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Tampa

Posted on Saturday, October 29th, 2011

Dave!And so it's time for my annual late-October trip to Orlando.

Except I begged to have my meeting relocated to Tampa, because it's home to the only Hard Rock Cafe in the USA that I haven't visited yet. Fortunately, my begging skills are unparalleled, so I got my wish and here I am.

The last time I was here was to visit the new Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in May 2004 (and to see some friends in the area). The following year I virtually visited the city when I tried to figure out where a mystery photo had been taken, but that doesn't really count. So... it's been a while.

Anyway, for some odd reason the hotel/casino complex launched without a Hard Rock Cafe. That was remedied in December of last year when, after nearly seven years of waiting, a cafe was added and opened its doors. Or maybe it wasn't added and just ended up replacing some other restaurant, I don't know. What I do know is that it's big. 17,500-square-foot big. I also know that it's one of the "new-style" cafes with very little actual rock-n-roll memorabilia, which is a shame. All that aside, it's still pretty cool...

Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Guitar Sign
At the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino!

Hard Rock Cafe Tampa Entrance Through the Casino
The new cafe has its entrance off the casino's main floor.

Hard Rock Tampa Entry Bar
You actually walk through the bar to get to the dining room.

Hard Rock Cafe Tampa Inside the Bar
The bar itself is very cool... despite having no rock memorabilia.

Hard Rock Cafe Tampa Dining Room
The dining room is massive, and even has a stage.

Hard Rock Cafe Tampa Kitchen
A big restaurant has a big kitchen! The horseshoe above says "Who Do You Love?"

   
But even cooler than checking another Hard Rock of my list? I got to meet up with the amazing Blondefabulous for lunch!

It's Blondefabulous!

   
After my adventures in Hard Rock Land, I returned to the airport to finish up work stuff, then went back to my hotel so I could take a nap before dinner.

At which point I then risked my life to eat at Earl of Sandwich.

Earl of Sandwich

In a day and age when places are sued because they don't have handicap accessibility, I am regularly shocked at how many places have no pedestrian accessibility at all unless you drive there by car. Like so many places now-a-days, The International Plaza (home of Earl of Sandwich) can't be reached by foot... even though it's pretty much across the street from my hotel...

Tampa Hostile To Pedestrians

A) I walk to the end of the road... NO CROSSWALK.

B) I see there's a crosswalk on the other side of my street, but there's NO CROSSWALK to get over to it.

C) Once I survive running to the other side of my busy street, I can finally cross over to The International Plaza... except the sidewalk stops, and there's no place to walk to get there.

D) Miraculously, there's a crosswalk to the Northeast, so I cross back across my street so I can climb through bushes to some grass and not have to walk on the road. But eventually I have no choice, because there's nowhere else to go. I then nearly get hit by traffic... twice.

E) After dinner, it's dark. I don't want to risk walking on the road, so I exit on the other side of the mall where there's a sidewalk.

F) The sidewalk doesn't go out to the road, so I'm screwed again. I once again climb through the bushes to grass so I don't have to walk on the road.

G) Once again, NO SIDEWALK and NO CROSSWALK. I end up having to walk along the shoulder of a dark, busy road so I can get back to the only crosswalk I know.

H) Still no crosswalk on my street, so I walk down the road to cross in the hopes I might be more easily seen if a car comes bombing down the road. Nearly get nailed by a motorcycle.

Sheesh.

I mean, seriously, this is insane. Why in the hell can't we WALK anywhere anymore? Do they really expect me to get a taxi so I can just cross the street? That's just stupid. Public places should be legally required to be publicly accessible by pedestrians. How hard is it to add a frickin' sidewalk when you put in a road?

But whatever. As I have blogged many, many, many times, Earl of Sandwich makes the best frickin' sandwich on earth (which only makes sense considering their family invented the thing back in 1762). Their Veggie Sandwich (hold the Roasted Red Peppers) is pretty much worth risking your life over...

Earl of Sandwich Sandwich!

And now that work is over, the Hard Rock & Blondefabulous have been visited, and I've eaten Earl of Sandwich, I guess my work here in Tampa is done. Tomorrow I fly back to Seattle...

Seattle To Tampa Map

Don't you just love crossing the entire country for a single day's adventure?

Tags: , ,
Categories: Hard Rock 2011, Travel 2011Click To It: Permalink
   

Comments

  1. Poppy says:

    I’m convinced they don’t actually mean for you to walk anywhere in Florida, unless you’re on Disney property.

  2. Erin says:

    A-freakin-men.

    (Also, PDX has LOTS of sidewalks. Just sayin.)

  3. It was so awesome to meet you yesterday. I had a blast! Thanks for flying down to sunny Florida!

  4. Sybil Law says:

    That’s why I love my neighborhood- walkability!
    One day trip – I don’t know how you do it…

  5. the muskrat says:

    Was it a special occasion? Or did you just need to earn (or use) some miles for some reason?

  6. Faiqa says:

    I’m jealous. Blondefabulous is, well, fabulous. Also, this map illustrating your route looks like you went out of your way to avoid Memphis. I’d be upset, except I can’t even fathom the possibility of that being true.

  7. martymankins says:

    Quite the walk to get to Earl of Sandwich. I have yet to visit one of those, even though I walked by one last week in Vegas. Must resolve that next time I am there.

    Nice photos of the Hard Rock in Tampa. And cool to have lunch with Blondefabulous.

  8. Casino Design says:

    The design of the Hard Rock casino is very nice. The café and bar/restaurant is outstanding, and has a very welcoming feel. The colored lighting adds depth to the interior, as well as interest to the space. Thank you for sharing.

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