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Suggest a Feature →Tampa Bay
CENTCOM and SOCOM headquarters. And it's Tampa. Tampa is good.
MacDill AFB sits on a peninsula in Tampa Bay, housing CENTCOM (US Central Command) and SOCOM (US Special Operations Command). This makes MacDill one of the most strategically significant bases in the US military — and it sits within 15 minutes of downtown Tampa, a city that has undergone a genuine renaissance over the past decade.
Tampa is no longer the "Cigar City" backwater it was dismissed as in the 1990s. The Riverwalk, the Armature Works food hall, the Ybor City historic district, and a restaurant scene led by James Beard-nominated chefs have made it one of the more dynamic mid-sized cities in the Sun Belt. St. Petersburg across the bay has one of the best art museum collections in the Southeast. The beaches of the Gulf Coast are 45 minutes west.
Must Eat
The spots worth eating at before you PCS out.
Columbia Restaurant (Ybor City)
"Florida's oldest restaurant. A Cuban sandwich before it was a trend."
The Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City has been operating since 1905 — the oldest restaurant in Florida. Flamenco shows in the dining room, hand-rolled Cuban sandwiches, ropa vieja, and black beans and rice. The 1905 Salad (tableside-prepared for groups) is the signature. A genuine Tampa institution.
Bern's Steak House
"One of the most obsessive steakhouses in America. The wine list is a book."
Bern's is a phenomenon: 7,000 wine selections (the largest restaurant wine list in the world), steaks aged in-house, vegetables from a 40-acre organic farm, and a dessert room in converted wine casks upstairs where each table has its own private booth. An entirely unique dining experience.
Reserve the Harry Waugh Dessert Room separately — it's worth the extra stop.
Outdoor
Get outside. The land around military installations is usually the best reason to be there.
Tampa Riverwalk
"2.6 miles along the Hillsborough River. Tampa's crown jewel."
The Tampa Riverwalk connects 8 parks and connects downtown attractions along the Hillsborough River. The waterfront connects Armature Works, the Amalie Arena, the convention center, and Tampa's museums. On weekends, it's the social hub of the city.
Culture & History
Places with stories. Most military towns sit on deep history — dig in.
The Dali Museum (St. Petersburg)
"The largest collection of Salvador Dali's work outside Europe."
The Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg has the most comprehensive collection of Dali's work outside of Spain — over 2,400 works, including 96 oil paintings. The building itself (a geodesic glass atrium that floods with Gulf light) is architectural art. 45 minutes across the Howard Frankland Bridge.
Family
Stuff to do with the kids. Rated by people who have brought actual children.
Florida Aquarium (Tampa)
"The Everglades, Florida reefs, and a touch tank. 15 minutes from base."
The Florida Aquarium in the Channelside district covers Florida's aquatic ecosystems — the springs, the Everglades, the mangroves, and the Gulf reefs. A dive-with-sharks program runs seasonally.
Day Trips
When you need to remember there's a world outside the gate.
"Clearwater Beach has been ranked #1 US beach multiple times. 30 miles."
The Gulf beaches of Pinellas County — Clearwater, St. Pete Beach, Treasure Island, and Madeira Beach — have consistently been rated among the best in the US for soft sand and calm Gulf water. Caladesi Island (accessible by ferry) is the most pristine of them all.
The Tampa Bay Lightning are one of the NHL's elite franchises. Amalie Arena games are worth attending.
St. Petersburg's Central Arts District (Central Ave from 4th Street west) has the best independent restaurant and bar scene in the metro area.
The Howard Frankland and Gandy Bridge crossings between Tampa and St. Pete experience brutal rush hour traffic. Build time into any cross-bay trip.
The Armature Works food hall in Tampa's Heights district is the best single-stop option for varied food.
The Cuban sandwich in Tampa (salami is added, unlike Miami versions) is a point of significant local pride. Have one at a minimum.
Tampa Bay traffic has worsened dramatically as the metro has grown. I-275 and the Howard Frankland Bridge are chokepoints. The MacDill peninsula location limits exit routes during evacuation — know the hurricane evacuation routes.
This guide is built by people who've been stationed here. If there's a spot we got wrong or a gem we missed, tell us.