Tampa Bay - Florida

#TampaBayFlorida

#honeytraveldiaries

Today there was some news about Tampa Bay . That was my first trip abroad and the best trip ever !

My bucket list had Disney , Switzerland and Uk (Shropshire county ) since i had read about it in 

P G Wodehouse books , and meeting Amitabh Bacchan face to face .

Fortunately these are the exact places i have been sent to . Except for Bacchan sahab ..still waiting !

It was our first assignment to a foreign land and what better place than Tampa. I was suppose to travel alone 2 flights and god knows a journey of how many hours . Very nervous but very excited , I started my  journey from Mumbai airport pretending to be calm and collected .

After the longest journey we reached NEWARK airport from where i had to take another flight to Tampa Bay. Newark was huge . Not used to the accent i was very carefully completing all the required formalities . The officer who had to stamp my papers was rude ! So many questions at one point i thought he will send me back . The thought of 16 hours travelling back i wanted to burst out crying on his shoulders ..but thankfully he let me go through.

The flight to Tampa was a small flight with hardly 30-40 people all bright happy faces . Drank juice, ate lots of fruits and finally landed at Airport .

And a huge elevator greets me . Me with my 2 bags stood going to and fro trying to get on to the elevator waiting for some help when a lady who was watching me ..comes takes my hand and helps me down .

And i reach Tampa. We stayed in a lovely complex near Clear Water beach.

Address :501 1234Post Harbours Drive

The beach are beautiful in Tampa the pier  60 where you could buy jewellery made of stones , 1 dollar tshirts  and memoirs to take home .

It was such a change to see a calm quiet place where people are in no hurry. Being a Mumbaikar i had always seen people running all day ,no happy faces , no peace even on the beaches .

I loved every Friday Evening when plans were made to visit a new place was made . First trip was to Orlando - Disney Land . It was a dream come true . Ideally you need 2-3 days atleast to cover the whole of Disney but since we had to travel back to Tampa we did it in one day . Apcot , MGM, Disney .. soo much to see and perfect weather . By the end of the day i actually had blisters on my foot but didn't mind them at all.

Bush gardens , SeaWorld where we met Shamu the seal are worth visiting .

Gasparilla Pirate Festival which happens in January is another event to watch.

Started in 1904, the annual event commemorates the legendary Spanish pirate Jose Gaspar, who, according to some stories, plundered the Gulf of Mexico before leaping from his ship with an anchor tied to his hips to avoid capture by the U.S. Navy. 

Over 100 years later, the parades are still a Tampa Bay tradition.  The whole city dresses up like pirates and the festival continues for 2-3 days .

I really had fun for the first time in my life. Not a care in the world ..just fun !  

We live very seriously in our country i see kids at 5 and 6 being pushed into studies so much competition we forget to celebrate life and by the time we are ready to ..we dont know how !