Tourist Must-Sees in the Tampa Bay Area

The first two destinations a lot of people think of when they come to the Tampa Bay area are the beaches and Busch Gardens. Since our state is a peninsula, and the Tampa area is located around a large bay, we have a lot of nice beaches that draw people from all over the world. It doesn't hurt that we have a mild climate most of the year and the water is usually warm. Busch Gardens is a world class theme park combined with a zoo. However, there're a lot of other wonderful places to visit and things to do and that's what I'm listing in this article:

Favorite Communities:

One of my favorite places is Tarpon Springs, which is located in Pinellas County, off of US 19, north of Clearwater. The town is a Greek community, built around genuine, operating sponge docks. Along the docks you'll find a lot of unique little shops, some funky, some really nice, alongside authentic Greek restaurants, with some wonderful food. The town winds around in charming streets with Victorian buildings and homes with another section that's full of antique shops.
http://www.tarponspringschamber.com/

Another favorite place is Ybor City, during the day. This is the center of the local Cuban community and the place where the cigars were rolled in the historic, brick cigar factories which are still all over the place. Many have been converted to other uses.There're boutiques, art galleries and restaurants that serve Cuban, Spanish, French or Italian food. Some are so good that patrons travel distances to eat there. The area also has Centro Ybor, which is a unique shopping center that spans across both 8th and 9th Avenues. The majority of the buildings in the area are historical and embellished with wrought iron. Downtown Ybor is located on 7th, 8th and 9th Avenues in Tampa.
http://www.ybor.org/

Another really favorite place is Plant City, which is located about 30 miles east of Tampa. I-4, Hwy 92, MLK and Hwy 60 all lead to Plant City from Tampa. One of the most scenic ways to enter Plant City is on MLK because it takes you right through the beginning of the historic section of town. There are blocks upon blocks of beautiful Victorian homes lining both sides of MLK. Many of them are quite large. On the streets behind them are block after block of Victorian houses, bungalows, cottages and Craftsman houses lining brick paved streets. MLK leads you into downtown Plant City, which is an entire historic district with a lot of red brick buildings housing
antique and junk shops, unique gift shops and restaurants and cafes. You'll also see historic churches, a Post Office and the old Plant City High School.
http://www.plantcity.org/

Favorite Bridges:

Most tourists would say, you don't have the Golden Gate or the Brooklyn Bridge. That's true. But we do have the Sunshine Skyway and the Courtney Campbell Causeway. Both are multi-function bridges:

The Sunshine Skyway is amazing. It goes over the water and never seems to end. It starts from the south end of St Petersburg on 275 and ends at Terra Ceia. It's five and one half miles long. This bridge is also a popular fishing spot. It's original eastern span had to be replaced due to damage. But the later western span was converted into North and South fishing piers, which are called the longest fishing piers in the world because the original spans were 15 miles long.
http://www.skywaypiers.com/

The Courtney Campbell Causeway skims along water level with beach on both sides, except for the center part that's actually a bridge, although all of it's out over the bay. It's the friendliest bridge I've ever been on. The bridge is a combination highway and multiple park access points.The road is lined with palm trees and other vegetation with access roads running parallel to the main roadway with turnoffs along the way including a public boat ramp, the Great Florida Birding Trail, two beach areas, and paved bike/hiking trails.There are also protected nesting spots along the access roads.This is also a popular fishing bridge which connects with Hwy 60 from the Tampa side and Gulf to Bay on the Clearwater side.
http://sticksoffire.com/2009/07/02/courtney-campbell-causeway/

Favorite Animal Encounters:

Lowry Park Zoo has a wonderful, natural, welcoming atmosphere. It's one of the top zoos in the country, considered to be the most family friendly. It's also a center for Florida wildlife conservation and biodiversity. The zoo houses the largest population of Florida species than any other zoo. They also feature Asian and African sections as well as several hands-on exhibits. The zoo is located on Sligh Avenue in Tampa.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lowry_Park_Zoo

The Florida Aquarium is considered one of the top aquariums in the world. The complex houses over 10,000 sea plants and animals and has four permanent exhibits which are; Wetlands, Bays and Beaches, Coral Reef and SharkBay,and Sea Hunt. Some of the exhibits also include hands-on encounters such as swimming with the sharks in the SharkBay exhibit and the Stingray Touch Tank in the lobby. The Aquarium is on Channel Side Drive in Tampa among an entire collection of shopping, other exhibits, the St Pete Forum, restaurants and nightspots.
http://www.tampabayaquarium.com/about.htm

Favorite Science Museum Encounters

MOSI, Museum of Science and Industry, is the only place that I've ever seen that has both grass growing on its roofs and solar panels. The venue offers 450 exhibits, many hands-on, live science demonstrations, a planetarium, visiting exhibits and an IMAX theatre. MOSI is located on Fowler Avenue in Temple Terrace, across from USF, University of South Florida.
http://www.mosi.org/

You can see Dinosaur World from I-4 between Plant City and Dover, because the Dinosaurs extend far above the park for all to see.The life-size, life-like dinosaurs are in natural habitat settings with signs explaining their habits. There're also hands-on activities for the kids. This is the largest dinosaur exhibit in the world with over 150 dinosaur replicas. The park is located on Harvey Tew Road in Plant City which is accessed from the Branch Forbes exit on I-4.
http://goflorida.about.com/od/attractionsaz/gr/dinosaurworld.htm
http://www.dinoworld.net/dino-start003text.php?page=1

Sources:

http://www.tampachamber.com/ti_attractions.asp

http://www.tampachamber.com/files/08-09_Relo_Attractions.pdf

http://www.tarponspringschamber.com/

http://www.ybor.org/

http://www.plantcity.org/

http://www.placesaroundflorida.com/St_Petersburg_Florida/Skyway_Bridge/

http://www.skywaypiers.com/

http://sticksoffire.com/2009/07/02/courtney-campbell-causeway/

http://www.tampabayaquarium.com/about.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lowry_Park_Zoo

http://www.mosi.org/

http://goflorida.about.com/od/attractionsaz/gr/dinosaurworld.htm

http://www.dinoworld.net/dino-start003text.php?page=1