Last week our family spent three days in Tampa. This trip had many layers! My daughter was playing in the All-State concert band, which was part of the FMEA (Florida Music Education Association) convention. In addition to middle school and high school bands, orchestras, and jazz bands, there are all sorts of seminars for band directors. My husband is a band director, so he attends the convention every year for professional development.
This meant my daughter spent her days rehearsing, and my husband attended seminars. My son did his own thing (including seeing a friend from high school who attends USF) and I was pretty much on my own. It turns out that this is the perfect “family vacation” for us, with just the right amount of togetherness (and apart-ness.)
It all started Wednesday- as soon as my daughter got home from school, we loaded the car and took off. As you can see, my son is always enthusiastic.
Tampa is a four hour drive from Boca Raton, but of course we had to stop for dinner. My son had several New Year’s resolutions this year: journal daily, meditate, and… eat more Taco Bell.
I haven’t eaten Taco Bell in YEARS. Back in the day it was considered a vegan mecca, because there weren’t a lot of fast food places that had vegan options. I got away from it eventually because it’s not exactly a health food. But I didn’t want to thwart my son’s resolutions, so it was Taco Bell for dinner!
We got to Tampa and checked into our hotel. My husband’s school pays for his hotel room, and this year we were lucky enough to get a room at the hotel downtown where my daughter’s band was rehearsing! This was a huge plus, because she had her own key and could go downstairs to her rehearsal and back to the room, being fairly independent.
The downside- they couldn’t give us a room with two beds. We had one bed, a pullout couch, and a rollaway bed. We made it work!
Thursday morning I helped my daughter get registered, and she had some free time as people got checked in. But after lunch she started her rehearsal, and I was off for an adventure.
Tampa has a free streetcar, and I was able to walk from our hotel to the stop, and rode it to the end of the line in Ybor City.
Ybor City is a historic district, founded in the 1880s by Cuban immigrants who worked in factories, hand rolling cigars. I found this website to be an extremely helpful guide, and while I didn’t drink a beer or smoke a cigar (as she did), I took her advice on many of the must-see attractions.
The Ybor City museum, where I watched a short film on the history of the city:
And I admired the wild chickens that roamed freely- descendants of the chickens the original immigrants kept in their backyards.
I walked up and down 7th Avenue, which is lined with historic buildings, boutiques, cigar shops, and cafes.
I had lunch at a vegan sandwich shop!
I had a “chick’n salad” sandwich, which was actually made with chickpeas, and it was very delicious.
You can see my book in this photo- one of the things I loved about this day was taking out my book and reading whenever I felt like it- while waiting for the streetcar, or eating lunch. So fun. I love exploring by myself!
One last stop after lunch was Jose Marti Park, which- I didn’t exactly understand this- is owned by the Cuban government. I happened to get there at the same time as a tour group, and their leader was telling them (us) that as we stepped into the park, we were stepping into Cuba. Okay, cool!
After that it was time for me to take the streetcar back to downtown Tampa. Such a fun little adventure!
Yet another layer of this trip is that we have very close friends who live in Tampa. We met them when our sons were in preschool together, and have been friends ever since. They moved to Philadelphia (so sad) and then to Tampa (hooray!) so now we get to see them more regularly. We ate dinner at their house Thursday night.
After all that excitement, Friday might seem kind of dull… but there was one special event! In the morning, after my run on the Riverwalk, I relaxed in the hotel room, drinking tea and reading (a true luxury for me) and then in the afternoon… I MET UP WITH STEPHANY from Stephany Writes!!!!!
We met at a Starbucks and spent a couple hours chatting away about the Dolphins (sob), cats, living in Florida, books, and we also decided that we have QUESTIONS for some of you bloggers! Ha ha… we were trying to figure out how some of you manage to read so many books, with all the other things going on in your busy lives. So fun to meet up in real life!
Friday night we went to the middle school and high school jazz band concert, which is always an All-State highlight. The high school jazz band especially is SO GOOD. This is the band my daughter auditioned for on guitar- but it’s virtually impossible to get in as a freshman. I think she was inspired hearing them play, and is already planning to audition again next year.
