Tampa, Florida

We live in the Southern United States.  The Northern bit of Florida, to be a bit more precise.  About a month ago, my husband, Aaron, had to make a business trip down to Tampa, Florida.  Since it isn't too bad of a drive from where we live, we were lucky enough to be able to go down with him.  We made this trip when I had no thought of starting this blog, so any future trips I will make sure to take pictures of things like the front of the hotel, food at the restaurant, stuff of that nature.  :)

I had never been down there, and Aaron had only been on a quick trip for business once before, so we did a  bit of research before booking a hotel.  We decided on the Don Vicente de Ybor Historic Inn.  It was close to where Aaron had to go for work as well as the aquarium which was the most important thing we wanted to see as a family.  Walking up, the entrance way was nice, with wrought-iron tables and chairs and potted plants.

The charm and beauty comes when you walk in, however!

It is a small inn with only 16 guest rooms and a great event space.  They are known for wedding receptions and we even saw a bridal party there during our visit. The staff is very nice and helped us right away when we discovered our air conditioner wasn't working properly.  There was only one staff member who was a bit stand offish, but the others made up for it.  One person wasn't quite as helpful as the others, but I believe he hadn't been working there for long yet, so he was probably still learning all the ins and outs. 

Generally we try to get a room with two beds, since there are three of us, but apparently the inn only had a room with one king-sized bed available.  Luckily my daughter is small, so we all fit just fine.

What I loved about the room was the small balcony.  Each room has one and I spent most of our hotel time just enjoying the sunshine.

 

For some reason we did get a kick out of the fact that we were right in front of a Scientology building.

The inn, like many others, has a free continental breakfast.  I made sure to enjoy my coffee each morning on their front porch.

The Don Vicente is within walking distance to historic Centro Ybor and we made a point of visiting shortly after arriving to get some dinner.

We decided on Hamburger Mary's.  The food is incredible.  We enjoyed every last bit.  I got the "Queen Mary": melted cheddar and jack cheeses with grilled onions, bacon, sauce, lettuce, tomato, and pickles.  I went the veggie route, though, and went sans bacon and substituted the meat for a portabello mushroom cap that they marinate in a homemade raspberry vinaigrette.  Delicious!  I wish I would have taken more pictures of it all, but I will do so next time now that I have this blog.  ;)  I did get a couple pictures of the "make your own s'mores" dessert.  This was way too much fun.  lol

Hamburger Mary's does have drag shows, karaoke, and the like in the evenings, but not in the afternoon/early evening like when we went.

Tampa had officially won me over.  :)