Tampa RV SuperShow - January 2017

Sometime in September 2016, we decided to head to Tampa for the RV SuperShow. It fell over a weekend we were preferring to be out of our area, so it was perfect timing.

We decided to drive - as we were considering taking the Brave down. Instead, we ended up needing to get the Brave into the dealership to service it, so we kept our driving idea and just booked a hotel.

We told a couple of friends that we were headed down & asked if they wanted to go with us. They ultimately decided to fly down & meet us there - with an agenda. We were officially helping them shop for a rig that would fit their family of five. They love their Airstream, but have outgrown it for the time being.

On Monday, we took the Brave to the dealership. We had them looking at the small slide, roof for caulking, seals/caulk everywhere on the rig, and a couple of other small things.

We made it a 2-day trip down, starting on Tuesday. On Wednesday, we arrived in Tampa and checked into the Residence Inn Tampa Sabal Park/Brandon. It was the perfect location for our stay. Just about 2 miles from the fairgrounds & about 2 miles from Brandon. There are a couple of traffic issues right around there, but it's nothing we haven't experienced close to home.

Thursday, we got to the show at 9:30. It was crazy to get in, but we managed. We met up with Renee & Tim - fellow Brave owners - after we got into the show. It was great to meet them in person! After meeting them, we headed out to start looking at rigs. The show was so busy!

Around noon, we met up with RH & Jessica and started looking at toy haulers. This is a world we haven't really ever dove into. We spent the day looking at toy haulers & enjoyed learning more about them.

Thursday night, we went to Outback to have dinner & review our notes from the day.

Show Map

Friday, we set about to look over the top two toy hauler choices and then to look at smaller trailers. It was great to see the different things that the industry is working on. Jon & I helped some friends look after their kids while they did a live video from the show (they're podcasters that are pretty awesome). We went out with the podcasting friends and a BUNCH of other people to Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City Historic District.

Airstream Basecamp all decked out

Hymer Touring 550 - Hopefully they'll get it to the US soon!

On Saturday, we went with our friends back to the toy hauler that they had selected & when the boys started talking $$, the girls ran around and looked at a bunch of rigs that there were no way we were buying. Different things - everything from travel trailers to Class A, B, and Cs.

After finding that they could get a better price closer to home, we decided to head over to LazyDays in Tampa to visit. We couldn't skip a visit since we were so close (only a few miles from the show). It was definitely worth the visit! If we were ever in the area again, we might consider staying at their campground, if we couldn't get into one of the state parks in the area.

LazyDays Tampa

We were pretty tired after all of the running around for three days, so we left on Sunday (instead of Monday). It turned out to be a good decision, as the weather was pretty crappy all day. We drove until NC & stopped for the night and then finished up the drive Monday.

All in all, it was a great trip! I'd definitely recommend visiting the Tampa RV Super Show!