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Expert
Posts: 1414
 
| We're heading to Tampa in a couple weeks. Will have a rental car so we can drive anywhere. I want to drive up to Ocala since I've never been there, other than that we don't have anything planned. Suggestions of places to do, things to do? Horse related or not is fine. |
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Queen Bean of Ponyland
Posts: 24954
   
Location: WYOMING | Make reservations to eat at Bern's in Tampa. Expensive but its an all night experience that is well worth it. |
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 To the Left
Posts: 1865
Location: Florida | I actually love Busch Gardens there in Tampa. I have no use for rides but the animals are great. Take the ride over top of the Serengheti where they have the African animals roaming loose. Big difference from the safari type rides where you can't really see much. And the birds are beautiful. When I was a child all they had was birds and a bird show, now they have lots of animals. |
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  Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
Location: Florida.. | Tampa Aquarium downtown is horrible.. dont waste your money. Busch Gardens is great and fun... |
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 Expert
Posts: 1612
Location: Cocoa, Florida | The beaches in Clearwater are pretty nice, sand key beach park is nice, west coast has nice white sandy beaches, the further south you go the prettier it gets, Bradenton beach is nice all the way go manasota or Venice. You can make a trip to our coast and see cocoa beach and Ron Jon surf shop but our beaches aren't As nice and clean as the west coast. Busch gardens in Tampa is fun or go to Kissimmee/Orlando and visit universal studios or universal city walk is free to get in. International drive in Orlando has lots of things to do also. It's an hour and a half from Tampa.
Edited by RnRJack 2016-12-26 2:15 PM
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Expert
Posts: 1612
Location: Cocoa, Florida | Bibliafarm - 2016-12-26 12:22 PM
Tampa Aquarium downtown is horrible.. dont waste your money. Busch Gardens is great and fun...
Used to love that aquarium, sea world is fun too but super expensive now |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 878
Location: "...way down south in the Everglades..." | Definitely Busch Gardens.
I'd actually recommend taking a day and going to Sarasota's Siesta Key. Definitely one of the prettiest beaches on the gulf coast and very close to Tampa. Also, they have a fairly cute aquarium in Sarasota called the Mote Aquarium...certainly not the biggest aquarium in Florida, but affordable and nice...more like a research facility than a tourist trap, but enjoyable and since it's small it certainly won't take up much of your day.
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Expert
Posts: 1414
| Thanks for the ideas! I'm jotting down all your ideas and will definitely check them out! |
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A Cool Sharp One
| as a Native Floridian and born/raised in Tampa, FL I can tell you some great places....... go to The Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City, FL OR The Columbia Cafe down at Channelside (it is behind the Tampa Bay History Museum)....... also Bern's Restaurant, make sure to visit the Dessert Room; in downtown Lakeland is Harry's, New Orleans style restaurnt; in Hyde Park (area of Tampa) is Goody Goody's Restaurant, awseome hamburgers...... in Temple Terrace not far from Busch Gardens is also MOSI (Museum of Science and Industry) great place to take the kids..... also the Lowry Park Zoo is very nice. We also have International Mall over near the Airport and Westshore Mall just a mile or two from International mall.......Tampa Bay Lightning Hockey Team is still playing right now, as well as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and this weekend and next we have College Football Bowl Games that will be played in Raymond Jaymes Stadium also..... |
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Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
Location: Florida.. | RnRJack - 2016-12-26 3:15 PM Bibliafarm - 2016-12-26 12:22 PM Tampa Aquarium downtown is horrible.. dont waste your money. Busch Gardens is great and fun... Used to love that aquarium, sea world is fun too but super expensive now
Edited by Bibliafarm 2016-12-27 7:44 PM
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| Leave Tampa to go to Ocala and use the old route so you can see some
scenic country ... I-75 is like a nascar race .. lol
Use google maps to find locations of these beautiful TB horse farms ..
and keep in mind .. the only rolling hills you are going to see is
around Ocala ... Florida is as flat as a pancake and only 90 miles wide.
When coming back from Ocala ... head for Crystal River and then down to
Spring Hill and pick up hwy 19 that runs along the Gulf Coast back to Tampa ..
lots of known small towns and lots of fresh seafood on this route .. you
might want to go this route to Ocala ... ?? your choice of course ..
Stone Street Farms has their training barns there and you might meet
some of RACHAEL ALEXANDRA's babies ... several farm tours too ..
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=thoroughbred+horse+farms+ocala+...
Don't miss driving over the causeway bridge to St Pete and
circle back around to Tampa ...
better than a roller coaster ... lol
Melbourne is where Cape Kennedy and NASA is and you get to
see the Atlantic Ocean too ... 100 miles
You won't be disappointed if you choose the smaller hwy's running
next to the Gulf of Mexico .. in either direction from Tampa ..
