Today is Mother’s Day. Favorite Guest Reviewer Mom had a choice. Sleep late and have the morning to herself, or get up and come to breakfast with us. She made the right choice.

For Mother’s Day, Mom opted for The Hangar. She heard there were airplanes (so maybe she could make a run for it?). The Hangar is at Albert Witted Airport in St. Pete and was our Breakfast of the Year in 2010.

Our favorite table. This is the table where if you listen closely, you can hear the sound of Ivo endangering his life by trying to stand on his chair to look at stuff.

Marek is lecturing Mom on the finer points of ordering. “You see,” says he, “it’s very important to get extra butter for your eggs.”

This railing is the single most irresistible thing in Ivo’s life. He simply cannot not climb it.

Father-son pose. This was taken moments before Ivo managed to hurl a chair at an airplane.

He didn’t do that, but I keep expecting something violent out of him. He may look sweet, but don’t trust this boy.

We picked up a map on the way in. Ivo’s looking for good spots to visit and terrible-two-terrorize. Terrible two-er-ize. Terri-two-er-ize.

Favorite Guest Reviewer Mom is going to have the waffle. She was disappointed that there’s no French toast.

A round of coffee for everyone! From the look on Marek’s face, you’d think his tastes like pickles.

Ivo needs his jolt of caffeine to keep the energy up.

Poof! Here’s Ivo in Marek’s chair! Note the magician pose. With a smoke cloud around him, you’d think he was The Amazing Ivo instead of just Ivo.

We live in Tampa but we like playing like tourists. People from around the world pay a lot of money to visit this place we call home. Marek went to the tourist map rack downstairs and got us information on things to see.

A Mother’s Day Cheers!

Spiderman shoes! Fast. Stylish. Not in adult sizes.

And here comes breakfast! Ivo, always ready with the knife. He actually brought this one with him, strapped to his jackboot.

A lovely, yet somewhat plain-looking and unadorned, waffle for Mom.

A heap of bacon and a pancake for Marek. Odd, though, that we didn’t actually want two pancakes for the boys.

This pancake looks like it’s the victim of a brutal back-alley knife fight. It’s like Ivo stabbed that pancake so he could steal the pancake’s strawberry wallet.

And for me, the lovely spinach and brie omelet, which is just outstanding.

Marek has taken to calling us, “The Fabulous Breakfast Boys.” That’s because he learned to read this last month, I mean it all clicked with him and words started jumping out and he started reading our little blog for himself. His world just opened up and he’s thrilled.

So here we are, The Fabulous Breakfast Boys.

Extra butter for the eggs. Just like we said. I think that’s disgusting, but who am I to complain?

Airplanes!

The bill needed a forklift, weighing in at $45.

After we settled up we went downstairs to the lounge and sat in the comfy couches, like we were waiting to go on a flight to someplace exotic.

This is the Andy Method, by the way. Find fun and interesting public spaces and just hang out. Amazing how much fun you can have without paying heaps of cash for theme parks.

After The Hanger, we went to the Seminole Heights Market to walk around and enjoy the lovely Florida Springtime.

And we got to pet some birds. No, Ivo, we’re not getting a bird.

Isn’t Mom just lovely today?

This was our third visit to The Hangar. We love coming here for the high quality food, great ambiance, and the great views of the flight operations. The Hangar was the 2010 Tampa Bay Breakfast of the Year. But today we’re going to downgrade a half a point. While the food was excellent as usual, the whole experience was not what we’ve come to expect. Lipstick on the coffee cup and an order that showed up as what the waiter thought we wanted rather than what we said we wanted led to a feeling that The Hangar’s exceptionally-polished experience is becoming a little frayed. Still excellent, but less than we’ve come to expect from this great restaurant. For 2013 we give The Hangar a Tampa Bay Breakfasts four and a half pancake rating.

It’s our fourth anniversary for Tampa Bay Breakfasts! Here’s how we look today. (That’s a Marek and Ivo head-butting in progress you’re seeing here.)

Here’s what we looked like four years ago this week. (Which was a year and a half before Ivo hired onto the team.)

Gloomy day here in Tampa Bay. It’ll clear up. We have faith in the weatherman. The lovely Don Cesar on the horizon there. Boys were all about the big castle, wonder who lives there.

We parked next to this loader. It’s seen better days. I’ve always loved derelict equipment like this. Isn’t that odd? Ivo loves it, too.

Ivo looking for his first tetanus shot, while Marek dismounts from Driftercoaster (our new name for the car) in a most inelegant fashion. Why just get out of the car when you can get out of the car butt-first?

Lovely boys. It’s a good thing they look like their mother.

They’re worth two portraits this morning. That’s how lovely they are.

This morning we were going to go to Gayle’s Diner, but I’m strongly thinking about going across the street instead. Anything called a “megacenter” has to be awesome.

Here we are at Gayles at 455 75th Ave St Pete Beach, FL. Already from the outside we can say, this is our kind of place.

