Tampa Help

Hi. Got some great travel advice on the UCF board regarding Orlando last year and am hoping for the same here regarding Tampa.

While it is far from a given, it appears that my Badgers may be headed to the Outback Bowl in Tampa once again.

The last time we were there, we stayed close to Raymond James (walking distance), though found that we needed to head elsewhere for nightlife.

We spent one night in Channelside, but weren't fans...too antiseptic, touristy, and crowded.

The second night, we went to Ybor City and had a great time (despite cautions about potential safety).

We will only be coming down for two nights and probably plan to hit Ybor again (we are Green Iguana types....just beer and music).

Any reccomendations on travel plans? Is it easier to just stay near the stadium and cab it to social opportunities each night? Any nice places to stay that are closer where we won't be unsafe walking at bar time? Any inbetween areas that have mini-social scenes that we could frequent during the day?

We are late 30's types who enjoy a good time  but are not interested in dance clubs and probably have no interest in being "the old guys" in a college bar.

Any help would be appreciated.

Hi. Got some great travel advice on the UCF board regarding Orlando last year and am hoping for the same here regarding Tampa.

While it is far from a given, it appears that my Badgers may be headed to the Outback Bowl in Tampa once again.

The last time we were there, we stayed close to Raymond James (walking distance), though found that we needed to head elsewhere for nightlife.

We spent one night in Channelside, but weren't fans...too antiseptic, touristy, and crowded.

The second night, we went to Ybor City and had a great time (despite cautions about potential safety).

We will only be coming down for two nights and probably plan to hit Ybor again (we are Green Iguana types....just beer and music).

Any reccomendations on travel plans? Is it easier to just stay near the stadium and cab it to social opportunities each night? Any nice places to stay that are closer where we won't be unsafe walking at bar time? Any inbetween areas that have mini-social scenes that we could frequent during the day?

We are late 30's types who enjoy a good time  but are not interested in dance clubs and probably have no interest in being "the old guys" in a college bar.

Any help would be appreciated.

Ybor and safe dont go together that well so anything in walking distance is out the door there.  Hotels around Ybor are miles away and what you will find shall be the ramada inn and places like that. taking the cab is the safe way of doing things in that area.

Places I like to go to in the day time have been around Ybor just because of the cigars and The Columbia's Mojito's. I am not sure if the Rare Olive has live music in the day time, but it is worth a shot. Also, take the time to drive into the Hyde Park area as they have some social things to do generally.

You should also check out MacDintons when in town - always a good time.

http://www.macdintons.com/

Best of luck to the Badgers!

Edit:

F**k You and Eat Sh!t ;D

I love MacDinton's.

there is a big long thread about this kinda stuff on this board somewhere.  im sure someone will find it and dig it up.  seems like a lot of out of towners make the trip to tampa for football so there is a lot of good information in that thread

but,

yea when you were describing the kind of places you like MacDintons came to mind.  also, hyde park cafe or whiskey park might be some fun places for you to check out.

its in the Hyde Park area.  your best bet is to stay close to the stadium because nothing beats walking to and from a football game without having to worry about traffic. 

I'll second the earlier comments about Hyde Park.  I also like MacDintons and Whiskey Soho (both on S. Howard Ave.)  Also worth checking out is Blue Martini at International Plaza (the big mall right next to the airport).  There's a Renaissance Hotel at the mall and alot of Hampton Inn/La Quinta type places across the road.  It's not walking distance to the stadium but it's only a few minutes drive.  Also if you're renting a car, being by the airport as opposed to downtown Tampa puts you closer to the beaches.

I'll third the comments about Hyde Park, Ybor is trash, and you might get stabbed. I've lived here for three years, I grew up in IL. Hyde Park reminds me of Northside Chicago Bars. You're best served to stay somewhat close to RayJay,Tampa traffic is a pain,not just on game days.

BadgerManiac...

The best place for 30-somethings are:

1) the bars in Hyde Park/SoHo... MacDinton's.. Dubliner... even a place called Whiskey Park (South)... nice places to eat, too (Bern's Steakhouse, Bella's).

2) International Plaza... Blue Martini... Bar Louie... nice restaurants (Capital Grill, Cheesecake Factory)

3) Channelside... okay, I understand the "touristy" aspect, but that is really because it's relatively new.  Most of the crowd are usually locals...

As for during the day, you could try Old Hyde Park (a shopping area near SoHo), Channelside, Ybor City (Columbia is a great place for lunch)...

Sounds like you've already got a pretty good handle on how to navigate Tampa/Ybor as is.

The Columbia in Ybor is something you'd probably want to take in this time around. It's great for dinner and the floor show is very nice, but something to think about.

As far as the Ybor paranoia goes, there are some very good restaurants and bars down that way. However, the rap on Ybor is that, like most venues of that nature, you may NOT want to be closing 'er down at two or three in the morning. Then again, the idea of getting stupid drunk lost it's novelty for me years and years ago, so that tempers my opinion. Cocktails and dinner, yeah...but like you said, if you have no interest in being "the old guys" in a college bar.", then you should probably not be hanging out in Ybor past midnite. 

Anything specific to New Year's Eve at  these recommended areas?

whiskey park has a HUGE new years eve celebration.