Saturday was our last day, sigh! I didn’t want it to end. In the morning my daughter had rehearsal, and (after running my 3K race) we met up with our friends again. They brought lunch to our hotel, and then we walked on the Riverwalk. We dropped my daughter off at the Convention Center, where her concert would be…
and continued to walk and talk with our friends until it was time to part.
We heard my daughter’s concert- her band was excellent- and then sadly it was time to head home.
I really didn’t want this trip to end! I already have a list of things I want to do next year- run on Bayshore Boulevard (the longest continuous sidewalk in the world), eat at a vegan pizza restaurant, and explore more of downtown. Well… we’ll be back.
Side note: you may have noticed all the cloudy skies in these photos! Even people who live in Florida are complaining about our”dreary” weather- I thought we lived in the Sunshine State??? That’s okay… we’ll still have more than our fair share of sunshine this winter.
Do you like exploring new places by yourself, or would you rather be with someone?
When was the last time (if ever) you ate at Taco Bell? – I think for me it was almost 20 years ago.
42 Responses
Oh, this looks like such fun. Your son’s resolutions—LOL. I have eaten a long time ago at a Taco Bell’ but couldn’t tell you how long ago it was.
I love exploring by myself – I can do whatever I want and spend as much time looking as I need. I spent a fair bit of time in New York exploring by myself while G was staying off his feet for the marathon.
Yes, it’s VERY nice to do whatever you want for as long as you want, without having to negotiate with other people.
Wow! When the stars align and everything comes together! I love that you were together as a family and yet you all did your own thing. And everyone was happy!
I didn’t know that Tampa had a cigar-rolling, Cuban history – or even had a bit of Cuba in it! Awesome. So cool that you met another blogger! Was it your first blogger meet-up?
I don’t read as many books as I’d like to. I think my biggest obstacle is evening TV. If I’d replace those 40-50 minutes with books, I’d get a lot more reading done!
I’ve met two other bloggers- Darlene and Cari. So this was my third!
Yes, the stars really aligned for this trip.
Yay blogger meet up– love this 🙂
Yes, that part of the trip was so fun!
What a fun trip! I haven’t had Taco Bell in probably 15 years, before I went vegan, so I’m kinda curious how good the vegan options are. I love that you found a vegan sandwich shop during your travels!
I do love exploring by myself because then I can do whatever I want and go at my own pace. My last solo trip was for my ultra in October and even though I mostly laid low before the race, it was nice to be able to go with the flow.
Yes, my next solo trip will be for my race- but I don’t think I’ll be doing much other than racing and then collapsing!
The Taco Bell vegan choices are decent. You can now get a crunch wrap made vegan. But honestly Chipotle is much better.
This looks so fun! You fit a lot into those days and that picture of your son with a friend from preschool days – so cute!!! I love that.
I read quite a bit, but not nearly as much as some other bloggers. I think one of my “obstacles” is that my husband doesn’t like to read. *Sob* I read in bed some nights, but he prefers to watch something so some nights I want to do that with him. When he’s away on trips I read A LOT more.
I need to make some of that “faux chicken” with chickpeas. Looks delicious.
Yes, my husband doesn’t read much (fun fact though- he just finished reading My Brilliant Friend, our next book club book, and he loved it!)
That chickpea salad was so, so good!
A STEPHANY MEET UP!!!! I loved this recap, Jenny! How fun! I love exploring places as well, both by myself and with others. I just like exploring! And this sounds like such a fun trip – old friends, blog friends, great music! Please tell your daughter that a random woman from Canada absolutely loves her outfit and shoes. Those shoes are fantastic, and I would totally love that outfit for myself. Also, even though her face is blanked out, I love her hair so much. Do I want to come down to Florida to talk to your daughter about her hair? Kind of.
I’ve actually only been to Orlando, so it would be really interesting to explore other places in Florida as well! I have to tell you – I don’t think I have ever eaten at a Taco Bell. If I did, maybe it was in high school? I don’t know. Anyway, it’s fun to get those little blasts from the past.
I did notice those cloudy skies but I assume it’s still warm, if your clothes are any indication. At least you didn’t have to worry about sweltering too much!
Yes, actually if it’s going to be warm I prefer it overcast. And, the shoes- that’s funny you mentioned them. That dress is the official concert dress (the school provides it for them) but I had to push those shoes. She wanted to wear boots (nooo!) so I went on Amazon and searched “comfortable women’s dress shoes” and found those. She didn’t love the way they felt, but I agree they looked good.
