There are several free family-friendly splash parks and zones along the Riverwalk. Start on the north end at Water Works Park, then work your way down to Curtis Hixon Park and the Tampa Bay History Center.
Read MoreA A lifelong Tampa native, Richard Gonzmart grew up in the historic Tampa Heights neighborhood, just blocks from where a defunct park sat for decades. That park was redeveloped into the beautiful Water Works Park, and was the terminus of the newly completed Riverwalk.
Read MoreParrots flew overhead just after midmorning, less than a block from the Anna Maria City Pier, the gentle Gulf breeze swaying the palm trees along Pine Avenue under a radiant sun. The bright green and feathered pandemonium danced above from one neighborhood jungle to the next, taking with them any reminder that this slender barrier island at the Southwestern mouth of Tampa Bay was roughly an hour’s drive from reality.
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