Both boys insisted on sitting at the counter. Ivo’s first time, and it’s a bit perilous. He’s about a mile off the ground. I don’t usually get nervous about his safety, but in this case I sat close and was ready to yell at him if he fell off and got seriously injured.

Marek immediately placed his order. His new thing: Home fries and bacon. And also some eggs, please.

Coffee for everyone, please, ma’am.

An old, but apparently still in-use milkshake machine. An “I almost got away with it” book about a local guy (I went to school with a guy who ended up on that show, too. The key word for the show is “almost.”) I like a place where the staff keep emergency bottles of beer on the counter, just in case.

The menu: Short but just right, all the right parts in all the right places.

And breakfast came licketysplit fast. We were still goofin’, and here’s a forklift of chow. Ivo was already sawing on the pancakes before the plate stopped moving.

Notice the daughter of the proprietress, setting up coffee filters. Marek asked me how he could get a job like that.

Arial view of breakfast. This is what we’d look like if the U.S. Geological Survey were to do this blog.

Good breakfast, upon which the boys descended with vigor. Coffee making the rounds in the diner, which is small and cozy. This is an obvious family affair that has a warm vibe.

Family portrait. This is what we’d look like if I also had a 9 year old daughter.

Notice how Ivo can’t even see over the counter? He still was able to take care of business. He’s a pro.

Here’s a milestone for this year. Marek using a fork and knife. He’s like European aristocracy this morning. Which is an improvement from his usual fingers and belching.

This look on Ivo’s face? It’s because, very likely, out of camera range he’s squeezing syrup on the floor behind his back.

A bit pricey-feeling on the bill. A Jackson covers it, but barely.

Ivo raised his hand first so he got the job.

The folks behind us just laughed at this, when he ran off with the cash. But he showed everyone that he knows what he’s doing.

After we left Gayle’s, we headed straight to the beach. We played in the sand, in the water, we got sunburns, Marek picked up a 6yo girl but forgot to get her number, everything boys are supposed to do at the beach.

Apples for snacks on the way home. Notice how the Scion FR-S is a family car?

Great greasy-spoon diner with serious and sincere mom-n-pop chops. Price seemed a little high, but the chow was good and plenty of it. Everyone’s friendly and there seemed to be a lot of regulars. We all had a great time at Gayle’s and are pleased to give a Tampa Bay Breakfasts four and a half pancake rating.

Ivo’s hauling Roary with him this morning. I actually brought Roary home for Marek three years ago, before you could find Roary on Sprout and you’d have to go all the way to jolly old England to find Roary.

Here’s the funniest part about it. The Roary show in the U.K. is in English, with U.K. accents, of course. Except for the American stock car race car, “Tin Top,” who has a voice like Elvis Presley. The U.S. version, they’ve dubbed all the voices into American accents … including completely changing the already-American Tin Top to a non-Elvis voice.

Marek’s playing his harmonica. I’m not smiling, I’m gritting my teeth.

My sister, Tia Cindy, got me this shirt. I’m always sort of freaked out by depictions of animals celebrating that they’re being eaten, like this pig saying “mmmm, bacon” on my shirt. I had at least three people today compliment my shirt.

This morning we’re visiting Eggstyle in Oldsmar, at 3980 Tampa Rd. They also have a flashy web site at http://www.eggstyle.com/. Note on the web site that the very first thing they say is “fast-growing,” and you’ll see on the cover of the menu a statement that “franchises are available.” The web site says there’s a location in Oldsmar, one in Sarasota, and one opening soon in St. Pete. So that’s a local chain and in-bounds for the Tampa Bay Breakfasts mission.

Except that our waiter told us that the restaurant was “a Canadian chain.”

I am confused, and a bit nonplussed by the franchisy thing.

Nice interior, but a bit over-polished. The whole experience reminds me of our visit to J. Christopher’s. More on that later.

Ivo sets out the tools. Preparation for battle. Which reminds me …

We’re actually here at the recommendation of TBB fan Greg. I met Greg in Iraq three years ago and he let me stay in his CHU and use his Kindle while I was waiting for air transport for several days. Of all the people in the world to whom I acknowledge a debt, Greg’s on the top ten for that small act of mercy.

(A CHU is a containerized housing unit, which is like Da Ritz compared to the eerily-empty 100-man tent I was originally in.)

The “eggz” thing in the menu is OK, but if you’re going to run that all the way down, call the place “Eggzstyle.” The menu is very robust, lots of ways to tamp down a hunger here. I was impressed that when we asked about how the pancakes were made, we were told we could have them our way, even though it wasn’t on the menu like that.

We had an odd hot chocolate experience. Hot water and a packet for us to stir up. First time for everything, including this.

The good stuff for The Ivo.

We actually call him “The Ivo” sometimes. Not like he’s some inanimate object, more like he’s one of a kind.

If you don’t count Ivo D.

If The Ivo were a race car, he’d be as cute as Roary. If Roary were a boy, he’d be as cute as Ivo.

Also note, Marek is next to me and not in as easy camera range, so … lots more pictures of second-son for this breakfast.