I love everything about this trip so much. SOMEONE ELSE PAID FOR THE HOTEL!!! You had the fam and you also had “you” time during the day. YOU MET STEPHANY!!!! It sounds like I’ve been wasting my time by going to Siesta Key when there is so much to do in Tampa FOR FREE. In short I am taking notes.
Yes, I kind of glossed over that, but someone else paying for the hotel is a big thing!
I definitely think, if you’re coming to Florida, that you should come to Tampa. If you want a “beach vacation” you would stay in Clearwater or St. Pete, and you could travel in to see the sights of Tampa for part of the time. It’s an amazing city.
Yay! What an amazing trip. I’m so jealous! Warm temps! A (cozy) hotel room! Time to read! Meeting Stephany! What a trip!
It’s been a long time since I’ve been to Taco Bell. I used to stop once in a while to get a Mountain Dew and those delicious cinnamon dessert things they have, but I haven’t had caffeine in years, so that was obviously a long time ago. In college I used to get a Nachos Supreme and a couple of soft tacos and that was a real nice treat.
Oh yes- the rest of the family got cinnamon twists. I didn’t have any but I remember them from the old days!
What a great trip! How fun that you got to meet Stephany! And see old friends, and explore…it sounds practically perfect in every way. I’m so happy for you.
Thank you! The only part that wasn’t perfect was the part where we had to leave. But we did pack in a lot in those three days.
What a fun holiday! That sounds perfect to me – I love exploring by myself and meeting up with people from the internets! So glad you got to meet Stephany – she’s a real gem!
I last ate Taco Bell on 12/24 and it was delish. I LOVE getting a vegan crunhwrap every now and then!
Oh so Taco Bell was your Christmas Eve dinner! Yeah, the vegan crunchwrap was pretty good!
Meeting Stephany was so fun. i felt like I was meeting a celebrity in person.
looks like a fun gateway! so fun to meet up with a blogger!
I love exploring new places by myself and with a local. both are fun.
I’ve never trie taco bell… just saw one shop this morning, gotta try it sometimes soon.
Well, it’s not gourmet dining but it’s pretty good!
Yes, it was really fun to meet up with Stephany. I want to meet more bloggers IRL!
This sounds like the perfect trip! Everyone got to do their own thing and enjoyed it. Go you! No more band performances for me to listen to (sniff, sniff!😢 ). You have such a talented family!
Oh yes, that must be sad! It’s a bummer your son isn’t playing, but it really is a huge time commitment so I can understand why people stop in college.
Thanks for the tour. I pretty much saw the airport and the race course. Along Bayshore Blvd.
I’d like to go back.
You should definitely go back- Tampa is such a nice city and there’s a lot to see.
Ayiiiii!!!!!! You got to meet Stephany! She got to meet you! How cool!
Taco Bell used to be a vegan mecca?!?! I had no idea!
This sounds like such a fun trip and it’s wonderful to find that ideal juxtaposition of family time and alone time.
Well… maybe it was only a vegan mecca in my own mind, ha ha.
I totally appreciate that this sounded like the perfect family trip – something for everyone. It sounds very relaxing to not have to entertain everyone or organize outings that would interest each person. The fact that everyone had their own agenda and that your room was paid for – ideal. We’ve squeezed into rooms before, so I get that too. Meeting a blog friend is so much fun. Hooray for fitting that in. We fly into Tampa in late March. I don’t think we will explore the city much. I can’t think of a time when I explored a city on my own. I did explore Montreal with 10 year old Reg, which felt very much like I was alone since he wasn’t exactly contributing as far as which train should we take and where are we headed. I think I’d prefer to partner up with someone vs exploring alone, but I do like the sound of eating lunch alone with a good book.
I just saw on your blog that you’re going to Tampa! If you get a chance you really should explore a little (I know you’re visiting old friends, and not sure exactly where they live.) Even if you don’t go to Ybor City, the downtown area is beautiful. I hope you get to see some of it!
I love that you got to meet up with Stephany! I’ve met up with her twice – once when I was on a work trip and was passing by Tampa on the way to Orlando, another time when we were vacationing in the Tampa area. I think we went to Starbucks for our first meet up!
