Weâre looking for some help. You see, weâve been in Tampa for over a month now, yet it feels as if we havenât really gotten to know the place. Our taskmasters at Creative Loafing keep us slaving all day long, and most of the time weâve been too tuckered out to do much urban exploring of our own. We fritter away our spare time with cutthroat games of Parcheesi, petty vandalism and a number of other activities generally reserved for retirement or the Republican National Convention.
Suffice it to say, our loafing hasnât been terribly creative.
But weâre young and open-minded and in our prime! And bored. Most of all weâre bored, which is why weâre making this appeal to you. Before we jet out of here in a month we want to attain âTrue Localâ status, and youâre going to decide what that means. Show us around. Break us in Tampa Bay-style. Tell us where we have to go and what we have to do there. Send us to the tourist traps and the hometown haunts, the rooftop where everyone parties and the sliver of beach that only you know about. Challenge our endurance, quicken our senses, tickle our funnybones. Teach us Tampanese. St. Petersburgian. Clearwatery. And donât be afraid to test our inhibitionsâfor you, Tampa Bay, weâll try anything once.
Weâll report back daily on our new blogâMust-Do II: New Kids on the Bay (blogs.creativeloafing.com/must-do). We may not be as hunky as Joey McIntyre, but we can still throw down. The blog is where you can submit suggestions until your typing finger goes numb. You can also check out videos, pictures and stories from our exploration. And after a month has passed and weâve ravaged this city, weâll revamp the Must-Do list and present you with âMust-Do II: The Hundred Things You Gotta Do When Youâre New To Tampa Bay.â
We ask only one thing. If we emerge alive from these four weeks of binging and purgingâour clothes tattered, our beards tangled, our brains bruisedâwe want to garner the most honorable title this side of Guantanamo. We want to join the ranks of Tampa Bayâs True Locals.
âBrian Reed & Ted Scheinman