Life of the Traveling Wife

We never expected to ever love Tampa like we did. We never intended to stay 9 months, but we did. The sun. The warmth. Our friends. Fishing, a whole lot of fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. Tons of extended weekend road trips to Miami, the Keys, Lakeland, Boynton Beach, Anna Maria Island and everywhere in between those places. We lived near beautiful beaches again and got to frequent the beach and piers multiple days each week while soaking in every new chance to catch a new saltwater species. We witnessed some of the most vibrant sunsets and incredible sunrises. We experienced a hurricane in Florida. We visited family and friends. We loved every moment of it all. We are just so fortunate to have started this adventure together when we did. Not waiting another moment to begin anew.

Thanks for joining us and encouraging us on this wild ride starting in the Sunshine State. We have loved getting to share so many of the moments spent there with you. We hope you enjoy the very last of our time in Tampa during November.

November 2-9, 2022

[November 2] Bobby and I went to St. Pete for breakfast and coffee at the Bandit Coffee Co. We tried some things we hadn’t before and sat at the bar at the window talking for a while. After breakfast we walked Central Ave. and popped into a few boutiques and antique stores that were open.

[November 3] Errands and Bubble Tea! We sat playing games in a shop that sold bubble tea and different flavored homemade ice pops.

[November 4] Bobby and I took a long walk up and down the Courtney Campbell Causeway along the water in the evening. And we prepared our apartment to have my mom, Kelly, come stay with us for our birthday weekend!! That night we picked her up from the airport!

[November 5] My mom, Bobby, and I woke up and had a yummy breakfast consisting of biscuits and delicious pumpkin bread that my grandma made and sent down with my mom. Then the three of us headed out about an hour northeast of Tampa to Tom & Jerry’s Airboat Ride on Lake Panasoffkee. Our cousin Roy joined us for the airboat ride too! We all sat in the front row of the airboat. The captain took a group photo of the whole boat and asked us to put our hands up in the air for the photo. I was the last to put our hands up, so from the beginning to the end of the boat ride he gave me the nickname “gator bait”. Our captain was great and at one point he drove straight over marsh and branches sticking straight up out of the water. The four of us were in the front row of the boat hoping that none of the branches would pop out and hit us as we were flying over them. We were able to see several alligators out on the lake. The captain informed us about the birds that usually hang out near the alligators and how to look for grass along the banks of the lake that had been pressed down by an alligator previously there. We even got to see an alligator open its jaw and hiss. On our way back across the lake to the dock at Tom & Jerry’s, our captain took us back out of some of the inlets we went into and kicked the airboat into high gear. We whipped around several corners and the four of us in the front got soaked! It was so much fun and I am so glad that we all had that experience together for our birthday! I would say that this was the closest we have ever been to an alligator before, besides one of the times we were driving through the Everglades and saw an alligator on the side of the road. But, after the air boat ride we all got even closer to an alligator by holding one inside the office! 

After Tom & Jerry’s Airboat Ride, the four of us went to Krate for lunch. Krate at the Grove in Wesley Chapel, has unique shops and restaurants inside 94 shipping containers. The area is set up nicely so pedestrians can walk around outside freely from one shipping container to the next to browse menus and look into retail shops. There’s also a stage area for events and live music. 

That night my mom, Bobby, and I played our favorite board games called Imaginarium. And I cooked us all a super yummy dinner of homemade pesto pasta and roasted cubed sweet potatoes.

[November 6] Happy Birthday to my mama! 🎉 Today we went to church in the morning for our last time at Radiant Church in South Tampa. Then we went to our favorite taco restaurant called Tijuana Flats for lunch. After lunch we went to Fort De Soto beach to enjoy some sun and our last time all together in the Gulf of Mexico, at least for now. My mom and I looked into the water for a while staring down at all the little fish near our feet and some hermit crabs we found in their shells crawling along the ocean floor. Bobby laughed from our towel and chair area of the similarities between how my mom and I were walking through the water and peeking into it to get a closer look at the fish. Bobby and I took a walk down the pier to visit it one more time and to see if anyone was catching fish. We saw several people reeling in fish one right after the other all the while each catch was being chased by dolphins. That night we all went out for Japanese for our birthday dinner!

[November 7] Today I woke up to our kitchen completely decorated with streamers by my momma! We all enjoyed a few forkfuls of tiramisu for my birthday and later that morning we dropped my mom off at the airport. Bobby and I decided to go to Gator Jim’s Tackle to get some live shrimp to use as bait. Then we made our way over to the St. Pete Pier and rented out fishing rods for a few hours. We caught a few mangrove snappers and two Spanish mackerels that we gave to another guy on the pier to bring home for dinner. Then Bobby and I enjoyed a sunset dinner at Doc Ford’s Rum Bar & Grille. This is one of the restaurants right on the water at the St. Pete Pier and that night there was live music that we got to enjoy.

[November 8] Packing Day! We packed up everything that we brought with us on this journey and had everything ready by the door to place into the car in the morning.

[November 9] We woke up early and loaded our cars up with all of our belongings. We took an extra minute to say goodbye to our fully furnished apartment, see our last photo in Tampa below. We are so extremely thankful for every way that God worked out this part of our story. Thankful for our first two week temporary luxury apartment, thankful for the provision of the second apartment that we stayed in for the duration of 9 months in Florida, thankful for the safe space we had in Tampa, thankful for our family friends we had nearby, thankful for every moment we spent outdoors in the sun, and thankful for the new experiences. 

We got into our cars and drove to Marietta, GA just north of Atlanta to stay the night. It took us about 8 hours with a few stops to travel from Tampa to Marietta.

Let’s Get Connected

Thanks for reading along! Subscribe down below to receive more details on our travels. We are so happy to have you along for the ride. The next blog will be a travel guide to Tampa and the surrounding areas based off of our favorite places to explore and visit if you choose to visit one day! I would also love to hear from you! Let me know if you have any suggestions for us to visit or explore in Nashville, TN! 🎙️🤍

Madison Basile

Long Island, NY> Lynchburg, VA> Pittsburgh, PA> Tampa, FL> Nashville, TN 🏡🎶🎸