MacDill Happenings

The Bay Palms Golf Complex on MacDill AFB is a great place for the entire family to play a game of golf or to grab a bite to eat. There is a North and a South course for a total of 36 holes with 6,761 total yards on the par 72 courses. The courses are open 6:30am to 6:30pm every day. I recommend the North Course, which is a little more forgiving, for the novice golfer. The Main Course Eatery grill in the clubhouse is serves food from 6:30am to 2pm. 7days a week. The breakfast specials and lunch specials can’t be beat. The Hole in One breakfast special can’t be beat. It includes 2 eggs cooked to order, hash browns or grits, toast or muffin, and a choice of sausage links or patties, or bacon, and a cup of coffee.

The Pro shop has everything a golfer could want from clubs, bags, balls, shoes, shirts to shorts. You can rent clubs if you happen to forget your own. The Pro Shop number is 840-6904 and you can reserve a Tee time at 840-6915.
Here are the golf prices:

Monday – Friday
Cart & Green Fees
7 am – 10 am
E1-E4 $14 O-4 – Up $22
E5-O3 $19 Guests $30
10 am – 2:30 pm
E1-E4 $12 O-4 – Up $20
E5-O3 $16 Guests $25
After 2:30 pm
E1-E4 $8 O-4 – Up $12
E5-O3 $10 Guests $15

Saturday-Sunday Specials
Cart & Green Fees for 18 Holes*
7 am – 10 am
Posted Rates
10 am – 2:30 pm
E1-E4 $12 E5-O3 $16
O-4 – Up $20 Guests $25
After 2:30 pm
E1-E4 $8 E5-O3 $10
O-4 – Up $12 Guests $15
* Cart Renewals available for $4 for 9 holes and$6 for 18 holes per person

3 Guests + 1 Military Special $100 Includes Hot Dog Lunch
(After 10 am • Sat-Sun)

Junior golfers are only an additional $5 when accompanied by an adult sponsor.

The lighted driving range is self-serve where a bucket of 24 balls only cost a $1. Of course, there is a putting and chipping course.

Every Saturday morning from 8:30-9:30 there is a Junior Golf Clinic that only costs $3 a child. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, there is a free Active Duty Military Clinic from 12-1pm.

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The Tampa Bay Lightning take on the New York Rangers at 7:30pm tonight at the St. Pete Times Forum. If you haven’t been to a hockey game, you will love the non-stop action! Danny Lokey from American Idol will be putting on a concert after the game! Lokey turned into country singer with his Nashville debut, My Best Days. He’ll perform outdoors on the West Plaza stage immediately following the Lightning -Rangers game. A game ticket is required to get into the area. Also the first 5,000 fans get a free Lightning hat! Tickets at the Forum start at $10.75. But you can purchase discount tickets at the MacDill AFB ITT office. 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. But if you show your military ID card at the box office, you can get two free tickets!

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After spending all that money for Christmas, the kids probably still need something to do. Oakfield Lanes is a prefect place for reasonably priced entertainment. Oakfield Lanes is having $1 a game bowling on Monday.  The special runs from 9am to noon, but make sure you get there early.  Oakfield Lanes offer 32 lanes of air conditioning bowling.  During the special, shoe rental is only $2. One neat thing about Oakfield Lanes is the pond at the back.  From the deck, you can see some very large fish and a lot of turtles just enjoying the water!  Brandon is about a 30 minute drive from MacDill AFB. The LeRoy Selmon Expressway runs from Brandon to Tampa and can cut 10 to 15 minutes off your commute during rush hour. Make sure you buy a SunPass transponder it’ll save you .25 cents at each toll booth. Also, instead of waiting to pay at the toll booth with a SunPass transponder, you can go through the automated pay lane and save yourself some time. Brandon has all the amenities that anyone would need. The Westfield Shoppingtown is one of the largest malls in the Tampa area. It not only a shopping destination but also a great place for dinner with the Cheesecake Factory, California Pizza Kitchen and Ruby Tuesdays along with a host of other restaurants.

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The Tampa Bay classic Thanksgiving Day run, the St. Petersburg Times Turkey Trot, starts early on Thursday morning with a series of 4 runs. This race is a must race at least once for all Tampa Bay runners. The Wingding 5k starts at 7am. The Fun Run 5k starts at 7:30pm. The 1 mile Gobbler starts at 8:30am. The final race, the 10k Turkey Trot, starts at 8:45am. All races begin at Keene Road just south of Gulf to Bay Blvd. (except the 5k Fun Run) and end in Jack White Stadium at Clearwater High School. Proceeds from the St. Petersburg Times Turkey Trot will be donated to many local charities, including the West Florida Runners Club Scholarship Programs, Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Pinellas County and the Children’s Heart Foundation. Canned goods and non-perishable food items will be collected in the stadium on race day. All collected foods will be given to the Food Pantry Program at Religious Community Services, Inc. The Turkey Trot Kick-Off Party will be held today from 5pm to 7:30pm at Jack White Stadium at Clearwater High School. It’s the last chance to preregister and save a few bucks! But the exact amount is required in cash or check. During the party, come out and enjoy free snacks, live music, fun and games. Purchase official Times Turkey Trot merchandise the night before the race. Online and Mail-in registrants can pick up their race numbers (with confirmation number) and/or T-shirt (with race number/T-shirt tag). Make sure you arrive early, because this is a really popular race and parking will be tight.

