Life of the Traveling Wife

Hey, friends! In this blog post, you will get to read about a whole lot of time spent with family and friends that came to visit us in Tampa! We went to a concert with our cousins, toured around Tampa with Bobby’s parents and my mom, and even got to spontaneously catch up with friends and former coworkers of mine from Pittsburgh who were in town for their Easter break as well! We have passed the midway mark of us living in Tampa and are still aspiring to leave no stone unturned before we have to say our goodbyes to this beautiful city!

Week 7 Adventures

[April 10] Bobby and I went to church in the morning at Radiant Church. After we got home from church we received a text from my friend Erica that said she and her family were going to the beach to go fishing and wanted to see if we were around to join them. So, we packed up our fishing gear and headed out to meet them at Fort De Soto to go fishing with them for a few hours.

[April 12] Shortly after we moved to Tampa, my cousins Roy and Anissa reached out to me about them having two extra tickets to see Chris Tomlin’s tour with Hillsong United and that they wanted to take us if we were interested. Our answer was, absolutely! So, we made plans to have dinner with them at the Sparkman Wharf before the concert because it’s a short walking distance to Amalie Arena, where the concert was being held. The Sparkman Wharf is one of the last stops along the Tampa Riverwalk, or beginning depending on which way you start. It’s an awesome outdoor dining experience full of different food vendors and available seating that you get to choose. After dinner, we walked over to the concert which was amazing and so much fun! We had the best seats and sang our hearts out! It was such a nice night getting to reconnect, since it was our first time getting to see them since our wedding in May 2019!
Bobby’s parents also flew into town late at night while we were still at the concert. So while we were unable to pick them up from the airport, we did meet them over at Bahama Breeze near their hotel after the concert to say hello and welcome them to Tampa!

[April 13] We scooped Bobby’s parents up from their hotel and went to check out Hyde Park Village. This was a super cute, modern, and picturesque area that had many restaurants and high-end shops along several streets. We checked out the main area and then made our way over to show them the Tampa Riverwalk. We started at the beginning near Armature Works and walked a mile down to the W Kennedy Bridge. Here we pivoted to head back toward Armature Works to grab some lunch! On our way we even saw an alligator, this was Bobby and my first since being down here in Tampa! “Nature!” Then, Bobby worked the night shift, so his parents and I played some games near our apartment’s pool area at night.

[April 14] I chilled out by the pool during the morning until I got to pick my mom up from the airport in the afternoon! This was our first time getting to have both of our parents together as a little family vacation for more than just a day or two. I was really looking forward to being able to do a lot of things all together here in Tampa! After everyone was ready we went over to Midtown to get lunch because we were starved. This also allowed us to show our parents the area that Bobby and I lived in for the first two weeks in Tampa. Then, we all went over to my cousin, Roy & Anissa’s, shop called Suncoast Vintage Duo located in a combined vendor building called Oh Whatever in South Tampa. If you are ever in the area, you need to check them out and be sure to ask which rooms are theirs! They do an awesome job of repurposing and bringing to life furniture, light fixtures, décor and more! If you’re looking for something or even if you’re not, they’ve got what you need. You can check them out on Facebook and Instagram as well! Just a few hours later we all met back up with them downtown at the American Social Bar overlooking the water and the buildings of Tampa. After dinner we took a short walk to get gelato at a place that Roy recommended!

[April 15] BEACH DAY!! The best part about being here in Florida is soaking up the sun! Bobby and I along with our parents made our way to Clearwater Beach! This was Bobby, my mom, and my first time to Clearwater. We had sort of been avoiding it knowing that it was a super touristy area, but now that spring breakers were on the decline, we thought it would be a nice time to try out a place we hadn’t been to before! The sand was definitely the best part about the beach- super smooth, powdery, and hardly any shells to step on. The water was the perfect temperature as well! My mom had gotten us all a cabana to use for the day which came with two lounge chairs and allowed us to keep our coolers in the shade. Towards the end of our time spent at the beach in Clearwater, Bobby and I checked out the Sugar Sand Festival that was going on near Pier 60. Below are some of the pictures from that! Later after we all went home and freshened up, we reconvened for dinner at Whisky Joe’s right near the hotel that Bobby’s parents were staying at.

[April 16] We all went to check out Sunken Gardens in St. Pete. This botanical garden has over 50,000 tropical plants and flowers, and my favorite part… flamingos! Afterwards, we took a peek into a thrift store, walked around the streets of downtown St. Pete, and through South Straub Park just along the water. Then we all split up and reconvened at our apartment to hang out by the pool until the sunset. Then we played some games in our apartment for our last night all together.

Week 8 Adventures

[April 17] We were able to take our parents to Radiant Church, where we’ve been attending since being in Tampa, for its Easter morning service. Afterwards, we went back to Hyde Park Village to have lunch at Forbici Modern Italian restaurant. We got the last open seats outside with no wait, which was awesome because we tried calling a few restaurants beforehand with over an hour wait time. Afterwards, we said our goodbyes and Bobby drove his parents to the airport to catch their flight. My mom and I stayed to walk around Hyde Park Village so that she could see all the different shops Bobby and I went into with his parents earlier in the week. Then my mom and I went back to our apartment to meet back up with Bobby and lounge by the pool. Then we all made the easy decision on what was for dinner that night… ice cream!! I remembered this place I saw on Yelp called Dairy Joy. It’s an old fashioned family owned ice cream shop complete with a 1950s Chevy golf cart photo op area, Elvis to greet you, and 50s music playing over the speakers. After eating more ice cream than we should have, the three of us came back to our apartment to play a few more games together.

[April 18] My mom had an early flight this morning so we dropped her off at the airport and had to say our goodbyes. Then a little while later, Bobby and I took a drive out to Brandon, FL. We spent most of the day walking around their mall because we read about it being one of the nicer malls to go to outside of the ones in Tampa.

[April 19] Bobby and I checked out Picnic Island Park to watch the sunset! It’s a great park with a disc golf course, dog park, play ground, shelters to rent, and a fishing pier. It was so windy when we were on the fishing pier that it ended up blowing Bobby’s hair straight up into the breeze, which we couldn’t stop laughing about. Then we scoped out the area for a spot to sit and watch the remainder of the sunset. We also watched the dogs in the park play and join in with other people as they were taking photos.

[April 20] We spent the morning over at our friend’s house. Then as we got home, I had gotten a text from two of my friends and former coworkers of mine from Pittsburgh that said they were also down here in the Clearwater area for their Easter break at their family’s condo. So, we decided to pack up a cooler, grab our beach stuff, and go over to see them! After spending time catching up with them, Bobby and I made our way to Belleair Beach. We had almost the whole beach to ourselves! We spent a few hours on the beach and knew we had to leave by 8pm because that’s when our parking meter time expired. So around that time we packed everything up and went over to Ice & Cream Creamery. It’s the first place that we have found, more so stumbled into, around here that sells hard served black raspberry ice cream, which is my favorite!

[April 21] We went back to Picnic Island Park with our friends and their pup to hangout and play some KanJam. Afterwards, we went to Jeremiah’s Italian Ice before heading to their house for the night to play a few more board games!

Let’s Get Connected

Hope you have enjoyed these two weeks of adventures with family and friends around Tampa! SUBSCRIBE down below to read more about the places we visit in the future! We have a few more weeks remaining in this beautiful city and can’t wait to share more details of what’s next for us in the coming weeks! We would love to hear from you! Leave a comment down below to say hello or let us know of a place we should definitely see before we leave. Signing out from the Sunshine State. 🌞🌴

Madison Basile

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