Georgia – vantravelusa2

My friend Roger and I made plans to attend the 2019 Colorado Rockies season opener in Miami as well as some of the following games in Miami and Tampa. Roger lives on the east coast so I flew in and we then used his camper as our base for the excursion.

Roger, camper and nice socks:

On the way to Miami, we stopped for a night at Salt Springs Recreation Area. Beautiful area for camping and water activities.

The second day we set up camp at a KOA in Davie, FL, near Miami. This gave us easy access to the Miami Marlin’s Stadium as well as Florida beaches.

The Miami Marlin Stadium is located on 17 acres in Little Havana, about 2 miles west of downtown. The stadium construction was completed in March 2012.

We saw two games in Miami. The Rockies played well and won the games we attended. We had a good time.

The stadium has some neat features including:

Retractable roof and outfield glass panels. The glass panels provide unobstructed views of the downtown Miami sky line. Pics of stadium with roof open and closed as well as the structure used for sliding roof.

Aquatic home plate backstop

Clevelander Bar and swimming pool, a South Beach-themed nightclub located in the stadium at the left field wall.

Bobblehead museum:

Roger has attended the Rockies Fantasy Camp in Arizona a number of times. As such, we met up with some of his Rockies friends and acquaintances for pre-game warm ups as well as at the games. It was surprising how many Rockies fans attended.

Some pics of Roger and I as well as “Q” (a Denver friend of Roger’s from fantasy camp) and Raquel (whose nickname is “Mayor”, of downtown Denver).

Pre-game warm up sites, located in little Havana:

While in the Miami area, we wanted to hit a beach one day. Hollywood Beach was recommended by a number of the locals. A great recommendation. We spent time walking the boardwalk as well as drinks and music at a number of the spots on the beach.

Margaritaville – was the first stop. Sculpture of a busted flip flop and surfing pool.

We then found great music and good times at the Rip Tide and Grumpy Gary’s. Early morning walk back to Roger’s truck in beach parking lot at 3 am.

The next morning was moving day. We folded up camp and moved to Lake Manatee State Park, which served as a base to attend two baseball games in Tampa.

The Rockies went 1 and 1 for the games we attended. We met “Q” for the games and also pre-game activities.

The Tampa Bay Rays Stadium has a cool walkway from the parking lot to entry. Some pics of the stadium, stadium area and pre-game sites.

While in the area, we visited a number of beach areas and caught some nice sunsets.

Siesta Beach: Plenty of free parking and white sand beaches.

Shepards Tiki Bar at Clearwater Beach: A great place for live music, a chill vibe and great sunsets:

Bradenton Beach and the Drift In: A place where a good mix of locals, visitors, and a bit of criminal element hang out. Fun place!

Some additional pics from the area:

On the way back to Rogers abode, we camped one night outside of Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. I would like to come back and spend more time here for kayaking. They have platforms in the back country areas which you can paddle to and then camp.