Florida – exploringtampaflorida.com

ETF #24 – The Florida Conservation and Technology Center

January 15, 2022 tywhitman Uncategorized

Many people may have heard of the Manatee Viewing Center, but today we are going to talk about The Florida Conservation and Technology Center, a new co-op between Tampa Electric, The Florida Aquarium, The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and the University of Florida, which includes the Manatee Viewing Center. They are doing a lot of awesome things there. It’s fun! It’s educational. They’ve got some great hiking trails. They’ve got an awesome observation tower… and it’s all free! Also included… No winter in Tampa; Where’s the beef; Everyone needs a woman like this; Tampa Bay’s best observation towers; Parking HERE would be nice, and Am I trespassing again?

ETF #23 – Weedon Island, Sunken Gardens vs Florida Botanical Gardens, Gulf Beaches HIstory Museum, and Other Attractions Around the St. Petersburg Pier

November 23, 2021 tywhitman Uncategorized

Today we are going to have some fun in the St. Petersburg area. We will go hiking and kayaking at Weedon Island Preserve. We will visit Sunken Gardens and compare it with the Florida Botanical Garden. We will investigate some St. Pete Beach history by visiting the Gulf Beaches Historical Museum and the St. Petersburg Museum of History. We will have an awesome pizza on the pier at Spa Beach Bistro. We will be refused entry to both The Museum of Fine Arts and the Salvador Dali Museum, but we will bounce back quickly and check out the many awesome amenities at Vinoy Park and Elva Rouse Park.

ETF #17 – Tampa Talk: Busch Gardens, Disk Golf Update, Moving to Florida, Drum Circles, and more…

June 5, 2021 tywhitman Uncategorized

Pam is joining me on the show today for a discussion about several things. We discuss our first trip to Busch Gardens, Tampa, an important disk golf update, her move to Florida, drum circles, and a lot of other really fun topics.

Also included: Crying while stalking Steven King, Don’t molest the alligators, Don’t tangle with a hyena, Roller coasters that make you feel old, Woodstock in Tampa, Crazy drivers driving up insurance, and much more.

ETF #13 – Purchasing Real Estate in Tampa, Pt 2 – Sinkholes, Flooding, and Hurricanes

February 26, 2021 tywhitman Uncategorized

In this second part of our series on purchasing real estate in Tampa, we tackle the depressing but very serious subjects of sinkholes, floods and hurricanes. We will jump into how sinkholes are formed, why the area around Tampa has such a problem with them, and where some of the best and worst areas are located. We will then talk about insurance issues regarding sinkhole coverage, flood coverage, and “wind damage” coverage.

ETF #8 – Five “Must See” Parks Near Clearwater (Pinellas County)

December 14, 2020 tywhitman Uncategorized

The title says five, but we are going to cover A LOT of parks today. Today we are going to review a whole slew of parks in Pinellas County, and while we do that I will highlight five as “must see” parks for visitors new to the area.

Also included: Drive to a tropical island, Is this elevator going down, Gators everywhere, If this is the honeymoon, I want an annulment, Beware of flying golf balls, Beware of flying disks, Turtles all around, and Magical places.

ETF #7 – California vs Florida

December 1, 2020 tywhitman Uncategorized

This episode will wrap up our initial series of “Moving to Florida” episodes. Today I will briefly discuss my move to Florida, and how California tried to kill me to keep me there … like some kind of psycho, jilted lover. Then I will get into my initial impressions of Florida compared with California. Also included: Does anybody know how to drive? More license plates than people. How talking about water flow can be insulting. Too hot is too hot, anywhere. Living in a vacation destination. And, what the world is a “fifth third”?

ETF #6 – Cross Country To Tampa, Part 4 – Onward to New Orleans and Clearwater, Florida

November 23, 2020 tywhitman Uncategorized

This episode concludes our cross country adventure. Sarah and I travel from San Antonio to New Orleans where we spend some time exploring the French Quarter and taking a steamboat down the Mississippi River. We then continue on and complete our journey, ending at Clearwater Beach, Florida. Also included: Houston sucks, REALLY long bridges, don’t swim in Lake Pontchartrain, staying alert in the French Quarter, kicking some British ass, don’t swim in the Mississippi, be careful where you park in Tallahassee, and how all of that becomes an incredible time I will never forget.

Episode #2 – Introduction to Florida and the Tampa Area

October 26, 2020 tywhitman Uncategorized

In this episode, I tell the story of taking my daughter to Florida for the first time, to see if it was a place she might want to live. We walked on heavenly beaches in Clearwater, failed a Forest Gump quiz miserably in Daytona, drove through some neighborhoods that were awesome, and some that were not. We had a surprise meetup in Orlando, went on an alligator hunt in Myakka, flew through Pandora on a banshee, watched the perfect sunset in Venice, and found ourselves amidst a surprise drag show during an amazing lunch on Tampa Bay. Today I’m going to take you along for a recap of sorts, and share some stories while giving you some good information about the state and areas within it.

Episode #1 – Personal Introduction, and Florida vs Hawaii

October 11, 2020 tywhitman Uncategorized

I just moved from California to the Tampa area about 6 weeks ago, and I LOVE this area. It’s absolutely beautiful. I can’t wait to get out and explore it, and learn more about it, and I’d like to invite you along on that journey with me.

In this first episode I am going to spend some time making some introductions, to myself as well as my goals with this show. I’m also going to explain how I got here, why I chose Tampa over Hawaii, and what you can expect with the next shows going forward.