MacDill Happenings

Stop by the  Bay Palms Golf Complex on MacDill AFB and check out all the golf specials.  All putters in stock, except for Ping, are 15% off. Make sure you have the latest equipment for that short game! Don’t forget about playing either! If you play after 11am or on the weekends, the special is $125 for 4 players. The Monday through Friday rates are 7am to 11am: E1 to E4 $17; E5 to O3 $23; O4 and up $26; guests $30, from 11am to 2:30pm: E1 to E4 $12; E5 to O3 $16; O4 and up $18; guests $22, after 2:30pm: E1 to E4 $10; E5 to O3 $14; O4 and up $15; guests $18. On weekends, the posted rates are good until 11am when a discount goes into effect. The Bay Palms Golf Complex was named ‘Best Golf Program in the Air Force’ for 2002. There are two 18-hole, par 72 courses. The challenging South Course runs along the bay. The North Course offers a prefect opportunity to work on your game. The complex has a lighted practice putting green, a 24-hour-a-day lighted driving range where a bucket of balls is only $1, a practice chipping green and sand trap areas. The clubhouse has an excellent pro shop with a great friendly staff ready to help you. The snack bar serves a great variety of food and has an especially nice breakfast menu!

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Come out and support the Tampa Bay Lightning as they take the ice against the Washington Capitals on Tuesday 31 January.  Game time is 7:30 pm at the St. Pete Times Forum.  The Lightning is having a tough season so far, but they never give up. They had a tough start last season but still made the playoffs! So come out and support your team! Stamkos may yet lead this team into the playoffs!  If you’re not going to game but have to drive by the Forum, make sure you give yourself some extra time to drive by it.  The St. Pete Times Forum is located in the Channelside District of Tampa just south of downtown Tampa.  The Forum has state-of-the-art technology and innovative design which combine to make the St. Pete Times Forum one of the best facilities in North America. In addition to NHL hockey, the St. Pete Times Forum hosts more than 150 events annually, including concerts, family events, ice shows, the circus and other indoor sports. The Forum has a full range of food available including a great restaurant with a buffet, The Medallions. There is plenty of parking nearby at Channelside or directly across the street from the Forum.  Channelside offers a variety of restaurants sure to please any palate from Hooter’s to Stump’s.  Discount tickets are available at the MacDill AFB ITT office, but don’t wait for the last minute to purchase tickets.

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On Mondays at MacDill Lanes active duty personnel and their immediate dependents can bowl on Mondays for only $5. This special is only available on Mondays from 11am to 7pm and includes as many games as you want and shoe rental. MacDill Lanes offers 12 lanes of top quality bowling with automated scoring and pinsetters. Bowling is great family fun and is great way to keep the kids from getting bored! There is pro shop that has everything that you need for bowling including the latest balls that can be drilled to you hand size, bags, shoes and other accessories. The snack bar has great food at a reasonable price. The snack bar is open at 11am on Sunday to Friday and at 1pm on Saturday and closes one hour before the lanes close. The normal hours for MacDill Lanes are Mon-Tue 11am to 5pm, Wed-Thu 11am to 8pm, Fri 11am to midnight and Sat 1pm to midnight. Regular per game rates are from 11am to 5pm is $2, and 5pm-8pm is $2.50. On Saturday from 1pm-8pm, the cost is $2.50. On Friday and Saturday night from 8pm to midnight, Xtreme Bowling with glowing pins and balls and flashing lights takes place with a charge of $3 per game. MacDill Lanes also has a birthday party special for $100 for 10 kids. The birthday special includes 2 games of Xtreme Bowling, shoe rental, table and chair set up, decorations and a choice of hot dog, fries and a soft drink or pizza and soft drinks.

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Sign up now for the 2-Person Scramble Tournament at MacDill AFB Bay Palms Golf Complex on the 21st of January. There is plenty of time to start practicing now! It’s a best ball tournament where each player on the team hits a shot and best shot of the two gets selected for the next shot. It’s an 8am shotgun start. Cost is $30 for members and E1 to E4, $35 for E5 to O3, $40 for O4 and up and $45 for civilians. Price includes green fees, cart, prizes and a pasta lunch after the tournament. Before the tournament, warm up or work on your stroke at the 24-hour a day lighted driving range for only $1 for a bucket of balls. Of course, there are separate chipping and putting greens. The Bay Palms Golf Complex was named ‘Best Golf Program in the Air Force’ for 2002. There are two 18-hole, par 72 courses. The clubhouse has pro shop, restroom/locker areas and a great reasonably price eatery. The South Course is a scenic and challenging courses built along the Bay. The North Course course is a fairly straight course with several water obstacles. Group and private lessons can be arranged through the Bay Palms Pro Shop. The clubhouse has an excellent pro shop with a great friendly staff ready to help you. The snack bar serves a great variety of food and has an especially nice breakfast menu!

