Dear K,

You know how Portuguese food makes me home sick! We do have to go there next time we meet in Miami : ) I can’t remember the last time I had a pastel de nata!!! Today I’m gonna tell you about what I did in the last weekend of January. I know we’ve seen each other since then, but Miami is always so crazy that we didn’t really have time to catch up on our adventures.

So remember when I told you about Next Big Thing in Tampa and that I met tons of random people?! I kept in touch with some of them and one of the guys, J, invited me to go to Gasparilla with him and his friends. It’s like Mardi Gras but everyone is wearing pirate’s costumes. You know I don’t really care about costumes but I never say no to a party.

We stayed in a beach front condo in St. Petersburg that had an amazing view. It was my first time there so I was happy we had some time on Friday night to explore the downtown area. We went to the main street that is full of bars to meet some of J’s friends and to have some drinks before the big day. We stayed for a while at Cask & Ale, which has a really good vibe and drinks.

At 10:30 am on Saturday, there was a party bus waiting outside to take all of us from St. Pete to Tampa. When I heard about it I figured there would be a pole in the middle. With all the thoughts that crossed my mind when I got in that bus, I was just glad I brought my hand sanitizer.

Despite this small detail, some of costumes were actually pretty cool and we had a blast on the way to the parade.

At some point already in Tampa I got completely lost from the group while trying to find a bathroom. I met random people, as usual, and still had a blast. Only one small detail: I kind of missed the whole parade LOL. Seriously, what’s wrong with me?! Well, at least I was able to find everyone and the party bus by the time it was over…

On Sunday, we definitely needed to recharge our batteries, so we went back to downtown St. Pete for brunch. Not really easy to find a table, since it was a bit crowded, but we ended up staying at Cassis. The food was really good and the entertainment even better. There was an 70-year-old pimp sitting in front of us, with two young ladies, it was just hilarious. And the food was absolutely delicious!!!

Oh God, this whole weekend was just too much! I did enjoy downtown St. Pete a lot though. It’s on the beach and the vibe I got was really cool and relaxed, even when it was a little bit more crowded. Everyone was really nice to me and I do want to go back for a weekend, this time just to enjoy the beach, the sun, and the food ahahah.

– C