Caption contest! I vote for “Gimme your wallet or I’ll cut you.”

And about this moment, Ivo’s saying, “I’m gettin’ daddy!” Note the proper katana hand grip on this one.

Odd hot chocolate moment part deux. A nice girl who was not our waiter brought us two actual, normal hot chocolates with whipped cream and everything. This was actually preferred by The Marek.

And Ivo was delighted, because he usually doesn’t get hot chocolate. More stuff to hurl around and stress out daddy, yay!

Breakfast came on a forklift. Pancakes large enough to call donk.

Bacon, eggs, home fries. All in sufficient quantities for hungry boys.

Marek approved of the bacon. I did too, I even got a bite for once, which just goes to show that there’s adequate quantities delivered here. Usually it’s “bacono disappearo” with Marek.

Ivo, oddly enough, didn’t eat much. He was too full of juice and coffee and hot chocolate and who knows what else he’s gotten into. Probably had some tamales hidden in the car that he ate on the ride over.

Though he did take a big handful of eggs. Not a forkful, a handful. There were actual animal feeding sounds.

The sweet things 2 year olds do. Ivo pulled a piece of toast and fed it to Roary. “You eat too, Roary,” said Ivo.

Everyone join me: “awwwww….”

Then he started trying to put Tabasco in his juice.

For all this chow, the bill isn’t bad. Twenty two clams for so much we couldn’t finish it all.

“I pay the bill, dad! Me!”

OK, kid. Here ya go.

Then he shied up and wouldn’t go. But while we were sorting that out we did meet the hostess, not pictured here, who was from Czechoslovakia. The Slovak side. My few words of the language didn’t pass muster (I studied for trips I took on the Czech side, so I reckon my accent was funky).

After breakfast we took The Driftercoaster (Marek’s name for the FR-S) to the car doctor for shots and a checkup.

In the showroom where we were waiting, Ivo inspected this display FR-S. He’s pointing at the tailpipe and talking about this is what makes it go fast.

Without a doubt, these are the good old days.

Our overall experience at Eggstyle was pretty good. Some oddities, but the staff were generally friendly, helpful, and prompt. The food and ambiance were very much in the spirit of J. Christopher’s in Carollwood. An added polish that takes it a step past homey and towards that almost sterile feeling you get when you’re in store # 4,230 of a national chain. My own mom-n-pop predilection is turned off by the “franchises available” on the cover of the menu. The chow was good. Big pancakes with fresh blueberries, really nice bacon, good eggs and home fries. Coffee was the way I like it: black and refilled. Read the Urban Spoon reviews and you’ll see a lot of unhappy customers at Eggstyle. The most frequent complaint was poor service, but we can’t say we had anything but a positive experience; everyone we talked to was really nice and attentive. We’re happy to give Eggstyle a Tampa Bay Breakfasts four pancake rating.

We’re starting out the day pretending like it’s summertime. This wad of bikes on the back of the mom-car is guaranteed to make motorists go “awwwwww……”

We’re taking a long ride to breakfast this morning. Everyone came prepared. Marek has his current favorite book. He loves books about nature but has decided that he really dislikes interacting with any actual nature.

Ivo has his new Buzz. You can see how the roles are falling out with the boys. Marek, nerdy smart kid. Ivo, ug-play-crash-go. Three stitches under that band-aide, if you were questioning the “crash” in “ug-play-crash-go.”

Lovely day here in Tampa Bay. All that blue sky makes us hungry.

We’re headed to Gulfport, a little town hidden on the edges of St. Pete. For all our years and miles, we’ve never been to Gulfport. Residential roads, as you can see here, just end at the bay. There’s something nice to be said about that.

Today we’re visiting Stella’s Deli at 3119 Beach Blvd South, Gulfport, FL 33707. They have a nice little web site at http://stellasingulfport.com/.

Menu is extensive, with all kinds of standard and non-standard stuff. Hangover burgers make me already appreciate the clientele at Stellas.

For Tampa Bay Breakfasts fans Jason and Jess, here’s yours.

We’re sitting outside. How nice is that? Table’s pretty dirty. I only mention it because I noticed, and if I noticed, what with two boys who make icky an every day pleasure, you know it’s noticeable. Just surprised with all the great press Stella’s gets that they don’t start out the day by wiping off the accretion of dirt, dust, pollen, and nighttime from the outdoor tabletops.

Marek appears very uncomfortable here. I appear very comfortable here.

These appearances are accurate.

Ivo repurposed the creamer bucket as a fez. Looks good on him. As will the creamer pod he will doubtless split open and dump on himself in a few minutes.

Note the little girl in the background. Staring at Ivo, thinking, “hey, nice hat!”

Hot chocolate for Marek. This is the first place where he didn’t really care for it. It was too hot at first, and when it cooled down he still didn’t care for it. I didn’t try it, myself. I don’t like to drink after these little monsters.

Ivo, on the other hand, mainlined his triple-shot of the good stuff.

