Indulge in all the Southeast has to Offer! IndulgeSE.com

1. Issue 3
Volume 1
Vegetarian is
the New Black

2. Well, hello again! I am sorry to inform you that due to budgetary
restraints, you are stuck with my photography for the month. Cam Bell is not
very happy at all! We will be back on track next month in Savannah, Georgia.
We are extremely excited to receive submissions from all around the
south at any time! Send them to Submissions@IndulgeSE.com
If you like our content, please follow us on Twitter @IndulgeSE.
We’d love to hear from you to figure out where we should go next! Let
us know where you think we should go on Twitter or at IndulgeSE.com.
I must admit that I have been really stressed over this issue and hope
that it brings you all of the satisfaction that the last two months have hopefully
brought you, as well!

3. CONTENTS
Tampa Bay, Florida
6
Vegetarian is the New Black
20
Time to Get Revved Up
23
AMI (Famous) Bar Crawl
26

4. Three wheeled Excitement
One’s Crap is Another’s Treasure Trove
Arrr Mateys
Letter From the Creator
5
34
35
2

5. By: Kevo Booker
Three Wheeled Excitement Doesn’t Only Come From Big Wheels!
The scene is Amsterdam, Netherlands. It is raining and the sun has been set long enough
that a chill has enslaved the air. The train station leading to the refuge of a warm hotel and
food is 13 blocks away. And, you are sick of being sick of walking.
Ok! It was me. I was sick of being sick of walking! We had walked all day in a town
where we should have DEFINITELY rented bicycles! But, my redemption was about to roll
by and I would learn one of the most entertaining ways to see a city. The rickshaw was a
total game changer. If you ever had the chance to ride Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride at Walt Disney
World, you have shared in the rickshaw experience. It is a weirdly and surprisingly nonterrifying whirlwind ride through pedestrians and vehicles. Because of the rain, we had a
clear and yellow, plastic rain cover surrounding us. Water from the trike tires sprayed up the
side with a unique buzzing sound. We arrived at Centraal Station Amsterdam alive,
unscathed, and filled with excitement from an antique method of travel but a first time
experience for us.
Since then, I’ve had a more leisurely rickshaw ride in Key West, where numbers are
limited so snatch one when you see it is empty! It was just as enjoyable as Mr. Kevo’s Wild
First Ride!
When you are heading to a city that will require a lot of moving around, look into
rickshaw availability, enjoy a ride, send your favorite rickshaw pictures to Indulge Southeast,
and we will proudly display them on our website!

7. Tampa Bay covers a lot of area. This month’s
big tip
is to rent a car if you don’t
drive there in your own! Much of the city can be
enjoyed for a nominal parking fee and a healthy
dose of walking. However, to really get a taste of
what the area is all about, you will quickly find it
necessary to drive.
Downtown Tampa offers a plethora of
entertainment, art, food, and shopping. It has also
been built as visitor friendly as possible. Walking
to most attractions is not only feasible but
downtown has been set up for it. Coast Bike
Share is another way to get around Tampa.

8. In the immediate vicinity of Tampa, there are plenty of sights
to be seen. Many of the city’s buildings, like the Tampa
Convention Center, the David A Straz Center for Performing
Arts, and the Tampa Museum of Art all sit close to the canal and
are lit beautifully at night. For the best views, head to the
University of Tampa side of the canal and view across the water.
Just down the way from the University is the Henry B. Plant
Museum, formerly the Henry Plant Hotel, sitting amongst palm
trees with its spires aiming at the sky. A bit further along you will
end up in Hyde Park and along Bayshore Boulevard. Touted as
Home of the World’s Longest Sidewalk, at 4.5 miles, Bay-shore

9. Across the green sod and symmetrical concrete
of the
Curtis Hixon
Waterfront Park from the Tampa Museum of Art and
the Glazer Children’s Museum is the Florida Museum
of Photographic Arts. Just down the road is the Tampa
Bay Convention Center, which has a cabana of sorts
located on the canal. All of this is connected by the
River Walk.
Generally, you can see the pirate ship of Jose Gasparilla in this
area. A couple of blocks down is the Tampa Bay Times Forum, a
beautiful piece of modern architecture and home of the Tampa
Bay Lightning professional hockey team.
The River Walk is across the street from the forum and nestled

10. The walk has maps
and guideposts so there is
no chance of getting lost.
For historians, along the
walk are the busts of
several prestigious figures
with backgrounds written
on the plaques, as well as
the Seminole War
Memorial dedicated to
preserving the memory of
the Seminole Wars that
happened between 1817
and 1858.

