A day full of water

I was sad to leave the beach but it was time continue our trip. First we wanted to explore the St Petersburg and Tampa area. We guessed that the waterfront of Tampa would be nicer to visit than the one of St Petersburg on the other side of the bay although both boast multiple musea.

We visited the Florida Aquarium downtown Tampa. We could see the local fish up close again from the Florida wetlands but also coral reefs etc. The diversity of local fish was impressive.  We had not been aware of the fun water park outside so our children weren't exactly dressed to get soaking wet although it would have been fun in the heat.  So tip if you plan to visit with children: bring their swimsuits!  Fortunately Kabouter didn't mind too much to stay dry. 












After our visit we started walking to search for the start of the Tampa River walk. After a few blocks carrying Beertje in the heat (he is a stroller escape artist) we didn't see it yet and the children were getting tired. It was a really pity as I had envisioned us walking along the waterfront with some green parks , some playgrounds in a gentle breeze.   In hindsight I rechecked the map online and I think we gave up 1 block before the start of the trail, yet it would not have been very green and the breeze probably would not have been there anyway. 


Once settled in the hotel, we had time - due to the skipped walk - to go swimming again. The sun was blinding and the stones were too hot to walk on so I ran back and forth to our room to gather swimming hats, swimming shoes, sunglasses to make it a bit bearable around the swimming pool. By the time we were totally equipped for the heavy sunshine...the thunderstorm clouds moved in.  We continued a bit to swim in the first gentle rain but after a while we had to flee inside anyway. A bit later we had zero visibility from our hotel window. But the children didn't mind some extra ipad time. That night we took the car again to go to a restaurant across the street :p.  





Comments

Popular Posts