I asked Ivo to go get me a newspaper. Parenting technique of distraction, as all the coffee was making everyone jittery. So Ivo executed this excellent dismount. Yes, he knows it’s easier to just get off the chair, but he’s going to do it his own way. Thank you very much.

Fetching the above-mentioned newspaper. Note that actually placing our order for chow had a significant lag time, leading to the need for an actual newspaper.

No breakfast merit here, just a sweet picture of little Ivo. Look deep into his eyes and enjoy the fact that for this tiny, quiet, personal moment between father and son …. he’s not actively breaking something.

I predict lots and lots of goofy looks from Marek in the coming decades. Here’s an early example. His biographers from the future will cite this as the first time his goofball genius was documented.

We’ve had a great half an hour here at Stella’s Deli. Read the newspaper. Had some coffee. And here’s our chance to get some chow to go along with it. We were digging the super-tech ordering system, first place in The Bay Area we’ve seen that.

Ivo’s going to do a magic trick. Notice the very nice folks from Pennsylvania behind him.

Step one: Bite the creamer pod.

Step two: Wear the creamer and be proud.

First time readers of Tampa Bay Breakfasts are probably thinking, wow, Andy acts like he knew that was going to happen and he didn’t stop it?

Ayyup.

Not to be out-done, Marek proposes doing the same thing with the jelly.

At first we thought the umbrellas were for the sun. Then we saw the birds in the trees.

Just in time to prevent us from breakfasting on creamer and marmalade, here’s breakfast! Ivo dives into the fray with fork and knife, shredding and mauling pancakes with gleeful abandon. I can only imagine him on a medieval battlefield, with a sword and axe.

I had the homemade corned beef hash. I’m a sucker for homemade corned beef. Having been a bachelor at one point, I have actually eaten canned corned beef for 27 straight meals.

I don’t know if that’s actually true, but it’s not entirely false either.

Breakfast boys at work. Tampa Bay’s only Pancake Professionals!

Took us long enough to mention, but we’re here with a Tampa Bay Breakfasts Guest Reviewer, Randy.

Marek says “syrup on eggs is the BEST!”

Even Ivo looks at him with that look of “huh? syrup on EGGS?” If you’re grossing out Ivo, you’re doing it right.

If you think for a moment that this syrup squeeze came straight out at Marek’s old man you’d be wrong. He did that earlier with the ketchup in the caddy and got in a bit of trouble that he hasn’t quite yet forgotten.

Ivo with Marek’s old t-shirt, a gift from dear friends in Stuttgart.

Randy’s reading that whole book on the table behind him.

It’s the owner’s manual for 2 and 5 year old kids.

Volume 1.

Of 2000.

And then, while we’re casually talking, suddenly eggs are flying through the air. My Breakfast Ninja Ways took over and I caught the eggs in mid-air. In one fluid motion, elegant in its efficiency, I caught the eggs and said, Ivo, eat this.

Ivo jumped like a cat. Pounced. Struck like a cobra. And the wayward eggs were gone. No one, to this day, knew where they came from.

Marek’s plate is suspiciously void of eggs. Hmmm.

And here we are, back with the jelly.

Because eating actual food is never as satisfying as just slurping condiments.

I’m just glad I’m a lot bigger than Ivo, that’s all I’m sayin’. ‘Cause this is scary. Like a professional pancake wrestler, Ivo’s about to fly off the top rope at me.

More with the painful, unnecessary dismounts.

And we’re off to pay the bill. Just over $20. Not terrible, but not a bargain either. About average these days.

Ivo’s got the cash. Marek’s the muscle. Good force protection posture.

Quote from folks around us, “did you just send your kids into the restaurant alone with the money?” Ayyup.

And within three hours, they came back with change.

They’re starting to get paid for their efforts. The funny thing is, the quarters just come out of their little pockets in the washing machine and I put them back in my own jar anyway. So here ya go, kid, take two!

Ivo ran off and got a quarter stuck in his eye. Does this happen to anyone else?

Here’s Marek in bouncer-mode. He’ll pick up work at Prana in Ybor when he’s older.

Stella’s is a quality breakfast and well worth the long haul from Tampa. Service was a bit chaotic and slow to get moving, but the coffee never failed and the chow was very nice. TBB Guest Reviewer Randy gives it a thumbs up as one of his favorites. We’re pleased to give Stella’s Deli a Tampa Bay Breakfasts four and a half pancake rating.

After breakfast we walked to the shore and chased birds.

And wouldn’t ya know it, the birds chased back!

And once in a while, I get a picture that makes me think I might be doing this right after all.

Gulfport had a mini-parade. Ivo climbed the fence by himself, looking for more stitches.

After the playground, we went to SE Mattis barber shop in Seminole Heights, near our place.

Marek negotiated with his barber.

Ivo’s not interested in a haircut today.

But when Marek paid the bill, he found out there were lollipops. Suddenly, Ivo appears by the chair.

Jump up and ready to go, no fuss at all. There’s a lollipop at the end of this ordeal.

Our barber has a good hand with these boys. He understands little-boy-hair-cuts and tickle spots.

That’s a sharp haircut!

