Tampa Bay Top 100 Bucket List (design, ferry, automobile)

[theurbanfiles]

So there haven’t been any new postings for a while in this link and I feel badly about that. I’d like to take time and add more, but honestly I’ve just been incredibly busy with travel and my thesis. To make it easier on everyone as far as adding things, maybe picking a specific area to focus on? Some ideas I had are:
-New Attractions (opening this year or within past year)
-Food (can divide into subcategories like breweries/nightlife spots/markets/sit down/etc)
-Annual Events, and/or Concert/Theatre Venues that stand out
-Quirky Local Attractions
-Other Culture/Museum/General Entertainment type Attractions (Family or Otherwise)
-Park Spaces, Trails, Outdoor/Adrenaline Activities, Beaches/Snorkeling Spots
-Historic Attractions/Neighborhoods/Architecture (can be modern, too)
-Day/Weekend Trips that haven’t been mentioned
-Anything else that somehow doesn’t fall into one of these categories.

Always open for more ideas and suggestions! Like, in the immediate sense, any really good (or even existing) hot pot or dim sum places in the area? I know I’ve already listed a lot of stuff, but the ones on my original list I haven’t yet done are either annual type events or 90 minutes plus.

[theurbanfiles]

I'm thinking at some point, I will post a more updated list to this thread. Reason being? New attractions have been added, and I have explored some new ones too. A pastime that is actually pretty nice is visiting county seats (they generally have a nice, main downtown around them, and there are many of them, and many are quite historic, but also very laid back. I went to Brooksville in December. Very nice town and time.

I also came up with a list ranking some of the best architecture in the Tampa Bay area (in terms of how iconic, important, impressive, etc.). Here is what I came up with, though I know this isn't an exact science.

25. Avalon Hotel-Saint Petersburg (Art Deco)
24. Church by the Sea-Madeira Beach (Chicken Church-Unique)
23. Sulphur Springs Water Tower-Tampa (Service)
22. Oxford Exchange-Tampa (Shop/Restaurant Space)
21. Yuengling Center-Tampa (Sporting Venue)
20. John Nolen Plan of Venice (Planned City)
19. Battery Laidley/Fort De Soto-Tierra Verde (Military)
18. Hillsborough High School-Tampa (Gothic Revival)
17. Egmont Key Lighthouse-Tampa Bay (Oldest Modern Structure/Lighthouse)
16. Roser Park Historic District-Saint Petersburg (Residential Neighborhood)
15. Floridan Palace Hotel-Tampa (Hotel Floridan) (Business Hotel/Beaux Arts?)
14. IST Building-Florida Poly-Lakeland (Santiago Calatrava)
13. First Block-Saint Petersburg (Queen Anne/City Center)
12. Tampa Theatre-Tampa (Mediterranean Revival)
11. Vinoy Park/Saint Petersburg Waterfront (Landscape Architecture)
10. Ringling Estate-Sarasota (Ca' d'Zan) (Private Estate/Venetian Gothic)
9. Saint Petersburg Post Office (Renaissance Revival/Neoclassicism)
8. Florida Southern College-Lakeland (Frank Lloyd Wright/Modern)
7. Rivergate Tower-Tampa (Skyscraper/Postmodern)
6. The Don CeSar-Saint Pete Beach (Mediterranean Revival/Resort)
5. Portavant Mound-Palmetto (Tocobaga sites in general) (Native Mound/Ancient)
4. Ybor City Historic District-Tampa (Varied/Spanish Colonial/Industrial/Streetscape)
3. Salvador Dali Museum-Saint Petersburg (Modern/Surrealism Inspired)
2. Sunshine Skyway Bridge-Tampa Bay (Modern/Transportation)
1. Tampa Bay Hotel-Tampa (Moorish Revival)

Honorable Mentions (personal/otherwise):
-Renaissance Vinoy-Saint Petersburg
-Sacred Heart Catholic Church-Tampa
-Manatee Elementary School-Bradenton
-Big Bend Power Station-Apollo Beach
-Gamble Plantation-Ellenton
-The Shops at Wiregrass
-Wat Mongkolratanaram Temple-Tampa
-SS American Victory-Tampa
-Civic Architecture of Sarasota (Federal Building, Municipal Auditorium, County Courthouse, Selby Library)

I'm sure this list is far from complete, but it's a start I suppose!

[rHop]

My wife and I did the Tampa Riverwalk Wine & Dine tour in January, very much worth it! We had a guided tour of some of the most interesting buildings in the Riverwalk/Downtown area with a knowledgeable tour guide. We had good food and drinks and even made new friends in the group. Great way to spend an evening and we highly recommend it.

https://www.tampabayfoodtours.com/ri...ine-wine-tour/

[engineman]

#60 on the OP list is closed if it is the one around Pinellas Park.

