Taking off Travel blog

Some like it hot - and that’s certainly the case in Tampa. This major city on the west coast of Florida is warm all year round, with only an outside chance of snow during the winter months. That means you can spend a lot of time at the beach. The Tampa Bay area is known for lightning strikes and one of the stories about how it got its name is that Tampa meant ’sticks of fire’ in Calusa. With parks, beaches, attractions and theme parks, Tampa has a lot to offer anyone on a layover or vacation. Tampa Airport (TPA) is only a few miles from downtown Tampa so there’s plenty of time to take in the sights and sounds of the city.

A Trip To Africa

One of Tampa’s best attractions is Busch Gardens Africa. Started in 1969 as a hospitality center for visitors to the Anheuser-Busch brewery, the park covers more than 300 acres. There’s no manufacturing on site now. Instead, you can enjoy thrills and rides inside an African themed park where the animals roam free. The Gwazi double wooden roller coaster is an unmissable experience, as are the Tidal Wave Rapids. (Maybe not the best thing if you’re killing time before a meeting, as you’ll end up soaking wet.) One of the latest additions to Busch Gardens is Jungala, a hidden village in the Congo area where you can get close to the animals.

The Latin Quarter

For something completely different, pay a trip to Ybor City. Created when cigar makers were forced to relocate to Tampa after a terrible fire in Key West, this is the city’s Latin Quarter and was once known as the world’s cigar capital. The area is now a National Historic Landmark. You can step back in time and walk along cobblestoned streets and see some beautiful, historic buildings with ornate decoration. Fresh coffee, great food and jugs of sangria all add to the Ybor City experience. And if you’re on an overnight layover, there are pubs, bars and clubs with a variety of music to listen and dance to. Ybor City provides one of the best nights out in Florida, so don’t miss it.

The Gilded Age

If you want to experience Florida at the turn of the century - the 20th century, that is - then visit the Henry B Plant Museum in the Tampa Bay Hotel. Constructed by Henry Plant at a cost of millions, the hotel contained all the latest innovations of the time: electricity, telephones in all the rooms, a range of entertainment areas for guests and more. It had a golf course and swimming pool long before these things became common. Now a national historic landmark, the museum preserves this legacy for you to explore.

To Be A Pirate

This is not an attraction but an event, and if you happen to be in Tampa in on the last Saturday in January you won’t want to miss it. The Gasparilla Pirate Festival has been held annually since 1904. It starts when a full scale replica pirate ship sails into Tampa Bay and takes over the city for the weekend. It commemorates Jose Gaspar, a Spanish pirate who terrorised the Florida coast in the 19th century before perishing at the hands of a US Navy ship.

There are so many things to see and do near Tampa Airport that I’ve only scratched the surface. If you have any favorite Tampa sights to add, please add them in the comments box.

(Photo: orion)

Tags: florida, layover, tampa

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 23rd, 2008 at 4:03 am and is filed under Attractions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.