Later that evening, we took a nighttime walk with our family hound. These are the little things the boys will remember when they’re my age and working until forever o’clock all the time.

Just a normal day.

Today is Martin Luther King Day. Ivo has been talking about “Arthur Luther King” for days, with Marek being a good older brother and correcting him that it’s “Martha Luther King.” My kids are debating American civil rights issues at 2yo and 5yo, so I’m going to take the win and not fret the details.

I’ve been out of town for a few days. I’m still a relatively new father, so things like this are just now starting to happen. I love it.

But I was out of town long enough to allow a little surface rust on the disk rotors for the FR-S. That’s sad, but easily remedied with a little hotrodding.

Lovely day today, but a little bit overcast. Nothing like the weather up north. But more about that later.

This morning we visited Nick’s Family Restaurant. They have a web site at http://www.nicksfamilyrestaurant.net/, but it looks like they started it up and never finished it. The “About Us” link is especially funny; I had to read to the end to figure out that it’s boilerplate, and there is no “Anytown.” Nick’s is at 5701 Central Ave. in St. Pete, not too far from the excellent Freefall Theatre Company.

It’s me and the boys. They’re dressed rather snazzily, as if dad went on some sort of business trip and all they got was lousy t-shirts.

We also have our Favorite Guest Reviewer, Mom!

Marek says, dad, can I have a puppy? I says, got any kisses for me? So here we go, looks like a puppy is in the future.

Favorite Guest Reviewer Mom says, hey, I never get any good pictures of me and the boys. So here you go, Mom, a great picture of you and your boys. Happy Birthday Baby. (It’s not actually her birthday)

Here’s Nick’s breakfast menu. I have to point out that the “omelette of the day” today is “ham and cheese.” Which does not make me think that there’s a daily committee meeting to decide what will draw in the adventurous breakfast crowd.

Marek had the hot chocolate, as is the tradition with him these days.

This shot has no real breakfast insight, it’s just a cute snap of Marek and me. It’s nice to be away from home, because it makes otherwise ornery kids happy to be around me.

Same for this shot, not really breakfasty, just cute. While we’re waiting, I took note of a few things about Nick’s. It’s 0900 on Monday morning. It’s not crowded, but they did start to get some business while we were there. Yet it was deafeningly quiet, like a memorial service or a museum. Everyone was whispering. Except us, of course. And also, there was an odd, subtle scent to the room. Not so much bad-food as like musty-old-house.

Coffee for everyone, cheers! Or … skol!

Here’s a souvenir I brought home for the boys. Hogskolen i Oslo is the college in Oslo where I’m doing a little teaching.

Marek had to teach me how to use it.

And then he got creative.

Grocery store syrup. We’ve had worse grocery store brands in restaurants, I reckon.

And here’s breakfast. French toast, eggs, grits for Mom. Pancakes for Ivo.

Ivo makes an immediate strike. He’s like a cobra for pancakes.

Marek jumps on Mom’s bacon. And then pauses for a moment and considers the poetry of the moment. Then he began quoting Wordsworth.

Marek’s own bacon and eggs came, and then he had his own bacon and Mom’s too. That’s a lot of bacon for one little boy. But then again, boy can eat some bacon, can’t he?

I had the corned beef omelet, which was a little out of band for me. Home fries, which were pretty bland.

Mom enjoyed the grits. The boys weren’t interested.

Marek demonstrated that he can handle a knife. That’s an important skill when you’re growing up Florida.

Here’s Ivo’s patented Breakfast Karate Strike. Say “Hayyyyah!”

When breakfast was sacrificed on the pyre of our appetites, the boys paid the bill. $23 for three full breakfasts, one of which split up with the boys, obviously.

We got change, and that was nice. Not the cheapest ever, but we did get a lot of food.

We left a few bucks and a Norwegian Krone as a tip.

On our way out we stopped to wash up. The sink really tells the story of how we felt about Nick’s. As if it started out strong, but then they never really put much effort into keeping it up.

This door on the way to the restrooms is more of the same. Removing the exit sign was more effort than taping up the second sign.

At the end of the morning, Nick’s food was OK. The bacon was nicely done, the pancakes were good. The coffee ran really dry for quite a while. The price was average. The dining room had a slight but odd odor which, combined with things like the sink and exit sign make me think that no real effort has been put into upkeep for a long time. But the thing that did me in was that we were the only friendly people in the room. We’ll give Nick’s Family Restaurant a Tampa Bay Breakfasts Two and a Half Pancake rating.

Nick’s is in the same neighborhood as this enormous wig market. I’m not surprised that there’s a market for wigs, just at the size of the store.

After breakfast we took the boys to the Dali Museum for the first time. Marek’s been with his cousins Simone and Sandor, but this is our first time since they moved to the new location.

We might have to put the Dali on the Breakfast schedule this year.

After Ivo almost got us kicked out of the museum, we went outside to sit on the bench and think about what we’ve done.

For lunch, Marek had an Angry Birds drink. It didn’t taste like it looked.

