MacDill Happenings

If you’re looking some entertainment and some exercise on a Sunday, then stop by the MacDill AFB bowling alley, MacDill Lanes. The Sunday Family Special includes 2 games, shoes, 1 large pizza and a pitcher of soda. The price for 2 people is $20 and for 4 people it is $30. The Special runs from 1-7pm. 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.

The Museum of Fine Arts in downtown St. Petersburg is offering a special discount admission through the end of August. Visitors can enter for half-price on all admissions from 10 am to noon, Tuesday through Friday. On these days and during these hours only, adults pay $6 each, seniors 65 and older $5, and students seven and older with current I.D. $3. The discount is not offered on weekends. The Museum of Fine Arts was founded by Margaret Acheson Stuart (1896-1980) and reflects her vision of providing outstanding examples of world art in an inviting, elegant setting. The Museum opened to the public in 1965.The collection has more than 4,600 objects extending from antiquity to the present day and features stellar French Impressionist paintings. Galleries of Steuben glass, decorative arts, and pre-Columbian objects are especially dramatic. Two interior gardens, one devoted to sculpture, encourage reflection. An intimate second-floor gallery, in the new wing, displays works on paper and photographs. The Museum’s photography collection of nearly 1,400 images is one of Florida’s most respected. The Museum is dedicated to serving all people by pursuing excellence in art from antiquity to the present through collection, exhibitions, and education for its diverse audiences. The original wing of the museum was designed by architect John Volk. From the guard opening the front door to the carpeted galleries, this Museum welcomes you inside both its exhibition galleries and intimate gardens and encourages you to stay. The new two-story building sits adjacent to the original building on Beach Drive, facing Straub Park to the north. There is a museum store and cafe to add to the enjoyment of your visit.

The MacDill AFB Marina has everything you need for your fishing or boating trip! The retail store has a full supply of frozen and live bait, tackle, fuel, propane, ice and beach and RV supplies. There is free boat launch that is not too crowded most of the time. You will not have to deal with the crowds you find at public boat launches! If you don’t have a boat, then the marina offers a number of boats for rent from pontoon boats to boats with an outdoor motor. To rent a power boat, you need to complete this free online course and print out the certificate and bring it with you when you rent the boat. Because renting power boats is popular, make sure you make a reservation in advance. You can rent by the hour, a half day or a whole day. You can rent canoes, kayaks, peddle boats, and water safety equipment.

“Here’s to the Heroes” provides free Admission to Worlds of Discovery Theme Parks for military members and direct dependents until 31 Dec 09.  Three Worlds of Discovery – SeaWorld Orlando, Busch Gardens Tampa and SeaWorld San Diego – operate year round. The company’s remaining parks are seasonal, with varying opening dates this spring. Each park’s operating schedule is available online. Here’s to the Heroes provides a single day’s free admission to any one Busch Gardens or SeaWorld park, Water Country USA, Sesame Place or Adventure Island for the service member and as many as three of his or her direct dependents. Any active duty, active reserve, ready reserve service member or National Guardsman is entitled to free admission under the program. He or she need only register, either online at www.herosalute.com or in the entrance plaza of a participating park, and show a Department of Defense photo ID. Inactive, standby and retired reserve members, military retirees, U.S. Merchant Marine and civilian Department of Defense workers are ineligible for the program. The program does not include Discovery Cove or SeaWorld’s new waterpark, Aquatica.

If you’ve caught the acting bug then the Avenue Players Theatre is holding auditions for the drama “Awake and Sing” from 6:30pm to 9pm Jan 8 in the auditorium of Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art, 600 Klosterman Road, Tarpon Springs. First performed on Broadway in 1935, “Awake and Sing” tells the story of the impoverished Berger family and their conflicts as the parents scheme to manipulate their children’s relationships to their own ends, while their children strive for their own dreams. Tarpon Springs, located right on the Gulf, with a population of almost 23,000 people is noted for its celebration of elaborate religious ceremonies related to the Greek Orthodox Church such as Epiphany celebrated every January 6 with the blessing of the waters and the boats. Tarpon Springs is also noted for having the highest population of Greek-Americans in the United States which can be traced to 1880’s with a large influx of Greek divers for a then large sponge industry. Roles are for men and women ages 20 to 70. Rehearsals are Tuesday and Thursday evening. Production dates are April 8-19. Call (727) 372-7651 for alternate audition by appointment.

If you want to take the kids to do something fun and different during the holiday break, then stop by Hudson Hydroponics Farm in Hudson. It is a u-pick farm with produce prices from $1.69 to $4 per lb. Plants grow vertically, so there’s no bending. There are not too farms around that grow their plants like this! They have strawberries, blueberries in the spring, plus bok choy, green beans, tomatoes, squash, peppers, lettuce and more. Picking times are Wednesdays and Saturdays 9 am to 5 pm and Sundays 10 am to 2 pm, but call ahead to make sure call (727) 808-2561 to confirm times.