11. The memorial sits adjacent to the Tampa Bay
History
Center, which displays a lot
about the heritage of Tampa Bay. From there, it is a
short jaunt to the Florida Aquarium. The area is known
as Channelside and is home to the Tampa Port Authority
and the highly touted Cruise Terminal 2, where
mammoth cruise ships dock in town. Just up the
sidewalk is docked the SS American Victory Mariners’
Memorial and Museum Ship.
Keep in mind that the distance covered for all of
these attractions is 1.2 miles of very user friendly
concrete. As a matter of fact, other than these areas,
you will have to find transportation of some form or
another. The TECO streetcar lines run from near the
convention center up to Ybor City. There are trolley

13. Ybor City is a historical portion of town better m
known for its party style atmosphere than it is for
Centennial Park or the Ybor City Museum. This
area of Tampa made its bones rolling cigars by
hand and soothed its hunger by creating the
Cuban sandwich, which has since been named
the official sandwich of Tampa!
Downtown Tampa has realized the importance of
nature amongst the gridlock of asphalt. There are
several parks around the city and they have great
landscaping!

14. North
Tampa is the home of
Busch Gardens Tampa,
Adventure Island
Waterpark, Lowry Park
Zoo, the Museum of
Science and Industry,
and the University of
South Florida. There
are many BIG
entertainment options in
this section of town! It
is, however, about a half

15. Nearer downtown but five to
ten minutes west, is Raymond
James Stadium home of the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Across
the street of George Steinbrenner
Field, the home of the New York
Yankees during spring training. To
the west across Gulf to Bay
Boulevard is Tampa Bay Downs.
Southwest of Tampa is St.
Petersburg, sharing space on the
bay. When leaving out of
Tampa, follow I-275 until Tropicana
Field, home of the Tampa Bay
Devil Rays, merge onto I-375 to
the heart of the Sunshine City near
the Coliseum. Continue east
towards the bay to find the St.

16. •
Further south down 275, are the
exits for the beachgoers. It is very important that you
understand that these are toll roads. More than once on
a trip from the interstate to Fort Desoto State Park, there
will be a toll booth. There is a parking fee at the entrance
to the park, as well. Have dollar bills and several dollars’
worth of quarters set aside strictly for the purpose of
paying for toll roads and being able to afford to return
back down those same toll roads. Toll Roads!
Remembering money for tolls (don’t say you were
not warned), get ready for some scenic, sandy scenarios
as you hit the beaches of western Florida and the
Florida gulf. Pick a name and follow the map to, Pass-AGrille Beach, St. Pete Beach with the Don CeSar Beach

17. Back on I-275
This town has a feeling of
being still true to form and
while they have a great many
interesting indoor and
outdoor activities, there isn’t
any touristy flash to the city.
And, if you are headed that
way for spring training,
Bradenton is the home of the
southbound again, is the
Sunshine Skyway Bridge,
leading across the western
edge of Tampa Bay and
into Bradenton. The
Manatee River and the
Gulf of Mexico share
shoreline at Bradenton.

18. The Bay at Tampa and the Gulf
of Mexico beaches and islands offer many options
for parasailing, helicopter tours, deep sea fishing,
sightseeing trips, stand up paddle boarding, and
more. Which service to use will depend on a
traveler’s location and TripAdvisor.com, since user
submitted reviews usually give the best overall
indication of what to expect from an establishment.
There is a lot of water in Tampa Bay and lots of
active coastal opportunities. Canoeing around
manatees, skiff fishing in the flats and marshes of
the bay, bird sanctuaries, hiking and biking are only
some of the options for getting out and exploring this
beautiful area of the United States. Thanks to the
advent of the internet and smart phones, it is much
easier to reach out find the activities that you are
interested in doing.

