Tampa Bay "Beach?"

Covid put the kibosh on travel plans for a year+ and this was the first jaunt I took in several months. 

Fully vaccinated, I went to Tampa for a couple days. Plan was to see a baseball game, hit up a museum or two, and do the boardwalk along the beach. Tropicana Field was still doing seating by pods and there were no single tickets available for when I was there so I ended up buying two tickets to get in. With the Baseball Trip not happening this year, I figured it was still cheaper than it would have otherwise been. 

However, it seems only one side of Tampa Bay has beach access and I was on the other side. Wasn't walking distance and I didn't want to Lyft over for a couple of hours and have no "base" so I decided I'd hang out on my side of town. Dali museum was near my hotel, but tickets were sold out for my availability. Not great planning on my part! No beach, no museum. 

Still, I walked about, saw some Chihuly, and generally relaxed. I wanted to read in the sand and that didn't happen, but I did sit in the wind and read next to the pool and enjoyed some peace. 

Random Edit: I recalled something mildly interesting, extremely mild. I took Lyft between the airport and my hotel and had two dramatically different experiences:

• Airport -> Hotel: I was picked up, the driver was masked up, and he said not one word the entire trip; it was perfectly pleasant!
  
• Hotel -> Airport: I was picked up, but the driver had no mask. She also had three kids, all boys, all of whom she home schooled, which was more difficult after the divorce, but she felt was important they had a foundation of faith. Two of the boys went away to college, one to play baseball, but he decided to return home amidst Covid. She likes her Skyline "all the way," runs at least four mornings a week, and has very strong opinions about quality ice cream. Also, perfectly pleasant, but should have been wearing a mask.