MacDill Happenings

After taking out Mom for Mother’s Day brunch or before taking out Mom for dinner, there a few good deals in the Tampa area for Mom to enjoy. In Tampa at the Florida Aquarium, Moms get in free with a paid adult or child’s admission from 9:30am to 5pm on Saturday and Sunday. The Florida Aquarium is located right next to Channelside. The Florida Aquarium offers parking for $5 or you can park across the street from the Aquarium and Channelside in the multi-story parking structure for $1 an hour. The Lowry Park Zoo offers Moms free admission with a paid child’s ticket on Sunday. The zoo is open on Sunday from 9:30am to 5pm. The TECO streetcars which run from Ybor City to the Tampa Convention Center is offering free rides to Moms from noon to 8pm when accompanied by their families. In Sarasota at the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Moms get in free on Sunday from 10am to 5pm. Listen to music by the Venturas from 1pm to 3 pm and see more than 20,000 tropical plants, including 6,000 orchids, in an 11-acre open-air and under-glass museum. In Parrish at the Florida Railroad Museum, Moms can ride on the vintage train for free with a paid child’s ticket. Rides are available on Saturday and Sunday from 11am to 5pm.

Bring the family and enjoy the only Greek festival that takes place in St. Pete! There will be plenty of hand made Greek food served inside the air conditioned Doncedy Hall. Enjoy souvlaki, pastichio, lamb, chicken, spanakopita, tiropita and Greek salads. Bring the family and your appetite and try out the dinners at the festival or just bring the dinners home to eat. Satisfy your sweet tooth with plenty of Greek pastries from the Philoptocho’s pastry booth and fresh brewed Greek coffee from our “Kafeneon” (Cafe). Check out the Greek dance troupes or dance to live Greek band playing on stage all weekend long. Don’t worry about the Florida heat, there will be indoor, air conditioned “Bazaar” offering goods from vendors around the country, as well as a Cultural exhibit and Church tours throughout the weekend. This is about a 30 min drive from MacDill AFB.

One of the best entertainment deals in Tampa Bay can be found at the MacDill AFB movie theater. Admission for all ages is only $3.25! This is more than half the price of a movie out in town. A medium popcorn and soft drink only cost $6 and you can get free refills while the concession stand is open. This Friday night at 7pm Drillbit Taylor is playing. This comedy starring Owen Wilson is rated PG-13 for crude sexual references, strong bullying, language, drug references, and nudity with run time of 102 minutes. The story is about kids who attend their first day at high school and they’re pumped… until they meet up with Filkins, a school bully who comes off like a little Hannibal Lecter. Before they become completely engulfed in Filkins’ reign of terror, they seek out some protection by placing an ad in Soldier of Fortune magazine. Their best response – and the cheapest – comes from Drillbit Taylor, a down-on-his luck soldier of fortune who lives a homeless – he likes to say “home-free” – existence on the beach. He enrolls them in some physical and mental training. On Saturday at 3pm, Penelope is playing. This modern day romantic tale is about Penelope’s inspiring journey, a mysterious family secret and the power of love. With all odds against her, in order for Penelope to break the family curse, she must find true love with “one of her own kind”. Penelope is born to wealthy socialites and she meets a string of suitors in her parent’s futile attempt to break the curse. Max, posing as a prospective suitor, is really a handsome down-on-his luck gambler that finds himself falling for Penelope. He doesn’t want to disappoint her. Fed up by his betrayal and determined to live life on her own terms, Penelope breaks free from her family and ventures into the world alone. It is rated PG for thematic elements, innuendo and language with a run time of 89 minutes. At 7pm on Saturday is Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns. This movie is about a single mother living in inner city Chicago, Brenda has been struggling for years to make ends meet and keep her three kids off the street. But when she’s laid off with no warning, she starts losing hope for the first time until a letter arrives announcing the death of a father she’s never met. Desperate for any kind of help, Brenda takes her family to Georgia for the funeral. But nothing could have prepared her for the Browns, her father’s fun-loving, crass Southern clan. In a small-town world full of long afternoons and country fairs, Brenda struggles to get to know the family she never knew existed…and finds a brand new romance that just might change her life. It is rated PG13 for drug content, sexual language references, thematic elements and violence and has a run time of 100 minutes.

