Life of the Traveling Wife

Hey friends! Buckle up, in this week’s blog we are diving straight into our adventures during weeks 4, 5, and 6 of us living in Tampa and exploring a few surrounding cities! We had an absolute blast seeing so many new places and partaking in a few experiences like kayaking on a crystal clear river, salt water fishing, going to a Spring Training game, and more! We even had our very first visitor come stay with us, read along to find out who it was!

Week 4 Adventures

[March 20] We started off this week going to Fort De Soto Beach with our friends Erica and Chris, their whole family, and a few of their friends. This was the first time that we were going to try to fish off the Gulf Pier, but the water was really choppy, so we ended up relaxing on the beach with everyone for a few hours. We had a great time watching the dolphins pop up out of the water too!

[March 21] We went back to Midtown to use our free ice cream vouchers we had gotten from Ben & Jerry’s opening day. We ended up running into one of my friends from high school that I played softball with as well! It has been one of my favorite things getting to see people here in Tampa that I’ve known growing up.

[March 24] Tonight we got to hang out and get dinner at Armature Works with some of our friends from school that just moved to Tampa and will be here for the next 2 months. We couldn’t be more thankful that God has provided us with familiar friends and the most perfect timing to do life with them for the remainder of both of our assignments here in Tampa. It’s just another way that God has shown us that He cares about the things that are on our hearts too- friendships, something both Bobby and I have been craving and have felt the Lord provide through these two.

[March 25] Bobby and I got an early start this Friday morning because we had a 9am kayak reservation at the Kayak Shack in Weeki Wachee, about 1 hour north of Tampa. Renting from the Kayak Shack was a piece of cake and we definitely recommend this experience to anyone! It is located outside of Weeki Wachee State Park, but we were still able to kayak into the State Park grounds further down the river from where we started. This area is known for its crystal clear springs and year round 72-74 degree water temperature. It is also known for getting the chance to see wildlife up close such as manatees, fish, turtles, and occasional water moccasins (which we saw 2 of). We had so much fun kayaking a little more than 6 miles up and down the river and pulling off onto little beaches to take breaks and eat snacks that we packed in our cooler.

[March 26] Our first visitor came into Tampa all the way from Long Island, NY… my mom! We scooped her up from the airport around 9am. Then we stopped at this super cute place to eat breakfast called Marlene’s Original Breakfast Sandwich. It’s an airstream turned into an antique food truck to serve up some savory breakfast options. Afterwards, we came back to our apartment and got ready for our beach day with our friend Erica and her whole family again! This time we all got to take turns fishing off the pier and we watched many dolphins come right up to us as they ate the live bait being cast into the water. Before we left the beach at the end of the day, we took a walk around to show my mom the fort. That night my mom, Bobby, and I ate at Matteo Trattoria and had a delicious meal together. Then we drove around different neighborhoods from Bayshore to Davis Islands to look at all the beautiful estates. We even stopped by Derek Jeter’s recently sold home!

Week 5 Adventures

[March 27] My mom and I went for a run together in the neighborhood near our apartment complex in the morning. Then Bobby, my mom, and I went to our FIRST Spring Training game together at the George M. Steinbrenner Field. It couldn’t have been a more perfect day for us to see the Yankees play the Pirates right here in Tampa! A fun fact about my mom and I if you don’t know this already, since I was young, every year we would vacation by traveling around the country to see the Yankees play against another city’s baseball team. We’ve even gone to Canada to see the Yanks against the Toronto Blue Jays and England to see the Yankees play the Red Sox in the London Stadium. So, getting to cross off another must-do on our list of baseball games to see was exciting! AND… the fact that the Yankees played the Pirates- a team that Bobby grew up with and that he and I used to go see a bunch while we lived in Pittsburgh the last almost 3 years- was the perfect combo! Later that night Bobby had to work, so my mom and I went to Armature Works for dinner. It was our first time going here on a weekend and it was packed, but we found a nice spot outside to eat and take in all the sights.

[March 28] After a fun-filled weekend with my mom, I dropped her off at the airport in the morning. Then Bobby and I spent pieces of the next few days researching, YouTubing (that’s a word right?!), and visiting some stores to acquire what we needed to go fishing on our own.

