Since the skatepark STILL isn't open before noon (don't they read this blog???? lol), we started our morning at the Florida Aquarium. They open at 9:30 a.m., so we arrived at the parking lot at 9:20, ready to park and walk over to the building, only to learn that even the parking lot doesn't open before 9:30! (Really? Yes, really.)
Several shark sightings later
we were on our way to the skatepark, with a quick stop for lunch at The Bricks, the SPoT-owned cafe/bar in Ybor City (check out the awesome pressed-tin ceiling if you go).
Delicious lunch, despite the near-death experience (okay, not their fault I have a fatal allergy and, fortunately, I asked to see the ingredients in the whole grain bread before I actually bit into my sandwich). Sk8terdude enjoyed the hummus, pita, and veggies and took a PB&J to go in case he got hungry this afternoon. I loved my "Elvis" sandwich (after they switched things up and gave it to me on bread I could eat without dying): peanut butter, banana, honey, and bacon. Yeah, it sounds awful. But that Elvis sure knew what he was doing!
The owners of SPoT and The Bricks, ought to do a better job (IMHO) of cross-promotion. Since they don't have any food at SPoT, except when the snack shop is open for special events and not counting the vending machine, why not post a Bricks menu at SPoT, and hire a "runner" to bring food over from the cafe for hungry skaters. Believe me, I would gladly have paid a small delivery fee to get something healthy to eat yesterday afternoon. Or, if that seems like too much trouble, print up a small map with a coupon ($2 off any entree?) and hand them out to skaters who ask about food options nearby. Yesterday I heard someone ask about food and the guy working the register at SPoT sent him around the corner to 50th Street to find something. Really? It's called marketing, people! Sending skaters to competing restaurants makes no sense to me!
But I digress...
It's Wednesday, which means BMX-day at SPoT. Mid-afternoon a handful of teenage boys have arrived with their bikes (as usual, there are no girls to be seen). While they work the street course in the beginner room (the one I can see from the picnic table), Sk8terdude is working the half-pipe just outside. He's determined to drop in from the top....14 feet!...before the day is over, alhtough it looks to me like he's not quite there. Yesterday one of the guys here told him he needs to be able to get himself as high as the Red Bull logo before he can try dropping in.
He's just about there, and if we were staying in Tampa a few more days I think he would make it, but I'm not sorry we're heading home tomorrow. I don't think my stomach could take it!
No comments:
Post a Comment