Downtown Tampa from eBOATS perspective.
The TGH helicopter lands at the hospital. Photo by Julie Branaman
Boat slips at Tampa Marriott Waterside. Photo by Julie Branaman
A dolphin is seen slapping its tail from the boat near Curtis Hixon Park. Photo by Julie Branaman
The Tampa Riverwalk runs along the Hillsborough River in downtown Tampa. Photo by Julie Branaman
The
83 Degrees Media team takes a ride along the Hillsborough River with
eboats Tampa business owner Josh Dohring, talking about developments in downtown Tampa and the natural beauty that form the urban environment we call home.
Here are some things we saw and recommend you see:
- Dolphins — The bottle-nosed variety love to swim alongside, slap their tails and jump out of the water as they follow electric boats quietly gliding through the water.
- Architecture — From the Tampa Museum of Art to the Tampa Convention Center to the Amalie Arena to the Tampa Bay History Center to the Florida Aquarium to Tampa General Hospital and all the towering skyscrapers hovering overhead, an eclectic mix of buildings and design represent the past, present and future.
- Birds — Herons, gulls and pelicans most frequently, song birds and migrating feathered friends as well swoop overhead and land in the most unpredictable places.
- Rowing teams — College and professional teams and just plain folks are out on the river rowing to the beat of a drum and sometimes singing along as they glide between the river banks painted with colorful graffiti showcasing the diversity of teams who practice here.
- Tampa Riverwalk — Wave hello as pedestrians, bicyclists, skateboarders and runners find their groove along the partially covered concrete ribbon curling around the city’s waterfront.
- Boat docks — Floating docks are being built at Waterworks Park near Ulele restaurant. Other docks exist near the Columbia Cafe at the History Center, near Jackson’s on Harbour Island, near Sono Cafe at Curtis Hixon Park, near the Waterside Grill at the Waterside Marriott and near The Sail by the Convention Center. Pull up to a dock and stay awhile.
- UT — The University of Tampa minarets are a symbol of our historic past in the midst of a modern urban campus that is growing beyond its founders’ dreams.
- Cruise ships — Hardly a day goes by that doesn’t welcome a cruise ship and its global passengers into town. Seeing one in port puts the space you occupy into perspective.
- Harbour Island / Davis Islands / Bayshore Boulevard — Take a gander at some of Tampa’s top choices in urban apartments, townhouses, condos and single-family homes along the Hillsborough Bay waterfront.
- Sunset — Look to the west at dusk to begin to see one of the most spectacular views on earth as the sun sets behind the skyline beaming out shades of pinks and oranges and yellows and greens and blues and purples you can’t find in any child’s crayon box.
- Lights on Tampa — Keep going until after dark to journey back under the Lights of Tampa illuminating downtown Tampa’s bridges and tall buildings.
- Only then can you call it a day well spent in paradise.
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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.