Florida Aquarium, SS American Victory & Sparkman Wharf

An hours drive from The Villages Florida is the Florida Aquarium in downtown Tampa. When we moved to the Tampa area in 2009 we would visit the Florida Aquarium quite often. Our daughter learned to scuba dive at this aquarium, even doing a dive with sharks and a very large friendly grouper that weighed several hundred pounds. It has been a few years since we visited this aquarium so this is a trip for us to see what has changed and remained the same. Typically the aquarium has something to offer all age groups from 2 to 82. So this is a great venue to take multi-generational visitors to. The Aquarium is located next to the Cruise terminals and is a frequented activity prior to getting on or off a cruise. This is the Aquarium's website for further details on visiting: https://www.flaquarium.org/ There are also two other venues to consider visiting and the first one is historic. Next to the Aquarium is the SS American Victory. This Victory ship saw service in the Pacific Theater of Operations during the final months of World War II, Korean War, and Vietnam War. Victory ships were tasked with carrying cargo and troops into and out of the theaters of operation. While this ship is on the National Register of Historic Places, it is still fully operational. Of the 534 victory ships that were completed only three are operation capable today. This is the ship's website for further details on visiting: http://www.americanvictory.org/ The second venue is Sparkman Wharf which is right next to Cruise Terminal 2 and a very short walk from the Aquarium. This is an area that received a makeover as part of the $3 Billion Water Street project. It is primarily walk up dining and if you have been to The Villages Edna’s on the Green food trucks this will be familiar to you. However, the take away restaurants are in conex shipping containers which blends well with the seaport theme. There is lots of outdoor seating to enjoy your meal. There are also some traditional sit down restaurants as well as retail stores. One end of the Wharf is anchored by a beer garden. The Wharf is a popular pre and post Tampa Bay Lightning Hockey games. The is the Sparkman Wharf website: https://sparkmanwharf.com/ Charlie and Jennifer Pryde have lived in The Villages for one year and in Central Florida for fifteen years. Our main activities in The Villages are biking, fitness parks, pickle ball, platform tennis, golf and swimming. We love to travel throughout Florida, the United States and internationally. Our Youtube channel’s focus is on promoting a physically active lifestyle for mature adults, but we will also indulge ourselves in a good restaurant, bakery or watering hole that we find during our travels. Please email us or write in the comments section if you have any questions on our videos. Email: Prydeofthevillages@gmail.com Please “Subscribe” if you like our channel and hit the thumbs up “Like” button. This will alert you to our new video posts. Thanks for watching! Charlie and Jennifer (Pryde of The Villages)