Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Sunday, February 25, 2018

Why go to Tampa? There are Lots of Reasons Including Busch Gardens!



When you head to Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida it makes for a nice day mixed between seeing animals and riding thrill rides. There is also a nice area for the younger kids to play, making this an amusement park for truly every age to enjoy.

Sunday, February 18, 2018

Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa: 1300 Species on 60 Acres of Natural Habitat


Lowry Park Zoo saw us through our third day in the lovely city of Tampa Bay, Florida. We spent a few hours in the a.m., exploring all it had to offer. If our visit had been longer, I wouldn't have complained one bit. There are a lot of attractions here, that are/would be so wonderful to actually spend some time and see. I'm not a spend-2-seconds-taking--picture and then moving on kind of person. I'd actually like to sit or stand and observe each of the animals that interests me for a bit. We didn't have much time for me to do that on this day, but I was still very glad we got to go. This was one of the attractions on our Tampa CityPASS, a book of free entry coupons that saves you a bundle when you are visiting the Tampa area (more to come on that later), and there's definitely a lot of value in visiting.

We Took a Wild Dolphin Cruise in Tampa Bay!


On our recent visit to the Florida Aquarium in Tampa Bay, Florida, we opted to take the Wild Dolphin Cruise. While some of us had seen dolphins in their natural water homes, I never had. It was not guaranteed that we would come across them, but it was common to see them along this route, so away we went, with our fingers crossed and a flutter of hope in our heart.

Saturday, February 17, 2018

The Florida Aquarium Makes for an Awesome Day Trip!


The Florida Aquarium in Tampa, FL (buy tickets in person, online or get one with a CityPASS Tampa) was my daughter's idea. We were in town so she could see a concert, but weeks before she'd expressed her interest in visiting an aquarium. I'm always down for an aquatic experience, so after a little research this gem of a spot was found. This was unlike any aquarium I'd been in before. You could definitely see that care was taken to ensure the inhabitants had as natural of a place to live as possible, and they looked happy, all of them...but especially the otters who swam and dove, and played like crazy!! So cool to watch (no pictures though, they were behind glass and very fast). Everyone standing there stayed a good long while. It was truly mesmerizing to watch them having so much fun. I only left when my girl started grouching at me, 'Mom come ooooon!' to leave. Good thing she did...or I might still be there. ;)

Thursday, February 15, 2018

What is a Boutique Hotel? We Stayed at The West Wing in Tampa to Find Out!

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. All opinions stated are genuine and my own.



I have heard the term 'boutique hotel' before, but had no idea what that meant. Ever the curious traveler, we booked The West Wing Boutique Hotel in Tampa, FL. to see what exactly how the word 'boutique' would add to our experience. Spoiler Alert: Our stay was fabulous!