Enjoy music underneath the stars with the Florida Orchestra on 9 May at Lowry Park. This free concert starts at 7:0pm. Listen to a mix of familiar symphonic and pops favorites. Celebrating its 40th anniversary with the 2007/08 season, The Florida Orchestra is recognized as one of the finest orchestras in the United States, a point reaffirmed by the American Record Guide, which says the orchestra “is now positioned to attain the next stage of recognition, on a national and worldwide level” under the direction of Music Director Stefan Sanderling. The son of Kurt Sanderling, famed conductor of the Leningrad Philharmonic, Stefan Sanderling also serves as the music director of the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra and principal conductor of the Toledo Symphony. With 75 professional musicians, The Florida Orchestra performs more than 130 concerts annually in the tri-city area of Tampa, Clearwater and St. Petersburg. Their concerts include baroque, classical, romantic and contemporary symphonic and choral works, as well as a broad spectrum of popular music, including Broadway, jazz, film music, rock, Motown, Latin and more. So pack a picnic, bring some chairs or a blanket and get ready to listen to some great music.

The FFA Chapter at East Bay High School will have its annual plant sale 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, May 7 – 9 in the school’s Agriscience Department. The sale features gift plants, flowering annuals, indoor plants, hanging baskets, landscape plants and more. Shop for Mother’s Day or spruce up the yard. The school is located at 7710 Big Bend Road, Gibsonton. East Bay High School is near the southern part of Hillsborough County located off a the booming corridor of Big Bend and Highway 301. The intersection has several new large shopping centers. There is a new Publix grocery store archored shopping center with a MacDonald’s, Bank of America, video rental store, card store, and sandwich stores. Another corner has a SweetBay grocery archored shopping center with a Panera Bakery, hair salon, Five Guys Hamburger restaurant, a dollar store, dress store and a bank. Nearby on 301 is shopping center with a Cici’s Pizza, urgent care and chinese take out restaurant. On Big Bend is a new large bowling alley, Village Inn restaurant, Applebee’s restaurant, Sonic Drive-in restaurant, Ace Hardware, pizza place and locally owned coffeehouse. Popular neighborhoods include South Fork, Rivercrest, Panther Trace, and Summerfield. There are plenty of affordable detached homes and townhouses and condos available for sale or rent.  This location has easy access to I-75 and so enables a 4o minute access to MacDill AFB if you take the Crosstown.

If you are looking for a nice place to treat Mom for brunch this Sunday for Mother’s Day, then you might consider The Bayshore Club on MacDill AFB. The Bayshore Club is open to all ranks. Brunch runs from 11am to 2pm and reservations are required. You can make reservations by calling 828-4756 or 837-1031. The menu includes prime rib with au jus, pork steamship with chef specialty gravy, roasted turkey with gravy, an omelet station with bacon, sausage and biscuits, salmon with couscous and feta cheese, seafood risotto, tilapia with pecan topping, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green beans, asparagus, carrots, corn o’brien, salad bar, assorted cheeses and breads and a fabulous dessert station. Seating is on the hours from 11am to 2pm. Members are charge $17.95, non-members $19.95, children 6-12 years $8.95 and children under are free. You want to serve Mom at home and don’t want to cook, then you can get it to go at the Surf’s Edge Club. You can get a meal good for 6-8 people for $80. The menu includes roasted pork loin with sausage stuffing, new potatoes, green beans, baby carrots, spring salad, dinner rolls and coconut cake. Call 828-3357 or 840-6900 to reserve the meal. Orders must be place and paid for by 7 May with orders picked up between 11am and noon on Sunday.

MacDill Lanes on MacDill AFB is having a special $1 bowling during the month of May. You can bowl for a $1 per game and enjoy the $1 hot dog and small soda special at the same time during select days. This special is available on 5, 12, 18 and 28 May from 11am to 4pm. Also with each game bowled, you become eligible for the weekly drawing as well as the Grand Prize Drawing. Each game bowled gives you one entry. Prizes include $25 of Service Bucks, Buck-N-Bowl t-shirts, 20 or 30 or 50 free games. MacDill Lanes have 12 new lanes and a large variety of bowling balls to chose from. The rental bowling shoes are new! The grill offers a large variety of inexpensive of foods from burgers, fries, pizzas to salads. There is also a video arcade for the kids. Besides the May special, MacDill Lanes offers a Family special every Sunday from 1pm-8pm, up to 4 people can bowl two games each and get rental shoes, 1 large pizza and 1 pitcher of soda for $20! Normal hours are Mon 11am-5pm, Tue-Thu 11am-8pm, Fri 11am-midnight, Sat 1pm-midnight and Sun 1pm-8pm. MacDill Lanes is located at 8216 Hanger Loop Rd right near the MacDill AFB Fitness Center.

