After we got to Tampa, we walked around the hotel – to see if there was anything or anyplace to eat – besides the Ruth's Chris steakhouse that was beside the hotel. And the Penthouse Gentleman's Club (where the magazine comes to life) that was across the street. Well, not much in the way of options. There is some weird zoning going on in Tampa – maybe NO zoning! We rode the shuttle to the International Plaza (a very nice mall, with everything from Tiffany's to Hot Topic). The driver was very nice and told us to give him a call and he'd pick us up from the mall. We went to the sort of outdoor courtyard, where there were lots of nicer restaurants. We chose the Italian place, which subsequently had a medical emergency happening too. We sat outside – it was such a nice nice, under the stars and the Christmas lights. A nice cool beachy breeze. We got to do a lot of people watching – and we got to see the chef wheeled out on the gurney. Did he cut his finger off? He was looking sweaty and very pale. Glad we hadn't ordered yet.
We had to wait forever for the shuttle to come back – for about a hour and a half. I'm glad that I had gone back up to the room to get my jacket before we left. The first half hour, it was fun watching the planes take off – and the fancy cars come through the valet. But then I got really tired of standing, so I sat on the ground and got very irritated.
Sunday - To the game:
We got there right before they opened the gates, and while standing in line to get in – we realized that we should have worn shorts. It was SO hot! I rolled up my jeans to make them capri pants. It was so hot, I didn't care what they looked like!
The stadium was filled! We were directly in the sun – and it was so hot. I could feel my arm getting sunburned. Daniel didn't have his sunglasses, so on my bathroom break, I bought him a visor. Well, really for me, the Bucs fan. The first half was amazing. I said “I want to take a picture of a touchdown” - and they scored! And the cannons went off several times!
The second half was a disaster. They lost – BAD. We left at the 2 minute warning - after most of the crowd had already piled out of the stadium. We walked forever – almost all the way around the stadium – looking for the taxi station. There were misleading directions, and we had to finally ask a cop. It was behind a grassy parking lot. There was no way we were going to find it. And when we got there, there were about 40 people already waiting. And NO CABS. Guess we left too late. But there was no way we were going to get a cab, so we walked. That's when it all went wrong. We got to the turn that we should have taken, but there was no sidewalk. So we decided to try going down to the next block. But that didn't work. We ended up in a kind of bad part of town. With no direction – or idea of what road we should take. We had walked so long, so far. I was in pain. My feet hurt, I was a little scared, very sweaty and my arm was sunburned. We saw a Home Depot – so we went to that parking lot and called it quits on the walking. We called a cab. So we waited, outside the Home Depot – and the cab came so fast. I have never been so glad to see a taxi! It was the best $8.75 ride ever! We gave him a $20! It was totally worth every penny! I was so glad to be at the hotel. We had room service for dinner, no walking. And I finished my book while more football was on TV.
We flew out on Monday. When we got back, it was FREEZING just like I had expected. Going from 82 degrees to 40 degrees!
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