Florida-Day 4

So it was Saturday. Since the Courtyard offered free passes to LA Fitness down the street, I took advantage and headed over. The gym I usually work at is close and cheap, but it is limited in terms of the equipment they offer. This place, though, was loaded. They must have had 30 treadmills; in my gym, we have maybe nine. Suffice to say ours don’t have TV’s on each machine either. I was doing incline and decline bench presses, tricep press downs, kneeling torso rotations, hip abductions, all exercises I couldn’t do in my own gym. Afterwards, I wolfed a down a peanut butter Fitcrunch bar with a  glass of milk and I was feeling good.

Our first stop was Dunedin, which is a coastal town a little bit north of Tampa. One thing I like about it is there are practically no chain stores in downtown. It’s very independent and unique. They had a block roped off for a street fair with local merchants selling food, beauty products, art, etc. I sampled a few food items like jalapeno bratwurst, Italian olive salad (where were the cold cuts?!), and a vegan burger patty. The latter reminded me of why I eat meat. There was one company that stood out called Open Hearth Pizzza. They had a pizza oven that looked like an igloo that was attached to the back of a trailer. They cooked artisan pizzas in this oven and used wood to fire up the oven. Mom and I split a piece of tomato, spinach, and fresh mozzarella for four bucks. It could have used some more sauce, but I really liked the earthy taste of the crust. We walked around a little more, past the Dunedin Brewery, which is the oldest brewery in the state of Florida. I wasn’t ready for a beer, so we checked a few local shops out. I found an orange cowboy hat and orange and black Hawaiian shirt that I put on while Mom took a couple of photos. It was pretty funny. I also drove by the home of the Dunedin Blue Jays, which is one of Toronto’s Class A baseball teams. It was funny seeing a baseball stadium across the street from a VFW hall and next to a public library. The stadium was just there, like it could be passed by so easily. I think it may have been nicer than Tropicana field, at least from the outside!

Then, we headed two towns north to Harpon Springs, which is a very Greek town. We thought about heading towards the inlet to check out the boats, but it was really crowded and nothing in downtown really interested us, so we kept going. I decided to drive us back to Ybor City and go to the Tampa Bay Brewing Company. Yep, this place was on the Food Network too. Before we got there, it took ten minutes to find a parking space. This place has very few lots and there is a trolley that runs down the main street and it’s $2.50 for a ride. I can ride the CTA for less money and travel a lot more distance. Anyway, we get to the brewery and I sampled a couple of their homemade beers. In the end, I had a One Night Stand. Well, a One Night Stand American pale ale. We ordered a soft pretzel appetizer, but it never arrived. It may have been for the best, because we split the meatloaf and the bomb. The meatloaf is bacon-wrapped and is served with crispy onions and a mushroom demi-glaze over white cheddar mashed potatoes. I’m no meatloaf eater, but this was really satisfying. Just some fine comfort food. The bomb, well, that was one of a kind. It’s a half-pound burger topped with cheddar cheese, smoked bacon, and crispy onions. Then they stuff it inside their homemade pizza dough (which has beer) and bake it. They serve it with a horseradish ale that tastes a lot like the Bloomin’ onion sauce at Outback. It’s an outstanding burger, one of the more unique ones I’ve ever had.

Since Mom was tired, I took her back to the hotel. We were planning to go to Lifepoint Church in North Tampa, but that fell by the wayside. I couldn’t bear to stay in the room for six hours before going to bed, so I headed to the lobby and finished a bibliography for school. Then, I headed back to the Brick House where I watched the Tampa Bay vs. Montreal game. I may have been preparing for the next night at the Forum…anyway, I ate a yardbird sandwich (chicken and a bunch of other ingredients) and drank a Yeungling. I also chatted with a youth hockey coach who was next to me for a while and has attended the Masters golf tournament three times, it was pretty cool. And this new bartender was from Chicago originally. She had the classic Florida look, curly blonde hair, thin, etc., but also had that husky Midwestern voice. Quite the combination. Not quite as exciting a night as the first one.