While I’ve been to Tampa multiple times, I haven’t really seen the city of Tampa itself. I did not realize it had such a connection to Cuba! It makes sense but since Tampa is further north, I wouldn’t have expected that. We went to Little Cuba in Miami when I was there on a family girls trip years ago. It’s kind of cool when a neighborhood retains the culture and vibe of its home country!
I did a ton of exploring on my own before I got married. I was single for most of my 20s/early 30s so I went to Paris on my own 3 times – 1 time was part of a grad school program but I extended the trip and spent time in Paris on the front and back end of the trip. I really enjoy traveling alone because you do not have to make any compromises!! But – I like traveling with Phil, too. We just haven’t had many opportunities to travel together as we had kids 10 months after we got married… But we did travel together before we got married.
I did a time tracking challenge during the first full week of January so you’ll get maybe a little bit of insight into how I read so much! I think an outsider would look at my time log and say – geez, don’t you like to spend time with your husband? Because I spent over twice as much time reading as I did 1:1 with Phil… But we are together with the kids quite a bit so it’s not like I don’t see him, and I am very disciplined about going up to bed at 8:30 to read. Otherwise we would be sitting on the couch watching tv together – which is totally fine! I think because we were single for so long, we each value some alone time – for me it’s spent reading, for Phil it’s spent watching shows I wouldn’t want to watch (he prefers darker things, like Better Call Sal, etc, and I can’t handle those kinds of shows!).
Yes, Stephany told me she met up with you! And you were one of the people we were discussing when we were talking about how much people read. I’m looking forward to reading about your time tracking challenge.
Sounds like you really made the most of your getaway. Love the “togetherness” and wondering how long we would last in that situation lol
Ha ha, WELL, we really weren’t in the hotel room together that much- which was a good thing.
Looks like a fab trip! You squeezed a lot of fun stuff into your Tampa time. It’s great reuniting with old friends, which reminds me I need to venture back to Michigan (it’s been 11 or 12 years since we’ve been back). Like you, I like doing my own thing sometimes, and on my own schedule.
It really was fun and yes! You’re due for a trip back to Michigan (is that “home?”)
It was so fun meeting you, Jenny! I’m glad we could make it work this year. And yes – we have SO MANY QUESTIONS!
You might have inspired me to look into some of my own tours to do around Tampa! I know of our Cuban influence and cigar factories, but there is so much more I need to learn!
I’m glad my city treated you well. <3
Your city treated me GREAT! And, I’m wondering what there is to see in my own area that I’ve been unaware of. I need to be a tourist in my own city sometime.
Awwww, this is so great!! It really sounds so perfect. I LOVE when there are little windows of time where you feel like you can truly just do whatever you want, like the reading + tea at the hotel. I experienced a glimpse of that when we went to Austin in the spring and my husband had to go to a seminar for a little while… I had nothing I “had” to do, wasn’t at home, so no home responsibilities… I also just sat and relaxed and it was such a treat. 😉 Your son looks like such a happy guy! And I’m glad the band concert went so well for Angie. I am a bit disappointed my son doesn’t want to continue in band. I did orchestra in high school and it was such an enriching experience for me. But, he doesn’t seem nearly as “into it” all as I was into orchestra anyway. So I guess there’s no point in pushing him to continue if he isn’t going to really lean in and enjoy it, anyway! It seems like your daughter really loves it. which is how it should be. Yay for a great trip! I love that you had this great little getaway.
Thank you Kae! Yes, I was reading about how your son isn’t going to continue with band. He’s into so many other things though. Neither one of my kids did any sports, so they definitely had the time to devote to band.
You hit the nail on the head- I LOVE staying in hotels because there’s NO HOUSEWORK. If I’m home, it’s hard to really find time to be lazy because there are always things I should be doing.
And yes- my son is a very happy guy, which makes him really fun to be around.
I love that you had this little getaway as a family and that you all stayed in one room! My family would totally do that (still), but I know many would not. Even though you guys did separate things, it sounds like it was a great time.
Vegan food! Meeting Stephany! Fun adventures and reading and time to yourself while still being with your family (and friends)! All good things. I am so glad this came together for all of you, and hope that you can continue that same time, next year. 🙂