A weekend in Tampa Bay

Ended our week long road trip around Florida in Tampa Bay! It made for a great weekend of exciting sports, delicious food, and a wonderfully comfortable stay. We mostly visited Tampa to see their baseball team the Ray’s play the Red Sox on our quest to see all 30 baseball stadiums. This stadium trip made for our 21st! It was also a playoff game which made for a great rowdy crowd. Along with watching the game We also really enjoyed driving around the different areas of the city and seeing all the beautiful homes (especially in Hyde Park and on Davis Island). Hyde Park also has an adorable outdoor shopping area ful! of great upscale shopping and restaurants.

We stayed at The Karol Hotel which was the perfect logistical location between the baseball stadium and the bridge into downtown Tampa. Such a clean and beautiful hotel with all the perfect perks you cold ever need. They had chic rooms with coffee machines for those relaxing mornings and a nice gym that makes Scotty very happy! Located on the water for beautiful views! I absolutely loved that they had a rooftop bar with excellent views across the bay into downtown Tampa to enjoy as well as the most delicious restaurant. I cant tell you enough how delicious it was!! We ordered the cheese tray, grouper piccata, braised short rib and two lovely glasses of wine. Everything was delicious.

We got great advice on a historic restaurant to eat at in town called Columbia Restaurant that was the most highly recommended place on all the blogs and research I did. They have several locations in town with, the original being in the historic Ybor district (another fun place to see and hangout!). We ordered everything off the menu that was highlighted in “red” as being their highly recommended items and it was all so good!

Tampa is filled with many cute shopping and eating spots to hangout and tons of delicious restaurants! We really loved our relaxing end of the trip and seeing Tampa play Boston in the first post season series for the year. Do you have any favorite spots in Tampa? Be sure to leave them below for everyone to see. I know there is so much more we didn’t have time to see and cover in 2 quick days!

Xo, Amanda

Charleston, South Carolina City Guide

We just got back from our southern style vacation and I quickly already find myself looking up real estate prices in Charleston! Its definitely a new favorite for me and Scotty with all its history, classic charm, and amazing eats! So lets break down where we stayed, ate, and show you all the fun activities we did! I hope when you visit you fall in love with this place just as much as we did!

Where we stayed:

Hotel Emeline

The cutest boutique hotel perfectly positioned in the middle of downtown Charleston. This great stay added to the love I have for this city. It had the classic architecture, the cutest rooms, lobby, coffee shop and restaurant! This hotel had everything you need and MORE! Highly recommend staying here for the great location alone. We walked everywhere downtown and didn’t need our car until we went to dinner at Sullivan’s Island and toured the town’s plantations. Be sure when you book this place you also get a reservation at their own restaurant Frannie and the Fox !(i'‘ll share more in restaurants recs!!) To book your stay head over to their website -here-.

Where to eat: (in order of how we ate it)

Leon’s Oyster Shop - This renovated old gas station was the most requested place to eat in all my online research. Also a great hangout place to grab a drink on a Sunday Fun day! If you love many different types of oysters, then this is your place! We don’t eat oysters often but had them because its the #1 food item recommended..and when in Rome?? What we ordered: Char-Grilled Oysters, Fried Chicken and Smoked Mahi Dip.

The Obstinate Daughter - A must when you cross the bridge into Sullivan’s Island jut outside of Charleston. We made the pretty drive over the water after our photos on night one! Was also highly recommended on my research and was one of our photographers favorites. Highly recommend getting a reservation before because this place gets packed. Being this was a last minute trip I was a little late but checked the day before to see if they had cancellations and was lucky enough to be able to get in. What we ordered: Roasted Beets (AMAZING!), Ricotta Gnocchi (best Gnocchi I have had with short ribs on top!), Five Fathom Hole Pizza.

Callie’s Hot Little Biscuits - Perfect place to grab a quick breakfast! We got them from the downtown location by our hotel after our morning walk around town. So many options and all made fresh in house! We ordered one of almost every biscuit with different jams and the classic southern pimento cheese spread (which was my favorite!)

For 15% off your order at Callie’s Hot Little Biscuits online use code “AMANDA15”

5Church Charleston - WOW! This location is beyond gorgeous (on Market street). It’s literally a completely renovated beautiful old Church with so much gorgeous detail. HIGHLY recommend getting reservations here it was packed! Brunch, Lunch and Dinner are all offered here with a full bar! What we ordered: Daily Charcuterie, Spring Salad, Handmade Braided Ravioli (SO DARN GOOD!), 9oz Filet, and Cronuts (YUM!). Not sure they have anything bad on the menu after this spread.. it was all so good!!

Frannie and the Fox - this was our hotel restaurant and a top pick online too! If you are looking for somewhere to have breakfast… do yourself a favor and get the pancakes.. not sure if its overly dramatic to say but these were the best pancakes I had ever had! So good that I was telling Scotty the next day I wanted to stop trying other places and just have pancakes again!!

Millers All Day - Last but certainly not least! Such an adorable place to grab breakfast or lunch and oh so delicious!! Highly recommend making reservations! A perfect place to go when shopping up and down the famous King Street! What we ate: pimento cheese plate, millers smash burger (must get!!), Club, homefries, and of course coconut cream pie!