In Arcadia, you can rent a canoe and go down the Peace river. They pick you up and bring you back to the start.

The Rainbow river is great for tubing.

Honeymoon Island SP. Swim at the beach, hike the trail.

Back in the 70s, we bought our first sailboat. We launched it at Philipe Park and sailed in the bay. Some Porpoises swam along with us, really cool.

[Tata notita]

Great job! Thank you I will
And keep this for my retirement move.

[Izoggozi]

I am brand new and a 2020 snowbird. Thank you so much for the list! It will give us some great places to explore.

[MortonR]

I won't quote your post as there's no reason to acknowledge it, however, it does make me wonder - since you're so enamored of the place, when are you leaving?

RM with too many bucket list items to list

[theurbanfiles]

Originally Posted by MortonR

I won't quote your post as there's no reason to acknowledge it, however, it does make me wonder - since you're so enamored of the place, when are you leaving?

RM with too many bucket list items to list

I tend to agree--and I'm nothing if not nuanced, but as someone who would never say anything like that, that post just reeks of resentment and racism, and honestly I just feel bad for whatever could cause a person to think and feel in such a way, short of just being a random troll job for the sake of trolling, which is kind of silly also.

I may do an update to this list post all the new things coming in that I listed in the urban enthusiast thread-just would like it to be as balanced as possible and include elements from all of the 8 county region.

Here's a couple from an outdoors/hiking perspective:

https://photos.cltampa.com/20-beauti...nd-google-maps

https://photos.cltampa.com/24-beauti...e=1&sasas-copy

I mentor for BBBS, which other than being rewarding and impactful, gives me some opportunity/excuse to do things I otherwise wouldn't do. Among them-I would like to do some plane spotting at some point-can't go wrong with that from a kid perspective, and there are a few airports to do so at-I'll probably log that at some point in my airport thread.

[theurbanfiles]

Spent last evening in Dunedin since my cousin happens to be on the north side of the area-it was really my first time spending any significant time there.

It really is excellent and lives up to hype. Honestly, it has a feel that my friend described as almost like being in the Keys, to me it felt like a forward thinking college town in terms of the level of bike and pedestrian infrastructure present-almost like a miniature Boulder, CO in Florida. I definitely will be revisiting there at some point.

The other nice point is that ballpark there-what it has that I think really none of the other Grapefruit League parks too-is the ability to park downtown, and hang out downtown before or after the games, on foot. I could be corrected if otherwise, but in thinking about the other Grapefruit League/Florida State Leavue parks, it's really the one that's most "live" in terms of being able to do that. I guess Jupiter, but that's more like a suburban "town center" type complex than actual downtown. Bradenton sorta works for that too with VOTA next to Marauders/Pirates, but also to a lesser extent.

[theurbanfiles]

I tend to rank parks according to a number of criteria-at least Florida ones with beaches not included.

-How are the facilities for visitors (picnic tables, informational displays, activities, etc.)
-Is the trail forested (FL is hot, so that's a reasonable question)
-What is the scenery like (are there variations in elevation, geologic features, a river or views, etc.)
-What is the trail like (I'm not particularly partial to any one surface.. but I'll be honest-I don't like swampy or bush hacking)
-Which activities can be pursued at the park (hiking, biking, kayaking, fishing, etc.)

I think for me, even though it's not all that close to me, Alderman's Ford is the best combination of everything-it's $2, but a great experience, I would say tops in the area. But, I have a few others that I would classify according to different criteria. Remember, this is just among the ones I have experienced so far. Also, I am living in the South Bay... so I have limited experience with North Hillsborough Parks, or even a number of Northern Pinellas ones.
1. Best overall hike (per my tastes): Alderman's Ford Park
2. Best urban hike/public space: Vinoy Park/Straub Park (Riverwalk in Tampa is good though too as is Lake Mirror)
3. Best bike ride: Courtney Campbell Causeway
4. Best trail town (bike or hike): Dunedin
5. Best wildlife viewing: Circle B Bar Reserve
6. Best backpacking/primitive loop (so far): Little Manatee River (North Loop)
7. Best visitor center/informational complex: Didn't see inside, but (1) Weedon Island (2) DeSoto National Memorial
8. Best tropical/"Amazonian" (?) feel: Emerson Pointe Preserve
9. Best festival park/"People's Park": Al Lopez Park
10. Best run: (1) Lake Hollingsworth (2) Ringling Causeway (3) Pinellas Trail-Skyway Extension