If you need an inexpensive outing this weekend, then look no further than the MacDill AFB movie theater this Friday and Saturday.  Admission is $4 for 12 yrs of age and older and $2 for children 4-11 yrs old.  You can get a medium popcorn and two medium soft drinks for only $10!  This Friday at 7pm, “Wanted” is playing starring Angelina Jolie,  James McAvoy, and Morgan Freeman. This movie is rated R for strong bloody violence, pervasive language and sexuality with a run time of 110 minutes. 25-year-old Wes was the most disaffected, cube-dwelling drone the planet had ever known. Then he meets a woman named Fox. After his estranged father is murdered, the deadly sexy Fox recruits Wes into the Fraternity, a secret society that trains Wes to avenge his dad’s death by unlocking his dormant powers. With wickedly brilliant tutors–including the Fraternity’s enigmatic leader, Sloan–Wes grows to enjoy all the strength he ever wanted. But, slowly, he begins to realize there is more to his dangerous associates than meets the eye.  A great children’s movie playing at 3pm and again at 7pm on Saturday is “Kit Kittredge: An American Girl” starring Abigail Breslin and Stanley Tucci. This movie is rated G and has a run time of 101 minutes. Aspiring reporter Kit Kittredge can’t resist bringing home strays, whether it’s Grace, an abandoned basset hound, or Will and Countee, a pair of young hobos willing to trade work for meals. Bright, inquisitive and generous, Kit is a natural born leader. But her happy childhood is abruptly interrupted when her father loses his car dealership and must leave Cincinnati to look for work. Kit and her mother Margaret are left to manage on their own, growing vegetables, selling eggs and even taking in an assortment of boarders.

This Saturday is the grand opening of the Armed Forces Military Museum at 2050 34th Way N in Largo.  This 35,000 square foot museum is one of the largest military museums in Florida not funded by the U.S. government.  The museum has lifelike displays and settings with theatrical lighting, unusual artifacts, projected video and well-placed sound effects.  Displays are from World War I to the present.  One of the unique features of the museum is the Officer’s Club housed inside a replica of a World War II quonset hut that can host a function for up to 85 people with a bar and food catering services.  Grand opening hours are 10am to 5pm.  Admission for the grand opening is $5 for adults, $3 for children ages 7 to 12,, free for children under 6, and for active and retired military with ID.  Tickets can be purchased tickets at the museum.

If you thinking of spending the night in Orlando area during a visit to Disney World, Universal Studios, Seaworld or any of the other many attractions in the Orlando and need a place to stay at, then stop by the MacDill AFB IT&T office to get a special rate at some of the Disney World hotels.  Available most nights from 3 Aug – 27 Sept 2008 with rates starting at $64.00 per night plus tax for select Walt Disney World Value Resorts in a standard room. You can also call 813-828-1860 to book your room.  Don’t forget to get your military discount tickets when you stop by the MacDill AFB IT&T office.  You can also get military discount tickets at the Shades of Green hotel at Walt Disney World. Shades of Green is a US Army MWR hotel that also has reasonable room prices.  Another option is the luxury Gaylord Palms Resort and Spa, located one mile from Walt Disney World.  They are offering $100 discounts on rooms so that you only pay $99 a night! 

If you’re looking for an inexpensive outing this weekend, then go no further than the MacDill AFB movie theater this Friday and Saturday.  Tickets for adults are $4 and $2 for ages 5-10.  On Friday at 7pm, “The Incredible Hulk” starring Edward Norton is playing. It is rated PG-13 for intense action violence, frightening sci-fi images, and brief suggestive content with a runtime of 128 minutes. Scientist Bruce Banner desperately hunts for a cure to the gamma radiation that poisoned his cells and unleashes the unbridled force of rage within him. Cut off from a life he knew and the woman he loves, Betty Ross, Banner struggles to avoid the obsessive pursuit of his nemesis, General Thunderbolt Ross, and the military machinery that seeks to capture him and brutally exploit his power. As all three grapple with the secrets that led to The Hulk’s creation, they are confronted with a monstrous new adversary known as The Abomination, whose destructive strength exceeds even The Hulk’s own.  On Saturday at 7pm, “The Love Guru“ starring Mike Myers and Jessica Alba is playing. This movie is rated PG-13 for crude/sexual content throughout, language, comic violence and drug references. Runtime for this movie is 88 minutes. Pitka is an American who was left at the gates of an ashram in India as a child and raised by gurus. He moves back to the U.S. to seek fame and fortune in the world of self-help and spirituality. His unorthodox methods are put to the test when he must settle a rift between Toronto Maple Leafs star hockey player Darren Roanoke and his estranged wife. After the split, Roanoke’s wife starts dating L.A. Kings star Jacques Grande out of revenge, sending her husband into a major professional skid - to the horror of the teams’ owner Jane Bullard and Coach Cherkov (Verne Troyer). Pitka must return the couple to marital nirvana and get Roanoke back on his game so the team can break the 40-year-old “Bullard Curse” and win the Stanley Cup.