Tampa Trip — Patti Part Two

Bratefest 2018 in Tampa Florida...... how could I not attend? As many of you know my nephew plays for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, so it was a great reason to all head there for a long weekend and attend the game. And since many of us live in colder climates we didn’t need much of an excuse to head to where it’s warm. Plus I’m blessed to have a family that is always fun to be with. A little crazy but a lot of fun.

The main event was of course the game on Sunday. Tampa Bay versus the Charlotte Panthers. The stadium in Tampa is very cool. Since the weather is usually great there’s lots of fun things outside the stadium pregame. This year they added a fun beach with music and comfy chairs. We were excited to once again get pregame passes to go out on the field and watch the players warming up. Thanks Cam!

Jack always seems to track down cheerleaders for a great fun photo. Lots of Brate 84 jerseys all autographed of course.

It’s fun to stand outside the tunnel and see the players coming in and out.

We had great seats for the game and they won! Cam had 3 catches and no injuries so of course we were happy about that.

We ate at a couple of good restaurants but I did a bad job of photographing the events. My brother Phil and sister-in-law Pat are down in Tampa for all the games so they made reservations at a couple of their favorite spots. First night was at Besito Mexican Restaurant. Everyone loved it. Great atmosphere and upscale mexican in a nice area.

Second night when we had dinner after the game with Cam we went to Bella’s Italian Cafe and again everyone loved it. Great job Phil and Pat! Thanks for organizing for the group.

Most of us stayed over for Monday and had planned to head to St Petersburg which is only about 30 minutes away. I had heard the Salvadore Dali Museum located there was excellent, so was able to convince (or coerce) the rest of the group to join me in a visit there. There was a little apprehension but after all was said and done everyone agreed that it was well worth the stop. We all learned a lot about the artist and have a new appreciation for his talent. He was actually ahead of his time and kind of a genius. There was also a very cool virtual reality exhibit that everyone did and really enjoyed.

Now for some time at the beach! First some food. We headed to a place right on the water where we were able to sit up on the deck overlooking the water outside and have some great grouper taco’s, shrimp skewers and various other delicious options along with some beers and special rum punch.

We kept calling it Crabby Phil’s but Phil insisted he’s never crabby.

Let’s watch the sunset on the beach and dig our toes in the sand! Yes!

My brothers and I - my mom used to say the rose between the thorns - but they are actually not thorny at all! And the fun ladies in the family - the sisters I never had.

A fast but very fun trip to Tampa/St Pete. I would love to go again and spend more time. Florida in the cold weather is never a bad idea.

One more big trip to finish out my year. Check back soon and wishing you all the best holiday ever!