What we did:

Photoshoot - This probably wont be the top of your list.. but as a blogger content photos are important, plus its just so fun to have photos taken when your in a new town that you can use for Christmas cards and to look back on! I highly recommend Rebecca see her work -here-. Having an amazing photographer is also a great way to learn more about the city and little spots you may never normally see. She was basically the best tour guide and photographer.

Plantations - Highly recommend doing multiple plantations on your visit! The important history of plantations is so interesting and of course unique to the South and in particular this part of the country. These amazing properties are quite the thing to see. The plantations are all outside of the downtown area so you’re going to be in your car driving, so we also went to..

Magnolia plantation and gardens - lots of greenery and garden areas to walk around and see.

Middleton place - a large running farm with animals and areas with people working and ready to talk to you about their craft and the plantation/history itself.

Boone Hall Plantation - Large area, you can go into the main house, they have a restaurant and lots of information/videos going to learn more about it history.

Mcleod Plantation - A last minute plantation visit out of town. Lots of area to walk and see but not much else. Would recommend this only if you are looking for more to do. The top 3 are our favorites.

Morning Walks - The best part of vacations is exploring! We did this in our morning walks and saw the town before the tourists were up and all around. We walked to the pineapple fountain, rainbow row, waterfront park and high battery park.

Thank you for tagging along and exploring the world with us! We love sharing our travels and hope to help you experience the world more beautifully. Let me know if you go to any of our recommendations and how you enjoyed them!

XoXo, Amanda

Savannah, Georgia City Guide

We were so excited we got the chance to visit Savannah on our recent trip to Georgia! Driving up the coastline from Charleston made Savannah our 3rd stop on our getaway but the 1st stop in the Peach state! There was more than enough charm, history, culture, and live music to see but we took it pretty easy here and enjoyed the beauty of our hotel along the river front area! Here’s where we stayed, ate and played in the 48 hrs we were in Savannah!

Where we stayed:

River Street Inn - a 200 year hotel located on River Street. Its been remodeled and updated but still has all the beauty and charm that the long history has provided it with! The building was originally constructed to serve the needs of the cotton industry and gives you access to both sides of River Street. River street makes for a perfect waterfront stroll with great views of the towns famous Ferry boats along with massive cargo ships and recreational boats. Along with the great views the street walk is full of great restaurants, shopping, nightlife, and live music.

Where we ate:

Little Duck Diner - A cute spot right in the heart in the heart of downtown serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. What we ordered: Little Duck in Paris (French toast meal), Chicken and Waffles, Lavender Bubble Bath Bellini (so delicious and comes with a rubber ducky perfect for a cute pic!)

The Olde Pink House - Far and away the #1 recommended place online to eat and for good reason! It was an amazing experience with great food and beauty! HIGHLY recommend getting a reservation over 2 months ahead of time! We planned this trip 2 weeks before and couldn’t get one. However if you arrive at 4:45 they can put you on a wait list to eat in the Tavern or Bar. We arrived at 4:20 because I reallllly wanted to make sure we could get in. We wanted to eat in the Tavern basement because it gives you more of an experience. They only let the first 8 people in line in and then you wait on a list for openings the rest of the night. Luckily we were #3 and #4 so we got in at 5 and had a lovely meal! After we ate we got to walk upstairs to see the rest of the renovated old mansion where you needed reservations for and in my opinion the Tavern basement was even better then upstairs inside! They did have seating at tables too in the Tavern so if you make a reservation maybe recommend the Tavern. What we ordered: Pink Lady, Mac & Cheese Jalapeno Poppers, “BLT” Salad (One of the best salads and featured on tv show The best thing I ever ate), Caramelized Vidalia Onion & Sweet Potato Ravioli, Grilled Port Tenderloin, and of course dessert the basket (which was AMAZING and you have to order and send me a picture because OMG!!!)

Collins Quarter - 2 locations in Savannah with one downtown and one in the middle of the famous Forsyth park that is gorgeous! We ate at the park location and took in the views on a great walk after brunch. What we ate: Pork Belly Beni, Park Brisket Burger (another great burger!), Duchess of Cambridge (yummy cocktail!)

Savannah’s Candy Kitchen -

they have a location on River street! So many goodies but do not forget to get the gopher! It’s so good that we even brought some home to enjoy!

What we did:

Savannah is a little more spread out so if you are wanting to see more of the historical sites I would suggest doing a hop on hop off city tour or having a car to see more.

Savannah Banana’s - A local minor league baseball team that is all over ESPN and YouTube for the comical show they put on while playing ball! Legends such as Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Hank Aaron, Ty Cobb and Jackie Robinson all played on this field in their early days!

Cathedral Basilica of St. John The Baptist - The first building in Georgia of brick and 81 stained glass windows and. Constructed in 1834 it is absolutely beautiful and open to the public. They do have daily Mass and the schedule is on their website.

River Street - Walking down river street is an experience! Lots of shops, restaurants and places to grab a drink while you walk (because you can drink in public on the streets in Savannah!).

Thanks for tagging along on our Savannah adventure. Let us know below where we should head to next!

Xo, Amanda