19. At the end of your trip, you can easily look back
and say
that there simply wasn’t
enough time to entertain everything that Tampa Bay
has to offer. Indulge Southeast is geared to teaching
readers the must see attractions of a town.
Sometimes though, it is important to remember that
the best must see can sometimes simply be the
geography of a place like windswept, sunshine
warmed, paradise bound Tampa Bay.

20. Vegetarian is the New
Black
Contributed By:
Alexandria Fisher
 One’s first thought when stepping off the plane in any Southern
airport is usually, “Where’s the BBQ?” Really, it’s everywhere. The
South is known for pulled pork, ribs, fried catfish, and other arteryclogging awesomeness. However, the modern citizen knows better
than to stereotype any region based on outdated mores. A traveler
can find fit-fare anywhere these days. With gluten-free, carbfree, red-dye free, and raw diets becoming mainstream, being a
vegetarian doesn’t even raise any eyebrows anymore. Long gone
are the days when the long-haired unwashed hippie was the only
person in the joint to request tofu in their scrambled egg whites.
 I am by no means a vegetarian, though I can appreciate the
movement. I tried it for one week as a teenager and made it a
whole day without meat. As an adult, I tried to go vegan for two
weeks and made it five days. I juiced for a whole day before I
decided I liked chewing too much to give up solid food.

21. Vegetarian is the New Black
 Like most Americans, I like to experiment with my foodconsumption patterns. Switching ground beef for ground turkey
once in a while, buying organic fresh salsa instead of jarred shelfstable junk, and of course, whole grain bread on the rare occasion I
get a wild hair to make a sandwich.
 For those of you traveling to Nashville with trendy dietary
needs, I’d like to suggest a few places for you to check out!
Wild Cow
 A small vegan restaurant in East Nashville that is decorated with
pictures of cows and has the ultimate hipster-style wait staff. Super
casual and very reasonably priced, it is a great place to grab nachos
or couscous salad for lunch. Some of the dishes do allow you to
substitute dairy cheese if you prefer, but not all.

22. Vegetarian is the New Black
Woodland’s Indian Cuisine
 Woodland’s is great Indian cuisine, even if you aren’t a vegetarian. Right on West
End, it is an easy cab ride from Broadway. Voted Best Indian Restaurant 2009 by the
Nashville Scene, it definitely deserves a try!
Whole Foods
 You think I’m crazy, but yes, Whole Foods makes the list. Nashville now boasts
two Whole Foods, one in Green Hills off of Hillsboro Pike, and one just outside of
Franklin off of I-65. (We’ve even got our own Trader Joe’s now!!) Who doesn’t love
the Whole Foods salad bar and hot food bar? Plus, they make the best pizza ever. They
always have tons of vegetarian and vegan options, plus your non-vegan buddies won’t
be forced to eat quinoa. Even better, the Whole Foods in Green Hills is surrounded by
shops, and is a few blocks from the Green Hills mall, a couple of bars, and the movie
theater. Go and make an afternoon of it!
Fido’s
 Though Fido’s is not strictly a vegetarian restaurant, it is very granola-friendly. A
popular hangout for all ages, it is mostly populated by Vandy, Belmont, and Lipscomb
students as it is situated on 21st Ave, about one block from the Vanderbilt campus. The
parking is terrible, so be prepared to park on the street. During peak dining hours the
line is crazy, so be prepared to wait. It’s worth it, I swear!