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Come out to Boyd Hill Nature Preserve in St. Pete for a Bike Safari through Boyd Hill Nature Preserve. The safari starts at 9am. The 245-acre park has more than three miles of trails and boardwalks. There are five unique ecosystems: hardwood hammocks, sand pine scrub, pine flatwoods, willow marsh and lake shore. The Lake Maggiore section has areas shaded by spreading live oaks with anhingas fanning their wings out to dry. You can see turtles sunning themselves on tussocks and alligators drifting by. At the Swamp Woodlands area, you will find Winding paths along a creek shaded by bay, sugarberry and red maple trees. Box turtles hide in the leaf litter on the forest floor. The star-bellied spiders weave their perfect web between the branches. Boyd Hill Nature Preserve is a magical butterfly garden for most of the year, with 55 different kinds of butterflies identified here. An aviary is home to permanently injured birds of prey including an eagle, turkey vultures, hawks, and owls. There are picnic areas with grills are available near the parking area with a common playground. The Lake Maggiore Environmental Education Center at Boyd Hill Nature Preserve provides interpretive programming on a variety of environmental and natural history topics and features the dynamic Ripple Effect exhibit, a large classroom, meeting space, and a gift shop. Located adjacent to Boyd Hill Nature Preserve, the Pinellas PioneerSettlement is a living history museum experience where visitors can observe and take part in the skills, crafts and social customs of late 19th century life in west central Florida. Accommodations for overnight camping are available in designated areas of the preserve. Campsites may be rented individually or in groups. Cabins are also available (sleeps ten per cabin). Two cabins are accessible to the disabled. Campground areas include the use of a fire circle (permit required). Call (727) 893-7326 for more information. Park hours are Tuesday through Friday 10 am to 7 pm, Saturday 7 am to 6 pm, Sunday 10 am to 6 pm. Trails close 1/2 hour before dusk. Admission cost is Adults: $5 (cost includes admission and bike safari), Children 3 to 16: $1.50, Children under 3: free. Pets are not allowed on the park.

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Curtis Hixon Park in downtown Tampa will be the location of the free Elephant Painting on 27 December. To promote the upcoming Ringling Bros & Barnum Bailey Circus show at the St. Pete Times Forum, 50 kids can paint an elephant. The painting starts at 10:30am, but the earliest that you can line up to paint is 8am. The limit is 50 kids and is strictly first-come, first-served. The beautiful Curtis Hixon Park is located on the waterfront in downtown Tampa along Ashley St between the Tampa Museum of Art and the Sykes building. Food is available at nearby restaurants including Five Guys Hamburger across the street from the Park and a new nearby Mexican restaurant Urban Cantina located at the corner of Madison and South Tampa. You can also bring a picnic dinner and don’t forget the blankets and chairs! There will also be a few concessions selling drinks and snacks. Alcohol is not allowed but well behaved pets are! Curtis Hixon Park has a fenced animal park along the water. This park is one of nicest parks in Tampa. With an interactive playground, wide open flat grass play area, a view of the University of Tampa, and cooling water fountains, this is a great place to relax on during a Tampa evening. Parking is available at the Curtis Hixon parking garage or at nearby public parking lots. On street parking is free in Tampa after 6pm, so you don’t have to place any quarters into the meters! If you’re lucky, you can get a parking spot in front of Five Guys Hamburgers right across the street from the Park at the corner of Ashley and Polk.

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Curtis Hixon Park in downtown Tampa is the location for Tampa’s Tree Lighting Ceremony this Friday starting at 6pm. The beautiful Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park is located in downtown Tampa along Ashley St between the Tampa Museum of Art and the Sykes building. Join hosts Keith Cate from New Channel 8 and Chad & Kristi from the Magic Morning Show as they host this family fun event. There will be entertainment provided by the Late Night Brass and a special performance by singer Belinda Womack. At 8:15pm, the Movie in the Park will be the new classic Christmas comedy “Elf”! Food is available at nearby restaurants including Five Guys Hamburger across the street from the Park and a new nearby Mexican restaurant Urban Cantina located at the corner of Madison and South Tampa. Get it to go! You can also bring a picnic dinner and don’t forget the blankets and chairs! Alcohol is not allowed but well behaved pets are! Curtis Hixon Park has a fenced animal park along the water. This park is one of nicest parks in Tampa. With an interactive playground, wide open flat grass play area, a view of the University of Tampa, and cooling water fountains, this is a great place to relax on a Thursday evening or any evening! Parking is available at the Curtis Hixon parking garage or at nearby public parking lots. On street parking is free in Tampa after 6pm, so you don’t have to place any quarters into the meters! If you’re lucky, you can get a parking spot in front of Five Guys Hamburgers right across the street from the Park at the corner of Ashley and Polk.

