My favorite part about traveling and seeing new places is absolutely food and beautiful views. Kyle (my former business partner and best friend) and I made a quick trip down to Tampa, Florida last week for an interview and decided to stay an extra day to explore the area. I have never been to Tampa, so there was a lot to see!

One of our new friends gave us a huge, detailed list of things to see and––more importantly––places to eat. Since it was 75 degrees and sunny, we rented a convertible so we could drive around and see all of the things Tampa has to offer.

We had brunch at The Hall, a new trendy restaurant downtown. This place was so awesome! It’s set up kind of like a food court with multiple, different vendors and restaurants in one place but you can order from all of the menus. So if one person wants sweet and the other wants savory, you can both get exactly what you’re craving! Naturally, we started off with a freshly made waffle covered in Nutella and bananas. SO. Good.

Then we dove into some cheese and bacon waffle fries and mahi fish tacos. While none of those flavors seem to go together, I loved being able to sample all of the chefs and not stick to one thing. Highly recommended…and someone should bring this concept to Eastern North Carolina.

We headed to Davis’ Island to drive around looking at the mansions and water. This is where Derek Jeter lives! This was probably my favorite part of the entire day. There were so many different styles of houses with Spanish influences, bright colors, coastal vibes, and beautifully manicured landscaping. I definitely wouldn’t mind living on the water one day so I mainly spent this drive daydreaming of future homes.

If you are looking for something cheap to do in Tampa, you have to drive around this island!

We spent the majority of the day visiting St. Petersburg to see the places Kyle used to vacation when he was little, getting drinks on the beach, and trying out the local breweries. We met this really awesome, older man in one of the breweries who we ended up talking to for almost an hour! He told us all about his life being a local and the views he has from his condo at night… #goals.

The day ended at Brick and Mortar, a local wine and bar restaurant with an AMAZING menu. I can tend to be a little bit of a picky eater but I love when I can let my inner foodie out. We went with their shareables so we could try as much food as possible, starting with the house carpaccio –– paper-thin slices of filet mignon, microgreens, and a housemade ravioli filled with the yolk of a poached egg, a leek and goat cheese mousse. It was too dark to get a photo of this, but take my word for it… HEAVEN.

I will definitely be back in Tampa again! It is absolutely beautiful, and there were SO many places with perfect lighting and colors for photos 😉 If you are thinking about getting married in the Bay area, absolutely do it…and bring me with you!

This is one of the times when I REALLY wish I liked coffee!!

This Nutella and banana waffle was to DIE for.

This is the view from Davis’ Island!!! You can understand why we stopped and were here for about 20 minutes.

Thank you Kyle for being the human I could take photos of on this trip. Landscape is pretty but people are my favorite 😉

Obsessed with this house.

The view from those office buildings is INSANE. They are right on the water. Tampa is so different than North Carolina because it feels like the whole city is surrounded by water, and I LOVE it.

I was a fan of the first two…last two not so much. I’m the worst beer taster because I only like light and fruity things haha.

This was the view from the last brewery we visited before the sun went down. I would never get tired of this view.