Be ready to see a bunch of old geezers running around .. lol
LOTS OF NATURAL BEAUTY PLACES IN FLORIDA ..
if you see an air boat ride sign .. go ride the boats ..
better than a zoo ... real alligators and snakes ... lol
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To the Left
Posts: 1865
Location: Florida | As a Cocoa Florida native.... The space center is not in Melbourne. It is on Merritt Island, just north of Cocoa. Not to be confused with Cocoa Beach where I Dream of Jeannie was filmed. My little town gets overlooked a lot. What ever you do, you are picking the right time of the year. Right between hurrican season and fire season LOL. |
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 Expert
Posts: 2335
Location: IL | BARRELHORSE USA - 2016-12-28 4:04 AM Leave Tampa to go to Ocala and use the old route so you can see some scenic country ... I-75 is like a nascar race .. lol Use google maps to find locations of these beautiful TB horse farms .. and keep in mind .. the only rolling hills you are going to see is around Ocala ... Florida is as flat as a pancake and only 90 miles wide. When coming back from Ocala ... head for Crystal River and then down to Spring Hill and pick up hwy 19 that runs along the Gulf Coast back to Tampa .. lots of known small towns and lots of fresh seafood on this route .. you might want to go this route to Ocala ... ?? your choice of course .. Stone Street Farms has their training barns there and you might meet some of RACHAEL ALEXANDRA's babies ... several farm tours too .. https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=thoroughbred+horse+farms+ocala+... Don't miss driving over the causeway bridge to St Pete and circle back around to Tampa ... better than a roller coaster ... lol Melbourne is where Cape Kennedy and NASA is and you get to see the Atlantic Ocean too ... 100 miles You won't be disappointed if you choose the smaller hwy's running next to the Gulf of Mexico .. in either direction from Tampa .. Be ready to see a bunch of old geezers running around .. lol LOTS OF NATURAL BEAUTY PLACES IN FLORIDA .. if you see an air boat ride sign .. go ride the boats .. better than a zoo ... real alligators and snakes ... lol
I'm from Ocala. I haven't lived there for sometime, but I go down once a year to visit family and friends. My uncle owns a really nice resturant in Crystal River called Vintage on 5th, so if you do go to Crystal River make sure you stop. Excellent food. Also if your going to take 19 south, weeki wachee is on the way. Also if you are coming from Ocala to Crystal River, you will go thru Dunnellon. Prior to getting to Dunnellon there is a river called the Rainbow River. It's beautiful and a sight to be seen. I love and miss it down there. My husband wants to move to Ocala, he was amazed at all the big horse farms!! Have fun! |
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Expert
Posts: 1612
Location: Cocoa, Florida | Vickie - 2016-12-28 4:58 AM
As a Cocoa Florida native.... The space center is not in Melbourne. It is on Merritt Island, just north of Cocoa. Not to be confused with Cocoa Beach where I Dream of Jeannie was filmed. My little town gets overlooked a lot. What ever you do, you are picking the right time of the year. Right between hurrican season and fire season LOL.
Thank you, as a beachside native myself I was laughing at the Melbourne comment!!! I lived on north merritt island for years and grew up riding in an English stable (north hammock) there. I lived on the last street before the main gate and the launches were Awesome from my house! The space center is an awesome place to visit, the visitor center is cool and we have a ton of nature trails out on the Titusville side going to playlinda beach.
Calling the space center Melbourne is like saying Cocoa is the same thing as cocoa beach out here lol |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 434
Location: Northwest Florida | RnRJack - 2016-12-26 2:14 PM
The beaches in Clearwater are pretty nice, sand key beach park is nice, west coast has nice white sandy beaches, the further south you go the prettier it gets, Bradenton beach is nice all the way go manasota or Venice. You can make a trip to our coast and see cocoa beach and Ron Jon surf shop but our beaches aren't As nice and clean as the west coast. Busch gardens in Tampa is fun or go to Kissimmee/Orlando and visit universal studios or universal city walk is free to get in. International drive in Orlando has lots of things to do also. It's an hour and a half from Tampa.
I got married at Sand Key Beach Park :) Definitely beautiful! |
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| Vickie - 2016-12-28 4:58 AM
As a Cocoa Florida native.... The space center is not in Melbourne. It is on Merritt Island, just north of Cocoa. Not to be confused with Cocoa Beach where I Dream of Jeannie was filmed. My little town gets overlooked a lot. What ever you do, you are picking the right time of the year. Right between hurrican season and fire season LOL.
I'm sure her GPS will find the right place since they are only 25 miles from each other...
Add some details since you are native of that area!! |
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To the Left
Posts: 1865
Location: Florida | The space center has a big visitors center on NASA Causway (just south of Titusville). I haven't been since I worked there in 1976 but I hear they have expanded the rocket garden. When they retired a class of rocket (Snark, Saturn, etc, there were dozens before the space shuttle) they would stand up one in front of the visitor's center. Eventually it became known as the rocket garden.
I used to take the glass elevator up to the top of the Vehicle Assembly Building (used to be the largest building on earth), then switch to the last elevator and go up on the roof. There I would sit on the edge and eat lunch with the vultures. When super balls first came out my father and fellow engineers decided to drop one from that roof to see how high it would bounce. It exploded on impact BTW.
Edited by Vickie 2016-12-29 4:35 AM
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 Poor Cracker Girl
Posts: 12150
Location: Feeding mosquitos, FL | Ooooh love Busch Gardens! Used to go ride roller coasters between classes when I was a student at USF. Then go get a hot dog at Mel's Hot Dogs on Busch Blvd. Yum yum yum. |
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 Got a Keeper
Posts: 13710
Location: RAINY FREEZING AnartiFlorida | I love Busch Gardens. |
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 Take a Picture
Posts: 12841
| The first place in Florida I would go would be to Lynn Palm's B and B. Don't know what town it is in but if I find it, I may never leave. |
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