Tampa!

We got to Tampa yesterday around 1 in preparation for our Carnival Cruise that leaves tomorrow (the Legend). The weather up north was not cooperating and we sat on the runway for 2 hours waiting for them to "unfreeze" the engines and de-ice the plane. Trey was very good, reading the emergency instructions to Brad as only an almost 3 year old could, by describing the activity in the pictures. While listening to him talk about going down the slide and wearing cups on your faces, I realized I was not doing so good. Friday night I had a birthday gathering for myself, sushi and karaoke. I promised myself (and the hubs) I was going to monitor my drinking but all my generous friends supplied me with shots and drinks all night, which of course I graciously accepted. LOL! Still being drunk at 6:30 am was more than I could handle. Brad had to take care of T and load the car. The worse thing about waking up drunk? Being completely aware when the mother of all hangovers starts to kick in and then being stuck on a tiny tube for 4 hours. Ugh.

When we got to Tampa, my mom and my aunt picked us up at the airport. T was exhausted and passed out in the car. I wanted to do that too, but I was concentrating on not throwing up. Because of our late arrival, we skipped our planned lunch and they dropped Brad and I off at the hotel (Hyatt Regency Tampa). We were officially on vacation! We checked in (by the way, I got this hotel off of priceline.com for just 50 dollars, if you have never bid for travel, you should try it for your next trip!) and took a short walk to find CVS to get some things I forgot to pack. It was about 60 degrees and very windy which felt refreshing compared to the 20s and blizzard-ing going on in Ohio but was still chilly for Florida. We stopped at the concierge to ask about transportation to the restaurant we had reservations at that night (The Columbia) and he told us Ybor was having their version of Mardi Gras that night, the Sant'Yago Knight Illuminated Parade.

We took a cab to the Columbia for just 10 dollars and the food was really good. It is huge and is very well maintained for a historical building (est. in 1905). Brad had La Completa Cubana (A Cuban feast of Roast Pork, Boliche, Empanada de Picadillo, platanos, yuca, black beans and yellow rice) and a glass of sangria. I had Mar y Tierra (A char-grilled churrasco tenderloin of beef served with chimichuri sauce and three Panamanian prawns grilled and dressed with “1905” sauce. Served with “Good Rice” and vegetables) and ice tea, of course. (Even Sunday morning as I am writing this I STILL don't think I could drink.)







After dinner we hit the streets to check out the parade. Lots of people were dressed as pirates! It was very cool and was definitely a fun thing to stumble into. We stopped in a Cuban coffee/cigar store for some Cafe con Leche (a favorite of mine from Key West days) and left reeking of smoke. Thank God for Febreze and Ohio's anti-smoking laws! As what seemed like Ybor City's sober-ist guests, we managed to find a cab back to the hotel and actually crashed out at 10:30. Here is a short video of the parade.









This morning I am hoping to get some breakfast, iron some things, and head over to the ship around noon. Bon Voyage!