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The St. Pete Times Forum is hosting a NBA pre-season game with the Orlando Magic taking on the Miami Heat on 22 October. Tipoff is 7:30pm. This a great opportunity to see how the Heat’s big 3 players, LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh, meld together.  But don’t think that Superman, Dwight Howard, and the rest of the Magic will be intimidated by anyone on the Heat.    Instead of having to travel to Orlando to see a NBA game, come out for a short drive to the St. Pete Times Forum.  To get discounted tickets, stop by the MacDill AFB ITT office to purchase tickets. The MacDill AFB ITT office located in the Exchange Mall. In addition to getting a great discounted ticket price, you also don’t have to pay any taxes. so you save even more that you would off base! The ITT office is open Mon-Fri from 9am to 5pm, Sat 10am to 3pm and closed on Sunday. If you have any questions, please call the office at 828-2478. 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 NBA pre-season games, the St. Pete Times Forum hosts more than 150 events annually, including concerts, family events, ice shows, the circus, NHL hockey 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.

A new Tampa Bay Lightning hockey season is getting ready to start. Preseason has already started! With new players and a new general manager, the 2011 season looks to be exciting and competitive as ever! The Tampa Bay Lightning welcomes back fans and kicks off the 2010-11 hockey season with this free event including a charity hockey game with Lightning alumni, a question and answer session with players, Head Coach Guy Boucher and General Manager Steve Yzerman, an inside look at team practice, an open skate with Thunderbug and the Lightning Girls and a player autograph session. The first 500 to enter the Forum receive a free “All In” Lightning t-shirt. There will also be fun and games both inside the building and on the West Plaza for all ages, as well as food and beverage specials. Fans can also pick out the best locations for Lightning season tickets. Anyone purchasing season tickets at the event will also receive an equal number of tickets to see the Stone Temple Pilots, who will perform on Friday, October 8, at the St. Pete Times Forum as part of Lightning Launch weekend. The season opener is on Saturday, October 9, at 7:30 pm against the Atlanta Thrashers.

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Go Rays!! The Rays take on the Seattle Mariners at this afternoon Trop. The Rays magic number to clinch a spot in the post season is 3! Get ready for the post season again! The Rays won’t settle for a wild card spot, because if they win the division then they will be home field advantage throughout the playoffs. The first 10,000 fans get a Rafael Soriano Collectible Poster. Gametime is 1:40pm. Get to the game early and have a tailgate party! If you do get to the game early, then the first 50 cars with 4 people or more can park for free in the Trop parking lots. Normal parking price is $20 at the Trop. There are private lots nearby the Trop that charge $10 for parking. 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. For the 2010 season for every Rays Gold, Silver and Bronze games, the Rays offer a military discount of half off outfield tickets with a four ticket limit, when presenting an active military ID at the Tropicana Field Box office. This is a gold game, so the discount is available. If you purchase tickets on game day at the stadium, the price increases about $3 per ticket plus there is a $3 service charge! If you buy tickets at the Ray downtown Tampa store, the service charge is only $1.75, although you still have to pay the $3 day of game price increase.

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The MacDill AFB bowling center, MacDill Lanes, will be hosting a 9 Pin No Tap Tournament on Friday 17 September.  Cost will be $12 per person. MacDill Lanes offers 12 lanes of top quality bowling with automated scoring and pinsetters. Bowling is great family fun! 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 summer hours are Mon-Wed 11am to 5pm, Thu 11am to 8pm, Fri 11am to midnight and Sat 1pm to midnight. Per game rates during the week 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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If you’ve ever been to a Raymond James Stadium and wondered what everything looked like behind the scenes, then here is your chance!  The Tama Sports Authority has sent up public tours of the stadium.  No reservations are required for individual tours, just show up 15 minutes before the start of the tour.  Tours are subject to stadium availability, so call ahead  at 350-6500 to make sure that tours are still being conducted on the day that you want to go.  Scheduled dates are Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.  Start time is 2pm each day. ’Cost is $5 for ages 16 and up, $3 for ages 6-15 and seniors Group tours can be schedules with a minimum 10 guests, and maximum 30 guests. Call at least two weeks in advance to reserve your groups tour time slot. Please arrive 15 minutes prior to the tour to allow for check in. Reserved group tours are done on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays starting at 9am or 10:30am. The cost for Camps, Rec. Centers and Paid Summer Programs is $3 per child, adult groups (16 and older) is $5 per person, senior groups (65 and older) is $3 per person, and Hillsborough County School Groups are free during school year. You see how big or how small the stadium seems when there is no one else around. This backstage tour will take an hour. During that one hour, you will have the opportunity to checkout the locker rooms, have a chance to feel like one of the players while venturing out onto the field through the ‘home team’ tunnel, have Club/Suite access and have the opportunity to play Buccaneer aboard the infamous pirate ship. RayJay of course is home to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the home field of the USF Bulls.

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The Rays take on the Detroit Tigers on 27 July at the Trop!  Grow Financial Credit Union is having a great special on tickets for this game.  Tickets cost only $5!  The tickets are in the Upper Box which normally sell for $13.  With these seats, you get a really good view of the infield.  The first pitch is thrown at 7:10pm. The Rays are still continuing their hot streak that they started before the All-Star break. Get to the game early and have a tailgate party! If you do get to the game early, then the first 50 cars with 4 people or more can park for free in the Trop parking lots. Normal parking price is $20 at the Trop. There are private lots nearby the Trop that charge $10 for parking. 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. For the 2010 season for every Rays Gold, Silver and Bronze games, the Rays offer a military discount of half off outfield tickets with a four ticket limit, when presenting an active military ID at the Tropicana Field Box office. This is a platinum game, so the discount is not available. 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.

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