The movie theater on MacDill AFB is still open on Saturday if you want to do something besides the MacDill AirFest. The best way to get on MacDill AFB this weekend will be by taking the Bayshore Gate entrance, but you have to have an ID card to get in this way. The Dale Mabry and MacDill Ave gates will be jam packed with visitors to the AirFest. On Saturday at 3pm watch the classic Dr. Seuss story, Horton Hears a Hoot, on the big screen. This animated movie has voice makeover by Jim Carrey and Steve Carell. This movie runs a total of 89 minutes. In the story, Horton the elephant hears a cry from help coming from a peck of dust. Even though he can’t see anyone on the speck, he decides to help it. As it turns out, the speck of dust is home to the Whos, who live in their city of Whoville, Horton agrees to help the Whos and their home, but this gives him nothing but torment from his neighbors, who refuse to believe that anything could survive on the speck. Still, Horton stands by the motto that, “After all, a person is a person, no matter how small”. At 7pm, watch Shutter. This movie runs 99 minutes and is rated PG-13 for terror, disturbing images, sexual content, and language. The storyline is about a young photographer and his girlfriend find ghostly images in his photographs as well s around them while on their honeymoon in Tokyo. Admission for all ages is $3.25. A medium popcorn and soft drink cost $6.

Yappy hours with dogs and owners are becoming more popular throughout the Tampa Bay area. Your pet can imbibe with a special doggie beer or pet store vendors booth offerings or take a picture with you! Make sure that you have your dog on a leash. Gaspar’s Grotto in Ybor City has a Pets on the Patio event from 2pm to 7pm on the first Saturday of each month. Dogs are also welcome during business hours from 11:30am to 3am Mondays to Saturdays and 2:30pm to midnight on Sundays. In Tampa at MacDinton’s Irish Pub and Restaurant has Pets About Town from 4pm to 6pm on the first Sunday of each month. Dogs are also welcome from 11:30am to 3am each day. In Hyde Park Village at the Wine Exchange, dogs are welcome from 11:30am to 10pm each day. In Safety Harbor at the Taste Safety Harbor Care Yappy Hour is from 4pm to 7pm on Saturdays. In Dunedin, La Maison Gourmet are welcome 11am to 3pm Mon to Sat, 5pm to 10:30pm Tue to Sat, and Sun from 10:30am to 2:30pm. In Clearwater at O’Keefe’s Irish Tavern, dogs are welcome from 11am to 2am each day. In Valrico, at J.F. Kicks Bar and Grille there is Dapper Doggie when Yappy Hour runs from 6:30pm to 8:30pm on the last Thursday of each month where dogs are encouraged to be dressed in their best! In Riverview at Mojitos, there is Happy Paws and Trails where Yappy Hour is 6pm to 8:30pm on the last Wed of each month where dog beer is served.

Celebrate the 60th Anniversary of Israel Independence at Al Lopez Park this Sunday from 11am to 4pm. There will be more than 10 activities and games for children and adults including the Red Sea Sponge Toss, Falafel Sack Race, Jerusalem Football Toss, Kiryat Shmona to Eilat Jump, Climb Masada, Obstacle Course and more. Prizes will be awarded to all children. Entertainment includes Kolot, four singers from Israel’s National Army Band. Meet the performers at the event and earn more about life in Israel! Local favorites, The Mike Eisenstadt Band, will also entertain the crowd. Additional entertainment will include balloon animal artists, tilt walkers and face painters. There will also be carnival rides that cost $10 for an all day ride pass. Try some Israeli or American foods! There will also be Israeli movies playing in the air conditioned Hunt Center at Al Lopez Park. Parking is free with overflow parking at corner of Himes and MLK Blvd.