For the next three weeks I’ll be in the Hudson / Brooksville / Spring Hill area of Florida. This is about 50 miles north of Tampa. I’d like your opinions of what’s cool to do and/or see around here. I’ve got a car, so I can drive to Tampa / St. Pete / etc., or anywhere else reasonbly nearby. I’m looking for any suggestions from family attractions (I’m here alone, though) to good porn shops. Bonus points awarded for geeky / tech-head stuff! Thanks in advance for any and all replies!
Tampa is my favorite place in the U.S. While you’re there, you’ve got to go to YBOR City…just ask around people will know what you’re talking about. It’s like a mini New Orleans every weekend.
Well I’m in Tampa and my house is kind of a cross between family attraction AND porn shop however you can’t come over. On the other hand there’s always Todd Theater or Mons Venus.
Mons Venus! I can’t believe I didn’t mention that. With the money that I’ve blown there I think I’m part owner. It’s really one of the few strip clubs you’ll ever visit that trully is “World Famous”…you won’t regret it.
Cap’n porno logging in here…
find Manhatten/Lois if you’re looking for porno. It/they run parrallel to Dale Mabry on the west (Gulf) side. There’s about 500 XXX places. All the good strip clubs are by the Dale Mabry/275 junction.
In other news - Raymond James Stadium has the Buccaneers on sundays and USF Bulls on saturdays. Busch Gardens is between Busch blvd and Fowler. There are like 4 malls. I wouldn’t shop in the new one ($$$!) but Citrus Park is nice if you don’t mind a small drive.
Pezpunk has a show coming up on friday somewhere in Ybor
OH! Ybor! Yeah, there’a a shitload of stuff in Ybor for day or night. Exit 1 off of I4. We also have an Aquarium around there somewhere…
More if I can think of it.
Thanks for the suggestions, and keep 'em coming! I’m definitely planning on checking out the aquarium (I’m a big fan of fish and other aquatic life). I’ll look into this Manhattan/Lois thing, too. I’m not a sports fan, so I’ll skip that stuff, but this Mons Venus sounds promising.
Restaurant recommendation: Bern’s Steak House
But bring your wallet.
If you’re a certified SCUBA diver, check out the manatees in Crystal River… or a Rainbow River float dive.
Very cool.
I am a bit rusty on Tampa lore, although I was just there last week:
Homosassa Springs is close to where you are staying. It can be a nice peaceful place to look for wildlife or just relax.
Cedar Key, which is a bit farther to the north of you, is a haven for artists, many attracted by the Lower Suwanee River National Wildlife Area nearby.
Ditto to check out Crystal River, it’s pretty close to where you are. You don’t need to be a diver, if you can swim halfway’s decently just get a mask and snorkel and see if you can spot some manatees. Don’t get too close, though, and definitely don’t touch. They are a protected species. The Lowry Park Zoo also has a couple in captivity.
The Florida Aquarium is also okay if you don’t go in with high expectations, this is next to downtown Tampa.
The town of Tarpon Springs is not far from where you are. It tries to preserve it’s Greek flavor, brought over by the people who came to do sponge fishing there. There’s also some decent food in that area.
For the other kind of wildlife, in addition to the infamous Mons Venus, you can check out the 2001 Odyssey, which is just a dangerous jaywalk across Dale Mabry, or the Tanga, which is located on the Tampa side of the Courtney Campbell Causeway (direction Clearwater from the Airport). I don’t know what is the state of the city’s ban on lap dancing, exactly, but they don’t seem to be worrying about whether it will be enforced.
You can also visit the original location of the “nearly famous” Hooters chain, which is located on Gulf-to-Bay Drive just over the causeway from Tampa.
Hope that helps, let me know if you need anything more specific.
I don’t know if anyone’s told you this, Shibb, but you rule. That’s a great list!
I’m not a diver, but sometimes I wish I was. I’d be scared to get into any water with manatees in it, though - man, those things are huge. I’d sooner swim with alligators.
I live in St. Petersburg, so most of my places are on this side of the bay, but here goes:
- Definitely go to the aquarium, it is really a good one.
- The Wagon Wheel Flea Market, one of the best in the country
- Don’t let anyone talk you into going to MOSI, it sucks
- Wild Bill’s Airboat Rides and Zoo in Inverness FL (about to close down, but really cool)
- The St. Petersburg Pier has a free aquarium, plus the Columbia Rest (good Spanish food)
I don’t live there, but went once for a business meeting. (The school district is one of our clients). So I only have two recommendations.
Best Italian restaurant I have ever been to in life, ever: Baci. It’s in a Publix shopping center (isn’t everything in florida? :rolleyes:), near the I-75 exit on Bruce B. Downs Parkway. I believe the rest. is a mile or so north of the freeway exit – this is actually North Tampa. It’s not horribly expensive, the sangria rocks and the food is simply outstanding. I had lobster ravioli with black truffle sauce. Mmmmmm… The Cannoli kicks ass as well. I highly recommend it to anyone within 100 miles of the place.
And there’s always the Salvadore Dali museum over there in St. Pete. Haven’t been but I hear it’s pretty cool. Of course if you’re looking for porn/sex shops, you may not be interested in abstract art.
But try to check out Baci.
Oh, come on… you can’t be serious! Some of those latex thingies in the sex shops are works of surrealist art. But thanks for mentioning the Dali museum - I had no idea it was here, and I’d love to see it. I’m not big on restaurants, though, so I doubt I’ll go to Baci unless it’s near something else I’m going to.
Diamud, great ideas! I love flea markets, although I compare them all to the Swap Shop near Ft. Lauderdale, the honkin’ mother of all flea markets. I’ll have to see how the Wagon Wheel compares. Wild Bill’s Airboat Rides and Zoo sounds like my kind of thing, too, so maybe I’ll get down there. MOSI looks interesting, but I’ll take your word for how badly it sucks unless someone else chimes in here and swears you’re wrong. I’ve been to the Boston Museum of Science and the New England Aquarium many times, so that’s my frame of reference for those types of places.
I knew coming to Dopers for suggestions was the way to go. Thanks, folks.