[March 29] Game Night! We headed over to our friend’s house for coffee and desserts! They taught us how to play a game very similar to Clue called Suspicion. So it was a classic night of who done it?

[April 1] Today Bobby and I went to a town called Dunedin. This town had the cutest main street full of local shops and restaurants. We got lucky when we first arrived because there was a craft and market expo going on in the park right off the main street. After browsing the shops and even supporting a few with our purchases, we ate lunch at Crown & Bull, which if you are ever in the area, we think you should definitely check out! We walked off our lunch by going to the marina located at the end of the main street to look at the water and all the boats docked. Then we made our last stop for a lemonade and a milkshake at Lane’s Lemonade & Dairy Bar, a converted boxcar that actually used to deliver different citrus fruits in the 1800s right here in Florida.

Week 6 Adventures

[April 2] We had such a fun rainy day by bringing over pho dinners from Bamboozle Cafe to our friend’s house, getting to hang out, and introducing them to one of our more recent favorite board games called Imaginarium.

[April 3] Bobby and I went fishing off the pier at Fort De Soto. We caught a ton of different kinds of bait fish, but we didn’t catch any big winners today. One thing we love to watch while we are on the pier are the pelicans as they nose dive from great heights into the gulf to prey on fish. They sound like someone doing a cannonball into a pool and the splash they make resembles that as well.

[April 5] We went back to Fort De Soto to fish again, but this time we went in the late afternoon and stayed through sunset. There were so many people catching fish tonight and flinging them onto the pier. At one point Bobby had a huge fish on his line, but at the last moment that he went to pull it up, the line snapped. The sunset was so pretty, full of vibrant colors and the dolphins popping in and out of the water made it seem like we were in the making of a movie. And you guessed it, we ended the night with ice cream at Twistee Treat.

[April 7] Thursday night we went over to one of Bobby’s coworker’s houses to have dinner and play some games! We were able to meet his coworker’s wife and kids as well as one other coworker that was able to come. Here’s a quick funny story that happened while Bobby and I were coloring with the kids before we had dinner: Bobby was telling his coworker’s wife about this YouTube video we watched about a kid drawing on his face then getting caught by his parents and making up a cute, but silly excuse for doing that. Then a few moments later we looked over at their four year old son who had drawn a smiley face from one cheek to the other in blue Crayola marker. Needless to say we knew he was going to be in trouble, but we all thought it was very funny.

[April 8] This Friday we took a two hour drive south of Tampa to Fort Myers, where we had the chance to spend the whole day with the staff at the headquarters of the House of Ride Nature. Ride Nature is a non-profit mission organization that does outreaches for Christ through action sports such as skateboarding, wakeboarding, and surfing. Bobby has followed this organization since 2012, so getting to go visit them and this area was such a cool moment. We spent a few hours in the morning talking with the staff and learning more about how Ride Nature came to be and then checked out their coffee/apparel shop below their offices. They also have a skatepark out back and plenty of seating to enjoy your coffee or watch people skateboard. They invited us to stay that night because they were having free food, live music, and a skateboard competition for best tricks on their mini ramp and on a few of the features in their skatepark.  We used the time in between chatting with the staff and the start of the festivities to go walk around downtown Fort Myers. We ate lunch on their main street and browsed out a bunch of their shops.

[April 9] We went golfing today at Mangrove Bay Golf Course in St. Pete. It was so much fun being back on a golf course and having the chance to get an early start to the golf season now that we’ve moved south. After golfing, we went into downtown St. Pete to find a coffee shop to warm up (after all, it was a windy and chilly 70 degrees in FL) and try a few dessert sweets.

Let’s Get Connected

As I’ve shared before, SUBSCRIBE down below! It’ll be the best way for me to share with you the details of our journey. AND I would love to hear from you!! Do you know of an area or activity near Tampa (or in Florida) you think we should experience next? Leave a comment down below, and maybe you’ll see us there! Signing out from the Sunshine State. 🌞🌴

Madison Basile

Long Island, NY> Lynchburg, VA> Pittsburgh, PA> Tampa, FL 🏡