I recently had some work that took me to Tampa. To get there, I flew on Hawaiian Airlines and took the direct flight from Honolulu to Boston.
Because I had some miles banked and because this is such a long flight (9.5 hour from HNL to BOS and 11 hours from BOS to HNL), I used my miles to upgrade to first class so that I could be comfortable in the lie-flat seats. It is so worth it for long flights like this one. After landing in Boston, I headed to the nearby Jet Blue gate to catch my 3 hour flight to Tampa. The flight was comfortable and I was able to sleep all the way from Boston to Tampa and I missed the snacks and drinks. Since I in Tampa for work, I didn’t have much leisure time and didn’t have time to suffer the 90+ degree heat.
I stayed at the comfortable Tampa Marriott Water Street where the conference was being held.
After we checked in, my conference colleagues and I headed to nearby Ybor City on the free city shuttle. We had some lunch and walked around. The town wasn’t very busy but was an interesting place to walk around. If you are into cigars, you would enjoy this town.
On my final day in Tampa, we had time to go to Columbia Cafe where I had a Cuban sandwich with the restaurants famous Original “1905” salad so named because the restaurant has been in business since 1905.
That evening, the conference dinner was held on the StarShip Yacht with a Taste of Tampa menu. They even had a cigar-rolling station on board where they were giving away cigars.
After Tampa, I headed back to Boston where I spent a day before coming home. I stayed at the Boston Sheraton Downtown. It was a nice hotel and the room was very comfortable. A big plus is that the hotel is connected to a large shopping mall so despite the fact that it was raining in Boston on the evening I arrived, I could still walk to other areas in town through the covered mall. So, I made it to Trader Joe’s to stock up on some essentials. After my TJ stop, I dropped off my almonds, spices, and snack purchases in my room and then went back to the mall to enjoy the Fall Wine & Cheese tasting event at Eataly.
After the wine and cheese, I headed to Hokkaido Ramen Santouka where I got a quick bite of ramen which I was craving since I watched Ramen Heads movie on Hawaiian Airlines on my way to Boston. I also got some rice and natto to go in case I got hungry later that evening.
It just so happened that my friends Pam and Jesse were there that day so we did a tour of Boston on my one full day in Boston. It was a beautiful city and I want to visit again soon. I made sure to eat a lobster roll and some chowda! Living Hilo Style in Boston.
Living Hilo Style 