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If you are new to Tampa or just haven’t had a chance to see how beautiful the downtown area of Tampa is, then Thursday night is your chance!  City Bike Tampa is sponsoring free evening bike rides through downtown on Thursday evenings. The downtown empties out pretty quickly after work so traffic will not be a problem. There is still so much to see and do in downtown in the evening from enjoying Curtis Hixon Park, stopping by a restaurant or just enjoying a bike ride or walk. The weekly guided fun bike ride breaks into groups for slow and fast riders. Rides end at a bar or restaurant for socializing after the ride. Make sure you bring a light since it the sun will be setting. Helmets although not mandatory are suggested. City Bike Tampa is a full service specialty bicycle shop with two locations in Downtown Tampa focused on rentals, tours, sales, service, repairs, parts and accessories. As an authorized dealer for Kona, Jamis, Eastern, Civia and KHS Bicycles, City Bike Tampa offers a broad selection of products and services for active cyclists and those looking to explore bicycling as a new part of their active lifestyle. City Bike Tampa is located at 212 E. Cass Street, Tampa, FL between Tampa and Franklin Street across from the Element luxury high rise apartment building. They also have a rental shop On the Riverwalk at the Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel and Marina.

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The City of St. Petersburg will host a Rally for the Rays at a special rally to be held Monday, October 3, 2pm to 5 pm, in the shadow of Tropicana Field at Ferg’s Sports Bar and Grill, 1320 Central Ave. Ferg’s Sports Bar is just one street over from the Trop and to the north of the Trop. It’s a great place before and after a game with a large indoor area and larger outdoor area with a pair of street-level indoor bars and outside decks arranged like steps. It’s menu with burgers, wraps and wings (try the teriyaki ones) served amid a fanatic’s paradise of memorabilia is sure to make every fan happy and full! While celebrating the Rays’ first home playoff game of the post-season, fans will enjoy live entertainment on the outdoor stage behind Ferg’s with disc jockey Mad Mac. If you didn’t get to see the Rays clinch the wild card, then you missed something special. Sports writers from around the nation have been writing about that magical night. Down by 7 runs late in the game, the Rays tied with a home run by Dan Johnson, one of thees hero of the 2008 pennant season, when there were two outs and two strikes in the bottom of the 9th. Longoria won the game with a homer in the bottom of the 12th. A Hollywood script could not have been written better. There will be food vendors, live radio remotes, official and promotional Rays merchandise, free give-aways and comments from St. Petersburg Mayor Bill Foster and other officials. If you were not able to get tickets for the game, then enjoy the game at Ferg’s will be the next place thing! For more information on Monday’s rally, call 727-822-4562.

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The amazing Tampa Bay Rays take on the Texas Rangers on Monday night. The first pitch is thrown at 5:10pm. Expect the game to sellout so if you have tickets make sure you get there early because of the crowd and to enjoy the atmosphere! If you don’t get tickets, then the game will be televised on TBS and expect every bar in the Tampa Bay area to have the game on! Pitching and great defense have been keys, as always, to the success of the Rays. Evan Longoria has come back from injury at the start of the season and has been on a power surge. There will be a parking charge at the Trop, but you can find some discount parking spots around the Trop. The Trop is easily accessible from I-275. Inside the Trop, check out the Ray tank in centerfield. In the Left Field Street area, fans can participate in a baseball-themed game show, take their picture on a Topps baseball card, have their name inscribed onto a Louisville Slugger bat, touch and feel real game-used equipment, and broadcast play-by-play of baseball highlights. At Right Field Street kids can experience the magic of baseball in the Rays Baseball Carnival, a real working carnival that includes plinko, spin the wheel, ring-a-bat and skee ball. Or take a swing against a computer images of real Major League pitchers in a batting cage or test their arms in the speed pitch, both found in the T.G. Lee Rookie Challenge area of the Carnival. There is also kids-themed areas such as “Bats, Balls, and Brushes”, “St. Petersburg Times Pressbox” and “The Science of Baseball.” Centerfield Street has the Cuesta-Rey Cigar Bar, baseball’s first in-stadium cigar bar, as well as the Batter’s Eye Restaurant, located in the “batter’s eye” in center field. Centerfield Street also has the Ted Williams Museum and Hitters Hall-of-Fame. To save money, make sure you purchase tickets earlier. If you purchase tickets on game day at the stadium, the price increases about $3 per ticket! If you buy tickets at the Ray downtown Tampa store, the service charge is only $1.75. For these tickets, the service charge is also discounted and only costs a $1 per ticket. Or stop by the MacDill AFB ITT office for discounted baseball tickets.

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