Anniversary getaway... Tampa, Florida area...

Nakatomi2010

So... My wife and I got an unexpected 700 dollars between our paychecks and as luck would have it ur anniversary is coming up this very weekend (July 14th), 4 years....

Anyways... 300 is spoken for for something else, so we're dealing a question of where can we go in the Tampa Bay area for a weekend of entertainment for 400 dollars.. Preferraibly something "outside of the house", so if we could have somewhere to sleep elsewhere....


Next tricky bit... My job has a meeting sunday morning at 8am, I have to be there... So, is there somewhere we can go that would be about 1 hour from the Cirtrus Park area....


Now, while these demands are pretty ridged, I do believe that it should be possible to find something.... So, google away with me and see what things that we have.....

Improvolone

Bush Gardens just opened their Jungala section, which from the commercials looks pretty awesome.

Jasconius

Channelside, there's plenty of nice restaurants there, IMAX theater (Dark Knight showing next weekend).

If you like Italian food I recommend Maggiano's. It's in the Westshore area, pricey but holy cow it is amazing. As I understand it it's one of the few places in that area that takes reservations so you won't have to wait outside in the heat for an hour.

Outside of shopping eating and golfing there's not a whole lot to do in Tampa at the spur of the moment.

People will tell you Ybor city but unless you are into staring at weird people or getting a tattoo there's no valid reason to go to Ybor. There are a few interesting shops but nothing worth the headache of being there. The Gameworks is a total disappointment, unless you are into 10 year old NASCAR simulators by SEGA, of which they have an impressive array, plus the food there is drastically marked up.

Busch Gardens -> Food -> IMAX makes for one hell of a day IMO.

Kate of Lokys

I'd recommend getting a place right on the Gulf Coast for the weekend. If you normally live and work in the city and don't get to the actual ocean very often, it'll be a real treat. For years, my family has owned a timeshare at a little place called Grand Shores West. An efficiency (queen-size Murphy bed, full kitchen, bathroom, and a little sitting area) is $65 per night during the off season, which is less than I paid for a fricking single bed at a Days Inn in Port Huron last week. Having a kitchen will mean that you can stretch that $400 a bit further by eating in, at least for breakfast and lunch. There's a nice pool and hot tub, it's on the ocean (specifically, on a white sand beach that stretches north and south for 15 uninterrupted miles), and there are sailboats and sit-on-top kayaks that you can take out. According to Google Maps, it's a 50 minute drive from there to Citrus Park, so you could even make your meeting. Or, if you don't like that place for whatever reason, there are a ton more all up and down the coast there. At this time of year, they'll all be dirt cheap and mostly empty. You could save a few bucks by staying at home and looking for stuff to do in Tampa, but why not just relax and be a tourist for the weekend?

As far as stuff to do... Caladesi Island is a cheap outing (a few bucks for entrance to the state park, a few more for the ferry over to the island itself), and it is a *wonderful* place to find shells. Go early in the morning when the tide is about 3/4 of the way down, and walk north along the beach. There's a cute little pirate-themed mini golf place - actually, two of them - on Gulf Boulevard, and if your wife is into shopping, there's a big outlet mall down at Ellenton. There are a few nice restaurants on the boulevard, and a great Thai place on Seminole.

Nakatomi2010

After some scrounging and hinking we're thinking about renting a room over near Historic Bok Gardens near Lake Wales, driving out there Friday night, sleeping, spending time at Bok Tower, check out Spook Hill (Apparently thing roll up hill), and then driving back here either A: Saturday night, or B: bright & early Sunday morning....


Biggest issue is finding a place to sleep at...


Any other suggestions for places to go to with a similar range?

Improvolone

I've gone to Bok Tower and done Spook Hill.
Spook hill is stupid, but if you liked stupid americana, sure, why not.
Bok tower was... not for me I suppose. It's pretty, but not that pretty. It's also going to be hot and muggy, more so in that area if I'm not mistaken.
Lake Wales is also a shit hole, so be careful of lodging choices.