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More Reasons to Visit Tampa Bay

Looking for adventure? Look to Tampa Bay!

By , About.com Guide

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  1. Come to Tampa Bay to eat at any of several reputed restaurants.
    • Tampa's historic Columbia Restaurant — the oldest restaurant in the state of Florida and the largest Spanish restaurant in the world — opened in 1905 and the landmark restaurant takes up an entire city block in historic Ybor City. Its award-winning Spanish/Cuban cuisine features all the classics and a phenomenal wine list (more than 850 wines with an inventory of 50,000 bottles). The 1,700-seat Columbia features 17 dining rooms. Entertainment includes Spanish Flamenco dance performances nightly, Monday through Saturday.
    • Bern's Steak House not only serves the best cut-to-order steak, it has one of the largest wine collections in the world — about 6,500 labels — with a working wine cellar that holds about 90,000 bottles, a small percentage of Bern's entire stock. Reservations are required.
    • The Colonnade has been a South Tampa landmark since 1935. Situated on beautiful Bayshore Boulevard overlooking Tampa Bay, "The Nade" soon became a favorite hangout for local teens and "Cruisin at The Nade" a favorite pasttime. While originally featuring American favorites — hamburgers, fried chicken and a Colonnade original, an olive in CocaCola® — eventually the restaurant began serving fresh seafood. Today the restaurant still serves quality food in a casual, yet unique atmosphere.
    Tampa Bay also has a number of restaurant chains that began right here with their original locations: Beef O'Brady's Family Sports Pubs, Checkers, Durage Steakhouse, Shells' Seafood Restaurant, Hooters, Carrabba's Italian Grille and Outback Steakhouse.

  2. Come to Tampa Bay for sports. Whether you are a fan of football, hockey, baseball or even motorsports, Tampa Bay has it all.
    • The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, NFL Super Bowl Champions in 2003, call Tampa and the 65,890-seat Raymond James Stadium home. The stadium has hosted the Super Bowl on four separate occasions — 1984, 191, 2001 and 2009.
    • The Tampa Bay Lightning, which calls Tampa's St. Pete Times Forum home, won the Stanley Cup in 2004.
    • The Tampa Bay Storm, an Arena Football team, holds the record for the most Arena Bowl victories — 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996 and 2003.
    • The Tampa Bay Rays, the 2008 American League champions, call St. Petersburg's Tropicana Field home.
    • Finally, St. Petersburg now hosts the annual Honda Grand Prix every spring.
  3. Come to Tampa Bay for a meeting or convention. Tampa's thriving downtown and renovated convention center offer conventioneers 600,000-square-feet of state-of-the-art meeting space as well as 6,500 rooms in and near its downtown location. In addition, more meeting space is available within the county at several locations throughout the county, including 7,500-square-feet at Westin Tampa Bay at Rocky Point and 12,500-square-feet at the Renaissance Tampa Hotel International Plaza.

  4. Come to Tampa Bay for the festivals! While locals will use any excuse to celebrate, visitors can get in on the action too during these great events:
  5. Come to Tampa Bay for the history. The Tampa Bay area is rich in history dating back more than 450 years — 150 years ago, Tampa became the railhead for cattle shipments to Cuba and almost 100 years ago the world's first commercial flight was made from St. Petersburg to Tampa. And, Ybor City, once known as the "Cigar Capital of the World," once boasted 200 factories with 12,000 cigar-makers. Today, you can explore Tampa Bay's history in a number of museums throughout the area, step back in time on the streets of Ybor City, and even take a reminiscent ride aboard an electric streetcar down Tampa's streets.

  6. Come to Tampa Bay for the sunshine. According the the National Weather Service, the sun shines an average of 361 days a year in Tampa Bay. It is notable that the last time Tampa suffered a direct hit by a hurricane was in 1921. Hmmm... maybe this should be the number one reason to come?!

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