Welcome To Tampa Bay: Finding A Good Cup Of Joe & More

Welcome to Tampa GOP delegates, business leaders, politicos and members of the global media.

Tampa and surrounding communities are putting our best forward this week and next as you arrive in town to attend what everyone says is the biggest gathering ever of people here or most anywhere.

We've been planning for months -- the hotels, the caterers, the drivers, the party venues, the security folks, etc. -- and we're ready to host you.

But are you ready to really visit us beyond getting to and from the Tampa Bay Times Forum for the actual Republican National Convention and perhaps spending a day or two at some of our more famous tourist spots?

If you really want to take a deeper dive into the Tampa Bay culture and who we are as a mosaic of the world's people and places, consider reading some of the new and alternative media in town and visit some of the hip, off-beat shops and restaurants.

Just to get you thinking, here's a sampling of some of our favorites off-the-beaten path:

New Media

Tampa Bay Goes Online: New Media Sites Thrive

What Tampa Bay Reads: New Media Sites To Share

Shops

Hot Fashions: Penelope T Meets Tampa Bay's Desire

Tampa Upcycle Launches In The Roosevelt 2.0, Ybor City

ARTpool Gallery: Celebrating Art, Music, Fashion In St. Pete

Co-Op Spirit Unites South Tampa Shops

Feeling Good Vibes On Beach Drive In St. Petersburg

Cafes / Pubs / Restaurants

Kahwa Coffee: Popular St. Pete Cafe Now In Tampa

Buddy Brew Coffee Opens Cafe On Kennedy In Tampa

Cafe Hey: Skinny Bi-otch, Quad Shot & Rebel Rebel, On North Franklin In Downtown Tampa

On Tap: Tampa Bay Brews Its Own For Beer Lovers

Micro Winery, Brewery To Open In Seminole Heights, Tampa

Photo Slideshow: PedalPub, St. Petersburg

Ella's Americana Folk Art Cafe = Good Eats, Funky Atmosphere In Seminole Heights, Tampa

Revisiting The Art Of Dining At The Refinery in Seminole Heights, Tampa

Photo Slideshow: Boba Cafe, North Tampa

A Taste Of Central Avenue, St. Petersburg

Mermaid Tavern: Swingin' For A Cause, Tampa

Pearl In The Grove: Farm Fresh Southern Cooking In Dade City
 
Felicitous Turns 1940s Bungalow Into Coffee Shop, Tampa

Photo Slideshow: Taste Cafe, Safety Harbor

Photo Slideshow: Cafe Kili, Temple Terrace

Art / Galleries / Museums

Photo Slideshow: Duncan McClellan, St. Petersburg

Photo Slideshow: Ybor City Museum, Tampa

Charlie Parker Pottery Celebrates Grand Opening, St. Pete

Photo Slideshow: Zen Glass Studio, St. Petersburg

Diane Egner is publisher and managing editor of 83 Degrees Media. Comments? Contact 83 Degrees.
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Read more articles by Diane Egner.

Diane Egner is a community leader and award-winning journalist with more than four decades of experience reporting and writing about the Tampa Bay Area of Florida. She serves on the boards of the University of South Florida Zimmerman School of Advertising & Mass Communications Advisory Council, The Institute for Research in Art (Graphicstudio, the Contemporary Art Museum, and USF’s Public Art Program) Community Advisory Council, Sing Out and Read, and StageWorks Theatre Advisory Council. She also is a member of Leadership Florida and the Athena Society. A graduate of the University of Minnesota with a BA in journalism, she won the top statewide award for editorial writing from the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors while at The Tampa Tribune and received special recognition by the Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists for creative work as Content Director at WUSF Public Media. Past accomplishments and community service include leadership positions with Tampa Tiger Bay Club, USF Women in Leadership & Philanthropy (WLP), Alpha House of Tampa Bay, Awesome Tampa Bay, Florida Kinship Center, AIA Tampa Bay, Powerstories, Arts Council of Hillsborough County, and the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce. Diane and her husband, Sandy Rief, live in Tampa.