Saturday, March 26, 2011

Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Pictures

I had a great day at the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg today and thought I would share some of my pictures from the qualifying races. I am very excited to say that I got within 20 feet of Danica Patrick today, but the only issue was that she was going over 100 MPH!
Scott Dixon #9 at Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
Scott Dixon #9

Danica Patrick #7 at Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
Danica Patrick #7

Turn #6 at Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
Turn #6

Mike Conway #27 at Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
Mike Conway #27

Scott Dixon #9 at Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
Scott Dixon #9

Ryan Hunter-Reay #28 at Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
Ryan Hunter-Reay #28
For more information on how to check out the big race tomorrow, check out the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg post.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

Looking for something to do this weekend? Look no further because the "World's Fastest Spring Break Party" has just rolled into town! That's right, the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is here! If you think you have seen Grand Prix racing before, you haven't seen anything until you see those Grand Prix cars speed through the beautiful landscapes of downtown St Pete. Check out the videos below that feature Mitch Neff of gpstpete.com giving all the behind the scenes info on the best places to sit, a birds eye view of the course & more. For any other information, including a contest to win free tickets, check out the links below the videos.















Honda Grand Prix St Pete Contest Page
Honda Grand Prix St Pete Ticket Info
Honda Grand Prix St Pete Schedule
Honda Grand Prix St Pete Track Map

Send all of your pictures from the races to @WhatsUpTampaBay & @GPStPete on Twitter!

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Take Me Out To The Ball Game... Tampa Bay Rays

I recently ran across this guy at the St. Pete Morning Market at Al Lang Stadium and thought he would be perfect to perform "Take Me Out To the Ball Game" during the 7th inning stretch at a Tampa Bay Rays. I couldn't pull out my phone fast enough to catch this one-man-band while he was both sining and playing, but you'll just have to take my word for it that it was definitely a sight to see! Let's just hope that whoever books talent for the Ray's comes across this video and scoops him up. Watch out DJ Kitty!

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Drinking Made Easy: Tampa Bay

Zane Lamprey, host of HDNet's Drinking Made Easy, just announced on his Facebook page that he will be filming an episode of his show in the Tampa Bay area and is looking for suggestions on where to film. Drinking Made Easy is a show in which Zane Lamprey and his friend Steve McKenna travel all over in the US in search of the best and most original bars, pubs, beers, spirits, wines and mixed drinks each city has to offer. This is my attempt to highlight some of the best drinking experiences that the Tampa Bay area has to offer.

Cigar City Brewery
The Cigar City Brewery is an up and coming, GABF award-winning brewery located in Tampa. This brewery has a small bar and offers tours of the facility where they create their year round and seasonal beers. One great feature of this brewery is that you get the chance to try prototype beers before they are mass produced for public consumption. Cigar City Brewery is growing so fast in Florida and other areas in the region that they are currently working on a new brewhouse. My personal favorite beer that they carry is the Pale Ale IPA named Jai Alai.
Cigar City Brewery

Bern's Steak House
This world famous steakhouse is not a place that the average Joe typically goes for a drink, but it is worth noting that they currently have the largest wine list of any restaurant in the world. Their wine cellar is so large that they recently stumbled upon a $30,000 bottle of 1947 Chateau Latour that they didn't even know they had.
Bern's Steak House

Ceviche Restaurant and Tapas Bar
Ceviche makes my favorite Sangria in the Tampa Bay area. Their sangria (red or white) is not only very tasty, but it is also very strong! The original location of this restaurant is in Tampa, but I personally like the St. Petersburg location better. It is located right off the bay and is only walking distance to other great restaurants and bars. Nothing beats sipping on this sangria on a nice lazy Sunday or while dancing to Spanish music in the downstairs flamenco bar.
Ceviche

The Independent
This St. Petersburg beer hall serves over 100 different beers. Most of their selection is European, but they also carry some domestic micro brews. This bar is for people looking for a real beer experience. The bartenders are especially good at taking your current beer tastes and finding the perfect new beer for you to try. The atmosphere is typically very chill and the crowd is normally pretty young/trendy.
The Independent St Petersburg

Ybor City
This area of Tampa holds the nightlife that Tampa Bay is probably most famous for. It is in this area that you can find a plethora of bars, clubs and even the Tampa Bay Brewery. Ybor City is known as the Cigar Capitol of North America and also has Florida's oldest restaurant (Columbia Restaurant). In my experience, Ybor City is something different for everyone so the best way to experience it is to take a stroll down 7th Avenue and see where the night takes you.