We’re all glowy with our tiny moment of fame.

And now, our real problem is where to go next. This, as you might expect from such newsworthy lads, takes a lot of research.

In case you’ve wondered if the FR-S is a family car, I can assure you it absolutely is. Jalopnik agrees.

Marek picked what we’d listen to. If you can pick out of the fuzzy picture what looks like “Norwegian Phrase Book” then you may be seeing things. In this case, true things. Marek has a real hangup on learning Norwegian these days.

Again, I insist. The FR-S is a family car.

Ivo’s got the map. Marek looks like he’s been in a shoebox for 45 minutes. Just a normal day.

Good looking boys. They’re lucky they look like their mother.

Here’s a great business model. I wish I’d thought of opening a store where you pay me to come wash your own dog.

We visited Trip’s Diner at 2339 Martin Luther King St N in St. Pete on 8 December 2012. Trip’s was recommended by multiple TBB fans last week and we just couldn’t turn it down.

Trip’s tables have great scenes from old St. Pete, and there’s all sorts of old-time pictures on the walls, too. I’m a sucker for that sort of thing.

The menu has all the right parts in all the right places, as we like to say.

Two year old with a knife. Just a normal day.

Marek with his signature hot chocolate.

Ivo tanking up on coffee. Strong and black, just like dad. The caffeine helps him concentrate when using the knife shown above.

Neat picture of the old pier. Soon it will be the old-old pier, after they tear down the new pier to make a newer pier.

Inside Trip’s is clean, well-lit, and friendly. A nice atmosphere for bringing little kids to hurl eggs at people.

We had to immediately relocate the jelly jars. These would be shattered into a million sticky bits of glass that would become so embedded in the fabric of Trip’s that they’d have to move to another building … that’s what would happen if Ivo could reach them.

Marek would like to show off his Nova Southeastern University shirt. Marek’s dad spent some time there and highly recommends it.

This is Ivo, trying to stab me in the eye with a fork. Kids are so sweet.

Saved just in time by breakfast! The look on Marek’s face may be interpreted as “is that BACON?”

Ivo appears to be an employee of Science Applications International Corporation. They obviously only hire the best!

I was feeling bad about Marek hanging his head over the back of the booth. I think this cute little girl was seeing if Ivo was really drinking coffee (probably the question I get asked most, by the way. Followed by, “do you really let them pay the bill?”)

Very Large Pancake (VLP) sighted. This is a good-ole-biggun.

I just put eggs and fruit on Marek’s plate, but we all know it’s a sham. Bacon’s where it’s at these days.

Good breakfast. But 17 clams for one breakfast split three ways seems a trifle on the high side.

The boys like up to do their part. Though I getting less and less change back as time goes by.

The transaction in progress.

Ivo trying to order a pie, apparently, when I’m not looking. They wouldn’t sell him one though, since he didn’t have enough money.

The look on Ivo’s face may be interpreted as, “I’m going to the toy store now!” Or maybe to the bar, since he’s my kid.

Again, I point out: The FR-S is a family car. (Despite this report.) This head-out-the-window posture is not recommended for high-speed maneuvers, I must add. No donuts until you’re sitting back, Marek.

Really good food. Nice atmosphere. Friendly people. History of St. Pete throughout. And rumor that the owner has triplets who work in the restaurant (they all kept moving, so I could never tell!) Price was a bit high, but the VLP pancake was delish. We’re pleased to give Trip’s a four and a Tampa Bay Breakfasts half pancake rating.

Marek’s tucked into the back of the pancake express. The FR-S is a family car.

We had to tank up on the way. I remember when I was little and I’d want to pump the gas and wasn’t strong enough to squeeze the nozzle. I see Marek try to squeeze it just like I used to do.

We’re heading to St. Pete. It’s a long ride. Long in distance, but … not in time!

We drove by the St. Petersburg Lawn Bowling Club, established 1930. Isn’t that interesting?

We’re meeting some special friends: Ivo and Mia! We last met them two years ago in San Francisco.

Marek: “I like your Hello Kitty”

Mia: “Don’t touch my Hello Kitty”

We’re back re-visiting The Hangar at Albert Whitted Airport in St. Petersburg on 13 October 2012. The airport is located at 107 8th Avenue S.E, and The Hangar has a nice little web site at http://www.thehangarstpete.com/. We last visited back in July 2010, and The Hangar was our 2010 Tampa Bay Breakfast of the Year.

Inside is still classy and attractive. But who would want to sit inside when there’s airplanes outside?!

Everyone’s listening very intently to Marek. Who is going on about something completely fascinating. Fascinating to himself. No one else knew what he was talking about.

An interesting, exotic, and yet somewhat terse breakfast listing. I’m going to have “The Beechcraft.”

Marek is very proud of his breast cancer shirt. He spent 15 minutes this morning digging through his drawers to find it.

Mia is very proud of her Hello Kitty. Which she still doesn’t want Marek touching.

Here’s two good-looking young fellows hanging out at a trendy breakfast spot in St. Pete. Not a care in the world, just relaxing. No stress from kids or work issues cropping up constantly all morning. No grey hair or middle-aged health concerns. No worry about the future.

