Tampa St. Petersberg is a World Series Place

The Tampa Bay area will get a chance in the spotlight when the Tampa Bay Rays host baseball's World Series for the first time this week. The cities of Tampa and St. Petersburg, on Florida's Gulf Coast, do not get as much tourist press as, say, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and Orlando. But there is plenty to see and do in this western Florida metropolis.

Hey, this is Florida; so the biggest tourist draw in the area is Busch Gardens. The massive amusement park/zoo is probably one of the best of its kind in Florida. When the World Series is not in town, Busch is the best place to be for excitement.

That is, unless you find your excitement at shops, nightclubs and restaurants. Tampa has a few great entertainment areas, the most notable being Ybor City. The neighborhood is one of the city's oldest. It maintains a lot of the charm it had when Italian and Cuban immigrants used to call it home. Tampa's streetcar service has a line that runs through Ybor City. The neighborhood is designated as a National Historic Landmark District.

Another entertainment area is Channelside. This revamped neighborhood is home to the city's upscale nightlife venues and also boasts the highest concentration of restaurants and bars.

St. Petersburg is not as lively as its bigger sister, but there are plenty of reasons to take a trip across the bay. The Salvador Dali museum is here. The largest collection of the whimsical Spanish painter's work in the US is housed inside its galleries. Entrance is $15.

St. Pete's is also home to plenty of parks and gardens. The Sunken Gardens, in the central district of the city, is a maze of dense greenery located one storey below street level. Near the bay, Fort DeSoto Park offers plenty of chances to picnic, walk on the beach, hike and camp.

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