Tampa area

We just got back from five days in the Tampa area and let me tell you all, if you are considering St. Petersburg for a vacation, go! It's awesome! First of all, the temperature is great (at least during October!), the beaches were pure white sand (we forgot our camera so we don't have any pics unfortunately) and the sand felt like soft velvet it was so great. There are tons of fish and birds around so you know the area beaches are pretty clean when the birds are eating on the fish right near you. The water is fairly shallow pretty far out so for people as scared of sharks as I am, it's great, Plus the water is completely clear. The cities around there are all close together, about an hour away from each other (Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota) so you can jump from one city to another with ease and hit a bunch of beaches in the meantime. Mostly we laid on different beaches and ate a lot, but we did take a day excursion with Tropical Island Getaway.

The trip was awesome! Dolphins literally are jumping right behind the boat, jumping and spinning around in the wake of the boat. There were two moms and their babies jumping at one point in a group of probably 7 or 8 dolphins. It was pretty awesome to see. Then we went snorkeling around some ruins from the Spanish American War and that was less awesome as the visibility was terrible and there weren't too many super cool fish, but it was still fun. Then we all took the boat to Egmont Key which was secluded and filled with more ruins and sandy white beaches. A few locals had also gone for the holiday weekend to take a swim off their boats at the island and one guy we were on the trip with said he saw two octopi and a stingray. We didn't see much though there, admittedly we didn't snorkel for very long there as we were more interested with chilling on the beach.

The trip was great, but we forgot our underwater camera somewhere and so we have none of the great shots we took of the dolphins! Dang it!

The best places we ate at were The Brunchery, the Cafe Croissant, Green Iguana in Ybor City, and Pelagia.

The Brunchery is a great little hole in a strip mall place with mix-matched furniture, silverware and coffee mugs. The benedict series are awesome, the pancakes are fantastic too. The gourmet coffee is probably not worth the extra dough, but overall this place was a super gem of a spot to have brunch or breakfast

The Cafe Croissant was also a tiny gem we found for breakfast. We were on the hunt for crepes and for it to be near the beach. This little French spot was also in a strip mall on the way to Madeira Beach from our hotel in Tampa and it was great! The owner/sole employee was busy baking his morning bread and made us fantastico cappucinos and some crepes with nutella (my favorite!). We also got spinach and cheese croissants to go for a snack later. The croissants were amazing, but the filling was probably a little less cheesy than I wanted. The bread and the great Italian (Lavazza) coffee was perfect though. He is a master baker with a great French accent!

The Green Iguana was a great juicy burger, though the bun was super soggy. The atmosphere is the best in Ybor City for a great walk around or if you want to drink at a bar. The town is in the historical section of Tampa and was really adorable. We even got to see a five minute drag queen performance on the way out. Awesome! :)

Pelagia was very authentic Italian with a twist. I should know, I lived in Rome for a while (about 11 years on and off). The head chef, Fabrizio, I am sure was the super Italo I saw on our way inside the place. The grilled calamari appetizer was like butter in my mouth it was so awesome. The scallops are the way to go for dinner, but they can come back for revenge later so beware! I ate the spicy saffron seafood pasta and it was tasty, but too spicy for me. All I could taste was spicy, but I did try to eat it all, so that says something and I admit I am a wimp with hot peppers. Worth going to for sure, but it is a bit pricey.
Overall, this place rocked it. We are so thoroughly impressed with this area that we've already decided we're gonna get a retirement spot there one day. Dolphins, great crepes, international mix of people, great and healthy beaches and really friendly people are all super pluses in my book.