Ooops. Wrong caption. This is just a picture of me and Ivo, and we both spent all morning battling work issues while corralling kids.

Breakfast came in the hold of a DC-3. Here’s Ivo, suffering under the relentless paparazzo attack of being a Tampa Bay Breakfast guest.

And Mia, with pancakes and bananas and bacon. And also, if I recall correctly, Ivo made some statement about how Mia was “easy” in the morning, just put her hair in a little pony tail and throw a dress on and she’s ready to go. Enjoy that while it lasts, man. I can only imagine the challenges Ivo’s going to have with a girl, challenges that I’ll never have with boys.

And Marek, who ate all his bacon and none of his eggs. Also, it’s a good thing Marek has his mom, or his hair would never be brushed.

Andy with a big plate of delicious.

Here’s a closer look. This is the first time I’ve ever had an omelet with fresh spinach and brie. It was surprisingly delicious without being overpowering. I tried it for the novelty, but I’d gladly have this again.

It’s fun to have breakfast and watch airplanes. Here’s Marek with a fist full of bacon, watching one take off. The bacon here, by the way, is fabulous. Somehow they manage to make it thick, crispy, and yet not over-done.

We watched a nice couple drive up in this little blue number, park, and come in for breakfast. Only here at The Hanger, you can drive up for pancakes in your airplane.

After we were done eating, we had a jumping contest. (It was a tie.)

And then we spent half an hour watching airplanes and drinking coffee.

Final bill: under $30 for all four. Wow! I think this was the TBB discount!

So we paid the bill and spent another half hour watching airplanes.

And getting yelled at for going above the first rung. Too high, kids! Too high!

This is what I look like when I’m yelling at kids.

On the way out, we stopped to get maps and brochures. We ARE from out of town, after all. Tampa is a long way from St. Pete. (And so is San Francisco, by the way.)

Absolutely wonderful food. Great service. Moderate prices. Airplanes. Ivo and Mia. How can The Hangar not be an award-winning Five Pancake Breakfast?

We’re a long way from home. Should we go left or right? Straight is also an option, but as anyone knows there’s no breakfast there. Just ocean.

We visited The Frog Pond at 7390 Gulf Boulevard, St. Pete Beach on 22 September 2012. This has been on our to-do list for years. TBB Fan Jason K, you’ll be sad to hear that we did not meet any Frenchmen.

Thought bubbles.

Over Ivo’s head … “I am going to break random things today and laugh, laugh, laugh.”

Over Andy’s head … “I coulda been a stah on Broadway if I didn’t have all dees kids.”

Thought bubbles.

Over Marek’s head … “I’m almost tall enough to steal your keys and drive your new car down the street and into the neighbors’ houses.”

Over Andy’s head … “Having kids looked like such fun in those romantic comedy movies.”

Thought bubbles.

Over Andy’s head … “If I loved these boys one mote more, I’d explode. They are everything to me.”

Over Marek’s head … “I wish I could join another family.”

Over Ivo’s head … “Hey you looking at this picture, can me and Marek join YOUR family and get away from our Neanderthal father?”

Tia Cindy, this one’s for you.

Ivo’s thinking, maybe this frog would be something I could knock over and then blame Marek.

Check out Ivo’s mad stacka skillz.

Check out Marek’s reaction.

We cozied up to the menu. Marek figures there might be something in his nose for breakfast. Stay classy, Marek!

A little Frog Pond philosophy. I always like a place that’s mom-n-pop and takes time to tell you Why They Care about what they do. The only drawback is that usually, and Frog Pond is no different, they take your order and whisk away the menus before you can read half of what they have to say. I love that they are “strongly opposed” to things! I read that and thought, hey, I’m also strongly opposed to things. Conveniently, the same things as they are.

Can’t get through the day without our coffee. Y’ought hear Ivo say “caffeeee?” It’d melt your heart like an acetylene torch on a plastic army man. By the way, “acetylene torch on a plastic army man” is another phrase that,as of this writing, is not found in Google.

Tampa Bay Breakfasts: Innovators.

Marek, too. That’s the same look I get with a strong cuppa joe in the morning. Relaxing. Pleasant. Calm.

“Relaxing. Pleasant. Calm.” And then Ivo swings a knife at your head. And then you hand over your wallet and tell him you don’t want no trouble, man, here you go, take my cash, just don’t cut me.

Inside the Frog Pond, you’ll find a cozy, well-appointed atmosphere. Knife-wielding two year olds and lots of frogs.

This is an impressive kick. Or ballerina move.

Breakfast came on a forklift. (Actually, delivered by a young waitress from Russia, not resembling a forklift at all.) Look at all this chow!

Ivo got the pancakes. Now, when you go to the Frog Pond because you read our review, you’ll see that pancakes aren’t really a big feature in the menu. Eggs, quiche, crepes (which are French, Jason K), are the big deals. Pancakes are a footnote. They were good, but the real winner was the waffle.