23.  Well, Indulge Southeast owes you the reader, an apology.
We were remiss in coverage of one of the most sacred
southern sports coming out of winter hibernation! Worse
yet, we missed coverage of the godfather of all NASCAR
races, the beloved Daytona 500. We are entirely sorry!
That being said, we are not here to bring you race results,
but to let you know when NASCAR is coming to your neck
of the woods!
 We aren’t about results! Wait, maybe I didn’t phrase that
entirely correctly. We aren’t about the results of past
events. We are here to get your ass TO the events so you
know the outcome before the average couch potato!
 So, here it is without further turmoil of a botched apology
– NASCAR’s 2014 race schedule in the southeast.

24. ***Sunday Unless Otherwise Noted & All Times Are Eastern***

16 March -Food City 500 – Bristol Motor Speedway – Bristol, Tennessee - 1pm

30 March – STP 500 – Martinsville Speedway – Martinsville, Virginia – 1pm
 12 April – SATURDAY - Bojangles’ 500 – Darlington Raceway – Darlington, South Carolina –
6:30pm

26 April – SATURDAY – Toyota’s Owners 400 – Richmond International Speedway –
Richmond, VA – 7pm

4 May – Aaron’s 499 – Talladega Superspeedway – Talladega, Alabama – 1pm
 16 May – FRIDAY – Sprint Showdown – Charlotte Motor Speedway – Concord, North
Carolina – 7pm
 17 May – SATURDAY – NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race – Charlotte Motor Speedway – Concord,
NC – 9pm

25 May – Coca-Cola 600 – Charlotte Motor Speedway – Concord, NC – 6pm

28 June – SATURDAY – Quakerstate 400 – Kentucky Speedway - Sparta , Kentucky – 7:30pm
 5 July – SATURDAY – Coca-Cola 400 – Daytona International Speedway – Daytona, FL –
7:30pm

23 August – SATURDAY – Irwin Tools Night Race –
Bristol Motor Speedway – Bristol, TN – 7:30pm

31 August – NASCAR Sprint Cup Series August Atlanta Race –
Atlanta Motor Speedway - Hampton, Georgia – 7:30pm

25. By: Kevo Booker

26. “We have to start here.”
“Why? What makes you the authority on this island”, I
snapped, “Plus, it’s windy as hell out here!”
“Well, I have lived here for almost 25 years. Shut up and
come on, anyway! Where else would you start an Anna Maria Island pub
crawl but the Anna Maria Island Pier?”
I shut my mouth, crammed my hands as deep into my shorts
as I could muster and moved to the downwind side of my island guide
and old friend, Thomas Hemingway.
“What the hell are you hiding behind me for?” Sometimes his
whining is ridiculous. I was hoping his giant head would shield the
wind from me!
“What are we drinking”, I yelled over the near hurricane
velocity winds.
“It is not that bad out here. We’re drinking Yuengling. What
the hell else do we ever drink when we’re together?”
He had a point.

27. fter getting used to being out of the wind, we finished
our beers and had to charge right back down the boardwalk into it. Once we
made it to the reprieve of shore, I asked what was next.
“Rod and Reel Pier. It’s next in line.”
“Where is it?”
“Right there”, he gestured back towards the wind.
“Dude, I just escaped 7 inches of snow to come here and you take me to
the coldest spots in Florida? That ain’t right!”
“Why don’t you look in that man purse you carry and see if you have a
pacifier, big baby!”
“Whatever!” We headed down the name inscribed pier and had round
two of Yuengling beer.

28. fter that, things were better. The wind on the island was at a minimum and we hoofed it down to
Bortell’s. The place looks as if they haven’t painted the cigarette smoke on the walls in quite some
time. It was dark in the middle of the day. The owner recognized Tom and they spoke in some
muffled tones about who knows what kind of island drama. A couple of Yuenglings later we
emerged from the local’s favorite bar back into the blistering sunlight.
“Where now? What’s next? I need water.”
“We’ll stop in Ginny & Jane E’s for a $2 Stella Artois. Then, we’ll move on.” Tom pointed
us across the street and down the block to more beer. We stopped in the café/antiques store and sat
down amongst the coffee drinkers to have a beer. The tables lined the sidewalk so we were able to
watch all the traffic passing by.
“I think I’m getting drunk. I still haven’t
seen the beach since I got here.”
“Well, the plan is to get drunk.
Why the hell else would you do a pub
crawl? Excuse me a minute, I have to go
check the coconut telegraph.” Thomas
disappeared to yuck it up with some of
the locals about island things and I
watched the traffic and drank.

