Spring Training Online

If You Go ...

If you're in Tampa in March, you're in the midst of spring-training nirvana. Spring-training venues in Tampa/St. Pete or within easy driving distance include Lakeland (Detroit Tigers), Dunedin (Toronto Blue Jays), Clearwater (Philadelphia Phillies), Bradenton (Pittsburgh Pirates), and Lakeland  (Detroit Tigerd). You can expect your trip to spring training to be filled with lots of baseball in the Tampa area.

If you're bringing the kids, a possible stop is Busch Gardens, a theme part built around a zoo, various rides, and a water park. I will confess it's been many years since I've visited Busch Gardens -- in fact, Anheuser-Busch still owned the park when I last visited -- so I can't wholeheartedly recommend Busch Gardens.

Those more in a mood to party will want to head to Ybor City, Tampa's Latin Quarter. It's a gentrified area that was once home to cigar factories that's now a shopping and entertainment mecca. Ybor City's larger buildings can be seen a ways away, and the district -- located on 7th Avenue East between 15th and 20th streets -- is well-served with many road signs showing the way. Notable nightlife spots include brewpub Barley Hopper's International Alehouse, the Green Iguana bar, and the Centro Ybor, which houses several clubs and restaurants. At night Ybor City gets pretty rowdy, as the music clubs bring them in. Oh, and you can still find hand-rolled cigars in Ybor City as well.

Also worth a trip is the Pier, located on the waterfront in downtown St. Petersburg. The Pier features a five-story inverted pyramid with giant tubes bubbling with fish and creatures from the sea, complete with a second-floor aquarium filled with native and tropical fish and sharks. You'll also find educational exhibits from the Great Explorations Museum and the historic H.M.S. Bounty docked pierside.

For the truly surreal, there's the Salvador Dali Museum in St. Pete. Get it? Surreal? Good.

If you're looking for more excitement, you can head into Orlando, which is 75 miles up I-4. Spring-training venues in Orlando include Champion Stadium (Atlanta Braves) and Kissimmee (Houston Astros).

Where to Stay: Steinbrenner Field is less than three miles from the airport, so any of the many airport hotels would work out. In addition, there are a slew of hotels located halfway between the hotel and the airport, advertising themselves as "airport stadium" hotels -- like the Hilton Tampa Airport Westshore and the Howard Johnson Airport Stadium Hotel. You won't be able to walk to Legends Field from these hotels, but their proximity will come in handy if you're staying for multiple games.

Flying In: Tampa International Airport is obviously the closest airport and the most convenient. It's not the biggest airport in the world and is easy to navigate. All the major airlines fly into Tampa.

Still, you may also want to consider flying into Orlando and then driving to Tampa if the fare to Orlando is significantly cheaper. The drive is 79 miles and takes an hour and a half on I-4 -- which is not the best freeway in the world, admittedly -- but if you can save $100 or so on your air fares, the drive will be worth it.

To receive spring-training information and schedule updates via email, please sign up for the Spring Training Online email newsletter.