Try to snag some eggs from Marek’s plate and you’ve got a fight on your hands. Oddly enough, he barely ate any eggs. He just didn’t like me messing with his chow. Hats-off to the photog (me) for snapping a dynamic shot (of me) in the egg-snatching fight.

Ivo has a new trick. Point. “Look there!” Then “Yoink!” as he steals something from your plate. Seriously, he tries to say “Yoink” and it comes out “oink,” which makes it even better.

Devil-eyed Marek has a belly full of bacon. It’s good bacon. Notice behind Marek that the dining room filled up by the time we were done. Not an empty table in the house.

Here’s the bill. $23 for three breakfasts isn’t bad at all, especially given the quality and quantity.

We managed to escape without breaking any frogs.

The chow was great. I haven’t had a waffle in years, and this one was truly tops. Bacon, eggs, pancakes were all serviceable. Lots of frogs. A restaurant philosophy. And the best part was the guy with coffee. There was a guy who came around every 10 minutes with the coffee pots, and it never ran dry. That was awesome. The price was right. I can’t find any reason to not award the Frog Pond with a Tampa Bay Breakfasts Five Pancakes rating.

As we were leaving, we noticed this wicked little Mini sportster. There’s a lot of things I’ve never seen, and this is one of them.

We’ll go here next time. Beverly’s is right across the street.

After the Frog Pond, we went to Sunset Beach.

We went swimming and did the stingray shuffle.

Neat clouds on the ride back across the bay. Truly, a lovely day today. This is why we live in Florida.

On our way home, we stopped at Inkwood Books. Our favorite book store in Tampa.

And to round out our trifecta of locally owned small business support today, we also stopped at Rollin’ Oats.

Just a normal day.

We visited the Covered Bridge at 2070 Bayshore Blvd in Dunedin on 21 July 2012.

The Covered Bridge is in Dunedin. It’s not Dunnellon, but it sounds about the same.

It’s interesting to note, by the way, that there are no actual covered bridges within a thousand miles of Dunedin. We’re driving the long haul to Dunedin with Ivo.

We’ve also got Marek, who announced on this ride that this is his last time ever, dad, only this time then I’m never going to breakfast again. Teenagers!

It’s about 30 miles from home to the Covered Bridge, so we’ve got to listen to some good music. This morning, it’s Geri X, who is a great local Tampa Bay musician in every way, except that she’s from Bulgaria.

You may have noticed, if you’re a dedicated TBB reader, that the Pancake Mobile appears slightly different. That’s because we upgraded from the 2002 Celica GTS to the 2013 FR-S. It squeals tires at 40mph shifting into 2nd gear. Today is our 100th unique breakfast, and there’s 100 miles on the odometer. Everything’s coming up Milhouse.

The Covered Bridge promptly rolls out coloring utensils.

While we look at the menu, which is full of the standard fare we expect in a quality breakfast location.

Ivo’s taking care of business.

The only thing that got Marek out of the house this morning was promise of a hot chocolate. And the Covered Bridge didn’t disappoint.

Inside is nice and cozy, and most everyone seemed to be greeted by name. You can see the dedication to the covered bridge concept, wall-to-wall.

Ivo was quite impressed with this anole lizard.

Breakfast. We got “The Bridge” special. Which, for seven bucks, was a whole lotta chow.

Notice the chance in expression on Marek’s face. From anticipation to apprehension. And also, there’s a Zamboni on the table.

Me and Ivo, we’re getting ready for some chow. Notice the pilfering move he’s making on my pancakes. If you’re some nice girl 20 years in the future, reading this while you’re looking back at Ivo’s history and trying to decide if he’s husband material, I’ll tell you this: Don’t take your eyes off him at the breakfast table.

And still with the lizard. This took up 15 minutes of our morning, going on about the lizard looking in the window. We’re in Florida, kid. There’s probably lizards in your bed.

Marek held up this sausage and told me all about how grandma makes him sausage all the time and how much he loves it and how this is the best breakfast ever because this sausage is so good.

I’ve never seen him eat sausage once, ever.

Here’s a nice family portrait. We’re all four here: Andy, Marek, Ivo, Breakfast. Favorite Tampa Bay Breakfasts Reviewer Mom is still sleeping.

All three of us ate, and ate well. One breakfast split three ways. Coffee, juice, choco. Under 12 clams. That’s a good value.

Ivo stepped right up to the pole position on the bill-paying race.

That’s a look of gleeful accomplishment that he’ll have trouble achieving when he’s 42 years old. But at 2 years old, good for him!

On the way home we passed these monster trucks. You can’t just not take a picture of monster trucks.

We had a great time at the Covered Bridge. The chow was good all around, though the bacon was a bit small and the home fries oddly sweet. You can’t beat a place like this for the local, “the usual, Tim?” And the unique covered bridge theme sets it apart. Friendly folks, good prices, good chow, and a unique atmosphere. That’s worth the drive. We’re pleased to give the Covered Bridge a Tampa Bay Breakfasts four and a half pancake rating.