29. “Here’s where it gets tricky.
The shuttle runs every twenty
minutes and can’t stop in
between. We can walk or wait it out. There’s a
trolley stop and if you’ll look down there, you
can see the next one.” Tom pointed two blocks
down to the next stop.
“It’s beautiful, I’m happy. Let’s walk
and we can catch it at the next stop.”
We headed down the street and the
urge hit me.
“I have to pee.”
“Too late now. There’s nowhere else until we get down island a couple of
miles.”
“That’s not gonna work!” I headed down the side of an unoccupied vacation
rental and watered a palm tree. When I made it back to the road, my host was nowhere
to be found and the street was vacant. I started strolling in the same direction we had
been moving. Suddenly, out of the bushes on the other side of the street popped Tom.
“When you’re right, you’re right. I watered the side of that building.”

30. “I wanna see the beach!”
while.”
“Dude, we can walk over there, but if we miss that trolley, we’ll be walking for a
“I don’t care. I need a visual and a picture!” We walked to the edge of the beach and
I took pictures of the sand and surf from a bench. We headed back to the street.
“I kept an eye out for the trolley but never saw it go past.” We made it back to the
sidewalk. “Well, I missed it somewhere. There it goes!” The trolley turned a corner and
disappeared from sight.
“This is good. I need to walk it off a little bit anyway.” We trekked the two miles to
our next stop.
As we walked into D’Coy Ducks, the first thing we heard was, “Hemingway, how
the hell have you been?” It turned out the bar tender was an old pal of Tom’s. He served us a
shot called Smurf Pussy and fed us several pints of Yuengling. It was at this point that I was
lit. We played this video putt putt game that was ridiculous and cheated me! Then, a group of
FUBU dressed white guys with flat billed hats came in, muscled into our space, took the
game over, and began to let it cheat them instead. Time to go! But, I must admit, I’ll miss my
MacGyver looking barkeep that was an absolute patron saint of good spirits!
“That dude looked like MacGyver”, I said as we weaved down the sand and
sidewalk towards the next stop in our debauchery.
“Who the hell is MacGyver?
“Ask your mom. God!”

31. We stumbled down the streets of Anna Maria Island and
Thomas kicked over a garbage can. Then, another and another. I laughed
and joined the party. We finally made it out of the neighborhood, onto Bridge Street, and
into the Drift Inn.
The Drift Inn had more Yuengling so we partook. There were more people there than the
other places we visited but they seemed to keep to themselves and we were able to drink in peace.
We only stayed for one beer and stumbled back onto Bridge Street. Only a few doors down, we
pushed our way into the Sports Bar.
The Sports Bar is another one of those dark, smoky locals saturated places and has been
around for a near eternity. The bartender rotated between serving drinks and shooting pool with
one of those locals. It was a very laid back atmosphere and we added a couple of more beers to the
list.
“Dude”, said Tom, “I don’t know who created yoga pants, but they’re one of my favorite
inventions!”
“I’d have to agree with you. What number beer is this?”
“I have no idea. Let’s go. We still have a couple of places to hit.” Tom led us out of the
sports bar and around the corner to Fire and Stone Pizza where we fumbled our way to the marble
bar that has a salvaged figurehead hanging from the ceiling. This place has lots of beer specials
early in the day on both domestics and imports. We sat at the bar chugging Yuengling and slurring
to the barkeep about tourism and adventures past. She was quite kind, as I remember, and
tolerated our irrational behavior as the norm.

