New Years 2017 in Tampa

We decided to trek to Tampa for the Panthers vs Bucaneers game this year, with our friends Buckley and Jean. 

Last year we went to Nashville to see the Panthers play. 

The 2014 season we went to Atlanta (also for the last game of the season). 

We flew down Friday morning and headed to Ybor City (old historic part of Tampa) for lunch and exploring.

We also went to Cigar City Brewing but I somehow failed to get pictures. We can't get their beer in NC, so we left some extra space in our checked bag to bring it back with us!

Friday evening we went to our condo for the weekend to get settled and figure out what to do for dinner. We just happened to be sitting around for this amazing sunset view (right off our balcony!). We were right on the bay, still in Tampa but the little lights in the distance are the bridge over to the beaches in the area. It was a great little spot!

The top right unit with the lights on was our condo!

Saturday we went to the Tampa Zoo!

The monkey exhibit was our favorite!

We got to watch them catch (the workers toss it to them) and eat their food!

The Hurricanes also just happen to be playing in Tampa that weekend, so we went to that game on Saturday night!

There were fireworks all around the bay that we could see from the condo for New Year's Eve!

They have a pirate ship at one end of the stadium.... it was so crowded around there! Such a mess to try to walk through

Sunday was the Panthers game. It has been a rough season and wasn't the most thrilling game but it was still a fun experience. 

There was a bowl game to be played the next day at 1 pm, so as soon as the game was over they were out cutting the grass and starting to prep the field. 

Monday we had to check out of our condo and headed to Clearwater Beach then St. Pete Beach for the day to hang out until we had to head to the airport (our flight didn't leave until 11 pm!)

Our feet in the (cold) gulf!

Pier 60 in Clearwater

Clearwater was pretty packed with people every where!

St. Pete was gorgeous, and less packed. Our neighbor recommended that we go to Hurricane rooftop bar for sunset. Luckily we got there a while before sunset and snagged a good table. He was right, the view was amazing! So we had some drinks and spent a few hours there until we headed to the airport.