Exploring Tampa

Exploring more in Tampa this weekend, I realized that fun little adventures always seem to revolve around coffee, food, and books. This time around there weren't any books in the picture, but there was coffee and food. Thankfully, April doesn't seem to mind the coffee and food requirements to adventures.

I've never explored Hyde Park, Tampa before, but they have a village of shops and restaurants. I found Piquant, a French inspired restaurant for breakfast, and it was absolutely delicious. The decor was fancy and classy with a twist of the modern, like clear chairs. The wallpaper added such elegant dimension to the space. The waiters all wore suspenders and small bowler hats. I had a cappuccino and a tartine (an open faced sandwich) with freshly baked bread, vegetables, and a fried egg on top. The savory flavours were perfect.

After a little shopping at Anthropologie there in Hyde Park, we had a coffee shop stop planned, except that coffee shop wasn't open when we got there. So, thankfully, I had a back up option, and we went to a new coffee shop in downtown Tampa called Caffeine. The interior was decorated with some of my favourite colours and textures. Wood plank table tops, yellow chairs that looked like they were from school, faded brick walls, warm glowing light bulbs. All the warm and earthy tones was my cup of tea. And my latte was delicious.

Summertime in Florida means you are forever looking for a good place to beat the heat. Walking from a parking garage in downtown Tampa to the coffee shop was a 2-3 large blocks, and about as much heat as I could take, and retreating indoors is such a welcomed prospect.

We ended our adventure at Trader Joe's. You probably know how great that place is, so I don't even need to tell you. It all makes for a tiring day, but it is fun to experience the really great local places that put care into their drink and food, and that is worth a trip to Tampa.