32. “Don’t you freeze?” I danced a little to keep
warm as the night’s breeze kicked up around us.
“Nope! That’s why I have these old man
socks. I have three pair; blue, black, and beige. If
it starts getting too cold, I just pull those suckers
up like leg warmers. I’m setting a new trend”
“Yeah, I noticed your Hooter’s girl’s
socks!”
“Psh! Whatever!”
We sat at the bar at Island Time and
listened to a band play some old funk. The sun
was long gone from the sky and the warmth of
the day had escaped with it. Tom met some
women at the bar and they began chatting and
flirting. Whether I liked it or not, I was in no
shape to do such things so I went across the
street and crashed out on the beach.

33. The pub crawl on Anna Maria Island was
over. I would remember a majority of it the
next day, even though Thomas had to remind
me of some moments. We crawled from the
north end of the island to almost the south
end. There are several ways to approach the
crawl and even more pubs than we made it to
that night. Realistically, I’m not sure we’d
have made it anywhere else! The beach or the
trolleys are both great ways to travel down
the island. The wonderful lack of tourist traps
on the island makes for one of the best places
in the states to make a day of drinking and
exploring. Plus, you never have to drive
which is one of the best reasons to pub crawl
Anna Maria Island!
No garbage cans were hurt in the making of this article!

34. One’s Crap is Another’s
Treasure Trove
At Indulge Southeast, it is my goal to give you every possible activity that’ll get you out of the
house. That includes thing that may or may not be on my radar. And, that is why I feel that it is
important for me to tell you about something that I haven’t had any experience with in the last 30
years.
Yard sales and garage sales flourish throughout the southeast. As a matter of fact, it’s
almost a southern tradition! In all honesty, I’ve been to one yard sale in the last 30 years. Cam Bell
lives in a community that does a neighborhood yard sale twice a year. I happened to be at his
house on one of those days.
My wife gets together a few times a year with her friends who live on a main
thoroughfare and has a yard sale. They seem to enjoy it and she earns a little extra cash, so why
would I have an issue with it? Now, she’s pregnant and I’ve already been hearing about yard sale
“season” coming up as it get a little warmer.
I have another friend who doesn’t even leave the comfort of her home to shop. It seems
that the online yard sale has caught on like wildfire. She simply finds what she wants, contacts the
person, and meets them to make the exchange. She also reverses the role and puts stuff up online
that people purchase from her.
And, that’s it! You’ve seen the length of time I can spend writing about yard sales! I am
not a fan. However, it is a way to spend a day and only a little money. Plus, much like these
antiquing shows on TV, you can find some interesting stuff if you’re willing to dig through other
people’s junk!

35. The Cortez Commercial Fishing Festival has been held in the small community of Cortez
since 1981. It isn’t intended to be a huge draw for the sake of having a party. It was
created for the locals to gather amongst themselves and the materials of their trade and
enjoy the fruits of their trade as well.
The 500 person gathering has since grown to a 25,000 person fried fish fiasco with
pirates and wenches, several freshly cooked seafood options, live bands, and vendors from
throughout the southeast displaying their creations for sale. And, of course, as any seaside
festival worth its salt would know, beer is in abundance!
A local named Redbeard found out that it was my first time visiting the festival and
bought me a plate of saffron rice and shrimp! He insisted that I eat them. I could not
argue, as he handed me the plate, and turned and disappeared forever. So, thanks
Redbeard, I owe you one!

36. Another local put his parrot on my shoulder for a picture.
The bird kissed me! Pictures don’t lie! Plus, the wenches were
focused in the camera lens and happy to be serving their
captains!
I had the opportunity to enjoy the shrimp, some sheepshead
(a fish, don’t freak out!), and mullet (the fish, not the
haircut). The beer choices, sadly, were rather generic.
But, maybe they can work on that in the future!
The festival is held on the third weekend of February each
year and was an awesome way to spend a day. Admission to
the 2014 festival was $3.00. If you really want a taste of
how Floridians live and party, this is a great place to go and
learn about the culture firsthand!

37. What’s Coming Up…
Savannah, Georgia
How to Pack!
That Airshow article I mentioned last month!
Hopefully more from Alex Fisher!
Great Line I Forgot to Use in Tampa…
Seriously, I lost my ticket home, man!
Trip Pics