If anyone else has advice for where Zane Lamprey should film the Tampa Bay episode of Drinking Made Easy, please leave your comment below.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Tampa Bay Rays Contests & Sweepstakes 2011

With Spring Training coming to a close and the excitement for the 2011 season building, now is the perfect time to start thinking about getting tickets to watch your Tampa Bay Rays in action. Below I will be keeping track of all of the available contests & sweepstakes to win free tickets to see the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Check back often as new contests pop up every day.

Keep up with all the Tampa Bay Rays contests at RaysRally.com.

Sawgrass Lake Park

If you're looking for a great place to go for a walk, clear your mind or nature watch, then Sawgrass Lake Park is the place for you. With 1.1 miles of boardwalk and plenty of wildlife, it is the perfect setting for photographers of all skill levels. In all of my trips to Sawgrass Lake Park I have seen everything from gators to squirrels and raccoons to butterflies. Below are a few of my pictures:

Baby Gator at Sawgrass Lake Park

Squirrel at Sawgrass Lake Park

Ninja Squirrel at Sawgrass Lake Park

Squirrel at Sawgrass Lake Park

Raccoon at Sawgrass Lake Park

Butterfly at Sawgrass Lake Park

Alligator at Sawgrass Lake Park

Sawgrass Lake Park

Dragonfly at Sawgrass Lake Park

Jumping Squirrel at Sawgrass Lake Park

Baby Gator Sawgrass Lake Park

Sawgrass Lake Park

Address: 7400 25th St N. St. Petersburg, FL 33702
Open 7AM to Sunset

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Comedy Night with Bob Saget Sweepstakes

On March 13th, Bob Saget will be performing live at the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa and I have your chance at two free tickets to the show! Doors open for the event at 7PM and the show will start at 8PM. For those who do not win the contest, General Admission tickets are $40 and are available at the Hard Rock Store, all Ticketmaster outlets and Ticketmaster.com. Ticket holders must be 18 years of age. Now for the fun part, here is how you enter the contest:

Two ways to enter:

On Twitter:
 Follow @WhatsUpTampaBay on Twitter & retweet the following message:

   RT @WhatsUpTampaBay Win two tickets to see Bob Saget at @SHRTampa on 3/13. Rules: http://bit.ly/hrfuju

or

On the Blog:
Comment on this post describing a life lesson you learned from the 90's hit sitcom "Full House". Make sure to include your name and email address.

Contest ends at 6PM on 3/11/2011. The winner will be picked at random and will be notified by DM on Twitter or Email by 3/12/2011. The winner will receive two free tickets to see Bob Saget at the Seminole Hard Rock Cafe in Tampa on 3/13/2011.

Other upcoming Seminole Hard Rock events:
  • Seminole Hard Rock is holding a Battle of the Bands Finals on March 3rd at 10pm. With its 40th Anniversary, Hard Rock International is giving local bands the chance to win a spot on the lineup at Hard Rock Calling 2011 to take place in London's Hyde Park. Hard Rock Cafe Tampa presents its finalists from a two-week competition of Tampa Bay area¹s best groups. These bands must perform original music and will vie for a chance to advance to the Regional Contest. The Tampa finalist will receive a future paying gig at the all new state-of-art Hard Rock Cafe Tampa, a hotel stay, and $200 cash per band member. The runner-up band(s) will also receive a future paying gig at the Hard Rock Cafe Tampa and hotel stay. Open and free to the public- 21 and over.
  • Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa is having a casino drawing promotion with prizes that include up to $20,000 cash or a trip for two to Ireland! Anyone 21 or older with a Seminole Players Club Card can earn entries into the drawings by playing one of the casino's 4,100 popular slot machines, starting on March 1. To activate their earned entries participants simply swipe their Seminole Players Club Card in a designated machine on St. Patrick¹s Day, March 17, when there'll be hourly drawings from 3 - 8 p.m. for the award of $500 in free slot machine play. Then at 5:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., for the Grand Prize drawings the participants will select a four-leaf clover from the special St. Patrick¹s Day game board to win either a four-day, five-night trip voucher worth $3,500 to Ireland including airfare and hotel stay, $20,000 cash, $10,000 cash or $500 cash bonus with one additional pick. Participants must be present to win. Click here for more information.
Disclosure: Seminole Hard Rock Tampa contacted What's Up Tampa Bay directly to promote the Bob Saget Hard Rock Tampa comedy show. Two free tickets to the show were provided for this contest.