Going to Tampa this weekend

[KendallKid]

I am going to Tampa this weekend. This is the last Major Florida metro I have not been too. I am very excited. Upon doing my research for this trip I realized after looking at maps that the metropolitan area of Tampa is more North to South than it is East to West. In fact it doesnt go out that far West at all. Am i wrong? Please correct.

[Brickell]

To the west it goes all the way to gulf. I think you meant to the east, of which there's very little of interest if you're there to visit Tampa. Tampa highlites for me include the downtown trolley in tampa, downtown st pete waterfront parks, clearwater beach and busch gardens. have fun.

[JoseGaspar]

If you're talking about the city proper, you're right. It doesn't extend that far either East or West. However, as Brickell mentioned, the metro area goes all the way to the Gulf (Clearwater, St Pete).

Check out the Channel District for new residential development under way, Ybor City for our only historic district, Bayshore Bld in South Tampa for views of downtown, West Tampa for old cigar factories, and downtown for U of Tampa's Plant Hall. There's not much to see up North except sprawl.

Downtown St Pete is very nice and further along in development than DT Tampa. The Dali Museum is great. There are great beaches all along the gulf, including Ft DeSoto Beach and Clearwater Beach.

Happy to answer any questions you might have.

[bobliocatt]

You should also check out South Howard Avenue (SoHo). There's a nice local restuarant and nightlife district lining the street between kennedy Blvd and Bayshore.

[Eternalrsx]

Stay away from Brandon, too much traffic, nothing to see.. well unless you want to take the Crosstown Expressway into Tampa and see Tampa's Stonehenge aka the Reversible (collapsible) lane project.

[KendallKid]

Thanx! I am going to try to make it to Downtown Tampa Friday around 3 and then hit Ybor city at night. Any club and restaurant info for Ybor city?

[mcruder]

Thanx! I am going to try to make it to Downtown Tampa Friday around 3 and then hit Ybor city at night. Any club and restaurant info for Ybor city?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You can go to the Florida Aquarium at 3PM, then go to the channelside shops and see a movie, after that, take the trolley to Ybor for dinner and some games at Centro Ybor, by this time it will be around 9-11PM. For Ybor entertainment and dining info go to http://www.ybor.org/diningentertainment.asp and here.

[KendallKid]

Ok so im here. I took the crosstown expressway to Ybor city and im a little jelouse. How come they are building a double decker expressway thingy on that expressway when it wasnt nearly as congested at the dolphin or palmetto expressways back home. I mean if they can have that here how come we cant do that at home? Anyone know?

Other than that i have really enjoyed this trip. The downtown area is very pretty and Tampa is far more industrial than i thought. It looks kinda like a sub-tropical Cleveland. I was a little disappointed because I thought Tampa looked like Miami in that I thought Tampa was wall to wall development and density. i was wrong. The people here have been friendly and the city has been easy to Navigate.

[Aessotariq]

The Crosstown has a grassy median to hold the piers. 836 and 826 have concrete jersey barriers for their median, so there isn't enough right-of-way to build them. Plus that type of construction in Miami would be VERY disruptive because of the already intense traffic... (remember the I-95 construction in Dade, Broward, Palm Beach back in the early 90s?)

The bridge is going to have reversible lanes for cars and buses. Movement will be west in the morning and east in the evening.

Enjoy your trip!

[Brickell]

I think I recall reading that another cool thing about the upper deck will be that it will truly be an express route, with very limited access between downtown and out east.

This will free up the regular interstate to more local traffic.

correct me if i'm wrong on that.

[Aessotariq]

no correction needed.. it's a direct, Sunpass-only, three-lane route from Brandon to Tampa.