Vacation with baby in Tampa

Vacation with baby in Tampa: On the road again

Vacation with baby in Tampa meant that we had to say good bye to Miami and to the lovely time that we had there. When we planned the trip for the first time Tampa was not in it.

But after we studied the distances between the cities we realized that it might make sense to add another stop. We didn’t want to spend more than 5 h in the car with the baby. Spending time in the car is hard on the adults and even more so on the small kids. Besides the idea was that all of us should have a good time. 🙂

A car, a baby and a long road

Initially we had planned to stop in Everglades. But the weather was not very nice and since we spent the previous day in Little Havana we didn’t have the necessary time for a proper sightseeing. We had a look at the map and we saw that we needed to make more than 400 km (270 miles) till Tampa. But in order to see at least something from the park we took the road that was passing through Everglades National Park. That was a good thing because we could see the vegetation and a few birds. And FK was happy for the distraction as well because the road is an uneventful straight line. In a free translation that means boring ( combined with the fact that the max. speed is 70 ml/h) :).

Little F was fine for a while in the car and he even slept. But there were other times when he was unhappy of being in the car seat. We did make stops at least every two hours and to eat but towards the end he didn’t like it anymore. Of course we had to entertain him with toys and mostly with songs. One of his favorites is “Fluturas nu mai ai aripioare”.

Vacation with baby in Tampa: Arriving to destination

First thing that we noticed when getting into Tampa was the bridge Southeast Tampa over McKay Bay! I think is safe to say that it is one of the most impressive bridges! In my book anyway ! 🙂 It is very long and the view is absolutely amazing. We had to stop and take some photos! It was late afternoon and the sun was still glowing. The wind was also very strong. And it brought with it the smell of sea.

If you travel to Tampa please be aware of the traffic! Upon entering in the city the bridge was packed. I guess people were returning from work. Fortunately we were not stuck in traffic. The cars were moving even if very slowly .

Accommodation in Tampa

If in Miami we used Airbnb in Tampa we stayed at Double Tree by Hilton. What we like about the hotel is the fact that there are plenty of parking places and even an extra door to the parking lot. We reached our car very quickly. It was also very convenient when loading and unloading the car.

The room was on ground floor too and we could easily see the car from the window. The room was fine, and if you are HH member you can get some extra benefits like half the price for breakfast or free internet. We usually booked accommodation wit free wifi . What we didn’t like was the main door. We could hear noises from the hall. The hotel is very close to a shopping mall. We read that mall is very big but we didn’t have time to check it out. I guess the majority of the guests who stay there chose the hotel because it is close to airport. I did not see kids around.

They served a breakfast buffet and there were quite a few choices. Funny thing in USA is that even if your breakfast is free you might be reminded to tip. Actually our server brought us some kind of bill. And did not forget to mention that the tip is not included. For a buffet I am not sure how much is the “correct” tip. Although I read that you should pay one -two dollars. It seemed to us that Floridians take tipping very seriously. ?

Vacation with baby in Tampa –Bayshore Boulevard

There are many things to see in Tampa including an amusement park. But just like with Orlando we were not interested. Vacation with baby in Tampa meant that we had to find things to do accessible with a stroller too. We decided to check Bayshore Boulevard. The area is famous among the jogger community. Is a long strep of 4.5 miles by the water where you can walk, jog or just admire the view. And the view is absolutely breathtaking!

You have the crystal water on one side and beautiful south-style houses on the other side. The road doesn’t diminish the beauty of the place. We checked the Internet for tips of where to park the car and we ended up parking on one of the side streets. There are signs warning drivers of a parking ban usually on one of the sides of each street. You can freely park on the other side.

Or so the people said and we didn’t have any problems. The neighborhood is really nice and the view is quite something. We saw some houses with the sign for sale. But since they were not on our price range we decided to skip viewing them. ? We took the stroller and we went for a walk all three of us. The temperature was pleasant with a bit of breeze. Of course we couldn’t miss taking photos as well. ☺️

We also wanted to check a bit downtown but after cruising with the car a bit we decided against it.

Vacation with baby in Tampa: Shopping

Vacation with baby in Tampa meant also shopping. When we were having lunch ( did I mention that I loved Popeye?), we noticed that in the same area there was a “Ross dress for less ” shop. I do not remember if I went shopping there before. But this time around I was committed to give it a try. ? And I was not disappointed! The shop has such cool clothes and the prices are very low.

We picked clothes and shoes for all of us. And when we were getting to the fun part of trying them on, the light went off in the shop. ? The shop assistants asked us if we wanted them to reserve the stuff and we said yes. They were to call us when the electricity was back. So off we went and we were quite sorry that we found and lost such cool things. We were planning to check another shop when we got a call that they were back in business! ?

Honestly we did not expect this! And I for one was never in a similar situation where I lived. And no shop assistant ever called to inform me of the changes . But it might be also because I was never in that position before. So we went back since we were not very far away and we continue shopping and trying new stuff. We love this shop! ? We ended up buying quite a lot that led to buying an extra suitcase later on. ?

Paying with card in Tampa

We had with us debit cards (Visa and MasterCard) but also Diners credit card. We are not sure why but the Diners card was not accepted so we ended up paying with the debit card. We read in advance a bit on the topic so just to be covered we had different alternatives. For example we read that they usually take credit cards at a car rental.

Also when paying they usually asked us what currency we want to apply. This was another sign that we were foreigners and we were asked if we are from Europe. 🙂 And I am quite sure that they didn’t have a Romanian-Czech couple in the shop in a while if ever. 🙂

Vacation with baby in Tampa- Take out vs order in

After such a long day we didn’t feel like going out and we were thinking to order. In the two days that we spend in the hotel we found flyers under the door. Mostly were for pizza. When we wanted to order we double checked the delivery time and we found out that for the particular one we had to wait more than 90 min. Because the restaurant was very far away. Then why advertise it in the hotel? Why don’t advertise it in places closer to the location? That is for me bad marketing!

I used to work in a pizza place and from experience most people do not wait for a delivery more than 60 min. When you are hungry you want to eat. Of course you could be a planner and order it in advance. But I am not like that, unless I plan a business lunch! 🙂

On the road and hungry

We checked the Internet, and we found out places around the hotel and then we placed the order. The waiting time significantly improved. We double checked the time just to be sure. In other towns we just picked something on the way because it was even faster. When you have a baby you need to consider his routine and bed time. So I was staying in the room with F while my husband was going to pick up food. We had a long way ahead of us and we wanted to rest and watch some TV if possible.

We like to watch the local channels and TV shows. And get a feeling of what locals see on TV. The local news are very interesting too. And the commercials are absolutely great! I think Americans really know how to use the few seconds available to send a message! And if is a football game than the commercials costs a lot of money and are absolutely amazing! Everybody talks about them!

The second day after the breakfast we were ready to continue our road trip and we were heading towards Tallahassee. Vacation is such a happy time. A lot of usual worries are not applicable! 🙂 And with a new place to discover we were in a great mood!