Gram's Place (Tampa & Beaches)

After a quick stop in Atlanta and an educational Kendra episode with Kelley, Emily and I headed to Sarasota.  We did not have a place lined up to stay, that is until we were five miles from Tampa.  One last glance at hostels in Tampa turned up Gram's Place.  Upon looking at the website and enjoying a few "this is too good to be true" laughs, I called and booked it.  The hostel was named after Gram Parsons, an old country singer, and a favorite of Emily's.  Bruce, the gentleman who ran the hostel, took over the property once his brother passed away.  His brother was a HUGE fan of Gram Parsons, hence the name Gram's Place.  The hostel was originally just one building, but when Bruce took over he purchased the house next door and combined both to expand the hostel.  There was so much rich history and stories to be told in this place, it was impossible not to feel humbled just being there.

The first night we got there Emily and I unloaded our stuff in the music room, which used to be an old recording studio, and the place we'd be calling home for the next four nights.  We shared the room with Emmy, a woman in her 40's and one of the most interesting individuals I had ever met in my entire life.  We were not scheduled to build until two days after arriving, so we stayed up late talking to Bruce and learning all about Gram's Place.  The website is a good reflection of what you can expect at GP, but it really does not remotely touch on just how awesome of an experience it is to stay at this place.  There was so much energy behind his stories, especially the ones about his brother and Gram Parsons.  I usually like to chime in or give an opinion once in a while, but this was a time I was more than thrilled to sit back and let him and Emily exchange some pretty cool stories.  We ordered a pizza, stocked the community cooler with lite beer, met a few more of our hostel mates and the rest of the night was history...

Music Room.
Emmy got the big bed.  Emily and I were in twin beds on each end of the room

Loving life after 15 minutes of being there...

Parson's BYOB

The computer under the TV was loaded with great music,
all of which you were able to play at any time

Of the four nights we stayed, the first night and last night at Gram's Place were definitely the most memorable.  Because of the builds, we were in bed at a decent hour most nights.  Our final day in town Bruce was hosting his first Gram Parsons tribute show.  Some of the musicians performing stayed at the hostel our last night there, so it was a lot of fun sitting around talking to them.  Again, a few more moments I got to sit back in awe of Emily and some of the stories she could share with these guys.

If I could ever recommend this place to anyone traveling through Florida, I would do so in a heartbeat.  Gram's Place, Bruce, Emmy and the rest of the people we were blessed to meet will certainly hold a very special place in my heart when looking back on this journey.

Little Amsterdam Room

This is the front porch of the second house that was connected to the original hostel.
It's been host to many musicians, intimate live shows and jam sessions

On our off days from building we ventured out to the beaches.  We're talking suntan weather here.  It was too beautiful to pass up.  What I love about Tampa is there are so many great towns closely surrounding it.  We went to St. Petersburg our first full day in town (still somewhat paying for the late night before).  We ate a very average lunch at Cha Cha Coconuts, a touristy spot on the pier looking over the water.  Food on our Florida trip was very hit or miss.  Some beach spots were completely disappointing and others were fantastic.  Understandably, this is a tourist hot spot, and that was evident on some menus.  We continued our drive down the coast to a few other beaches, all were so beautiful.  A few smaller beaches I would consider going to if I were ever back in the area to avoid the masses for sure.

After our first day building, we headed to Siesta Key Beach, which apparently was voted the #1 beach in the country.  It was certainly beautiful, but also the location of one of the worst meals I have ever had.  Some of them women from the build suggested a few spots, one being Gilligan's Island Bar and Grill.  In their defense, they recommended for great music...we should have known better.  To sit in a restaurant steps from the ocean, and have what was clearly frozen calamari and salmon was quite disappointing. Two days, two meals and we were 0 for 2.  

We had Friday off between build days so we headed to Clearwater Beach.  The 45 minutes we spent on the beach may have helped me over the lovely shade of paste I'd been boding most of 2011.  After a brief stint on the beach, and likely blinding a few strangely tan locals, Emily and I went to Frenchy's Rockaway Grill.  Quite a few people had recommended this spot.  An original of Clearwater.  Wow, were we glad they did.  This was the meal we had be looking for.  SheCrab soup, fresh Grouper and Ahi Tuna later I was so happy to be uncomfortably full.  Hands down, best service, best view, best food of our Florida trip.

After our final building we went to another highly recommended place in Sarasota, Marina Jack, for lunch.  Once again, a success.  A spinach salad for me and Ahi Tuna for Emily, it was the perfect meal to send us on the road for a long drive back to Nashville.

Clearwater Beach. Middle of November. Not to shabby.

I was quite fond of this paraplegic seagull

Home of the crazy pigeon man.

I tend to get photobombed when trying to catch pictures of birds.... so I found it necessary to include this one

Marina Jack in Sarasota for lunch.

I wish there was a cool story to this...

Entering St. Petersburg

Home of the Pelican

St. Petersburg Pier. Great view, boring lunch.

Seeing that there was almost a foot of October snow in PA before I left,
you can understand why I was excited about the simplicity of sunshine and a beach.

All in all, Florida was a great trip.  I had never been to the area, so I'm glad I went, but I'm not sure this would be somewhere I would need to get back to.  Too touristy, unoriginal and not much culture going on in the area.  But don't let me stop you from coming down here, especially for Phillies spring training.  Who doesn't love beach weather year round?

Love from the road,

Erin