Road trip! A guide to Tampa Bay

Headed down to Tampa to root, root, root for your home team in the Florida sunshine? Get ready for a whole new ball game - literally. Because this is not your typical baseball town.

The lay of the land. Tampa is a flat, spread-out city. The downtown area is relatively small and shuts down after business hours. Tropicana Field is in Tampa like the Meadowlands is in New York City - it's not. The stadium is really in St. Petersburg, which is about 25 minutes away and across the Tampa Bay from the city proper. St. Petersburg is considered in the Tampa Bay area, hence the Tampa Bay Rays instead of the Tampa Rays.

No competition. You'll see and hear a lot of self-proclaimed Rays fans now that the team is in the World Series, but their fandom can't compare to ours. For the last 10 years, the Rays were a forgotten team. The Lightning, the Buccaneers - that's who Tampa sports fans latched onto, and for good reason - those teams actually won.

They'd rather cheer for the Phillies or Yankees, who had spring-training and minor-league facilities in the area, supported by Northern transplants who kept rooting for their hometown sports teams.

Philly friendly. So you'll find plenty of Phillies fans in town. If you're just going along for the ride (in other words, couldn't score or afford World Series tickets), join in with the Tampadelphians. They're a group of Philadelphia fans who get together for every Eagles game - they average 100 fans per football game alone. They'll be at the Players Sports Lounge at the Doubletree Hotel (4500 W. Cypress St., Tampa, 813-879-4800) for every game of the World Series. Love him or hate him, 610 WIP's Howard Eskin will be broadcasting there from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. today, Wednesday and Thursday. If you're craving a Philly cheesesteak, the expats have got you covered: Picadily Sports Bar (2806 Busch Blvd. Tampa, 813-931-4624), has been dishing up this Philadelphia hometown favorite since 1962.

Cookin' close-by. Want to be closer to the stadium? The tailgating scene won't be the same as it is in Philly (is it anywhere?), but if you're hanging in the parking lot and want to head somewhere close by, go to Green Iguana (8790 Bay Pines Blvd., St. Petersburg, 727-209-1234, www.greeniguana.com), or head to John's Pass Village, a boardwalk area (www.johnspass.com) with lots of dining and drinking options.

To toast your Phillies with a great steak and fine wine, head to the legendary Bern's Steak House (1208 S. Howard Ave., Tampa, 813-251-2421, www.bernssteakhouse.com), and make sure you get the wine-cellar tour.

Victory cigar? Tampa's also known for its cigars - it was settled by Cuban immigrants. To celebrate victory with a puff, head to King Corona Cigars (1523 E. Seventh Ave. Tampa, 888-248-3812, www.kingcoronacigars.com) for an Ybor City Handmade, which, as the name says, is hand-rolled.

While you're in Ybor, which is like South Street with Cuban flare, you can toast (and toast and toast) the Phils at the outdoor bar Adobe Gila's (600 E. Eighth Ave., Tampa, 813-241-8588, www.adobegilas.com), which overlooks the main Ybor strip and makes the best margaritas in town. Beer drinkers can argue with Rays fans at the Tampa Bay Brewing Company (1600 E. Eighth Ave., Tampa, 813-247-1422, www.tampabaybrewingcompany.com) or take in a local favorite - the sangria - at Columbia Restaurant (2117 E. Seventh Ave., 813-248-4961 www.columbiarestaurant.com), a stylish Ybor fixture since 1905.

Sun, baby, sun. Clearwater Beach is a sure bet, offering white sandy beaches and clear water. This isn't the Atlantic, though, so you won't find any waves, and the water never gets deep. A Clearwater baseball detour - aside from visiting Phillies spring- training facilities, of course - would be to Clearwater's Hooters restaurant (2800 Gulf to Bay Boulevard, Clearwater, 727-797-4008, www.originalhooters.com). Not only is it the first of what became a restaurant chain that's known for its wings (yeah, right), it's where Darren Daulton of that last World Series Phillies team met ex-wife Lynne Austin during spring training while she was working as the original Hooters girl.

If you like to get your sun on the run, or the bike, check out Bayshore Boulevard, the longest continuous sidewalk in America, which runs along Tampa Bay on the Tampa side of the bay.

Just make sure you pack your shorts - and bathing suit.

On your own. Tampa's also earned a reputation for its gentlemen clubs - but I'll leave that research up to you.