eat somewhere over there.  We walked through the International Plaza Mall and back outside to a very interesting outside mall area.  It was like an open air mall, but with mostly restaurants and bars.  We sat at a table outside and enjoyed the night while eating.  Nothing much exciting, just went back to the hotel for the night.