MacDill Happenings

Come out to downtown St. Pete and enjoy the holiday season with some great music that will guarantee to get you into the spirit of the season and having you singin long after the performance ends! The American Stage Theatre Company at Raymond James Theater is hosting the “Ring A Ding Ding Holiday Cabaret” tonight at 6:30pm. “Hark the Herald Angels Swing” as American Stage brings you the hippest holiday party in town. Crooner/jazz pianist Michael Raabe and chanteuse Sara DelBeato will shake and stir up some retro-tastic Christmas tunes that are guaranteed to make you ‘merry and bright.’ Tickets prices are “Pay-What-You-Can” at the door and $15 in advance. Before or after the show, you might want to take the opportunity to enjoy the restaurants and nightlife that downtown St. Pete has to offer. American Stage Theatre Company is located at 163 3rd Street North in the heart of downtown St. Petersburg. During performances, patrons can park for free in the Synovus Bank, located one block up 3rd Street at 333 Third Ave. N. St. Petersburg College’s parking garage is open to patrons for $5 on Friday night, Saturdays and Sundays and is located next to the theater on Second Avenue North. Along with street parking, there are two other garages within walking distance. American Stage is the Tampa Bay area’s only professional regional equity theater. It presents its six-play Mainstage Series in its brand new, 182-seat Raymond James Theatre, across from Williams Park in downtown St. Petersburg. Other productions include the “After Hours” Series, School Tour, and camps and classes for children. American Stage is also known for its springtime American Stage in the Park (also known as Shakespeare in the Park), which was launched in 1986. In 2005, it began staging shows other than Shakespeare under the stars at Demens Landing.

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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 16′ or 19′ power boat or a pontoon boat, you need to complete this free online course and print out the certificate and bring it with you when you rent the boat. This is the last weekend to take advantage of the special on boat rentals. You can rent a 16′ boat for $40 a savings of $20 or a 19′ boat for $70 for a savings of $30. A pontoon boat can be rented for $70 a savings for $40. These prices are for a full rental day. 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, paddle boats, and water safety equipment.  It’s a little bit cheaper to rent during the week. Outdoor Recreation has monthly specials that include kayaking trips and scuba lessons as well as outdoor trips around the Tampa Bay area.   There is a special frequent boater card that gives you a free full day of boating after you purchase 5 full days on a 19′ twin vee or a pontoon boat. Make sure you plan ahead and make a reservation so that the equipment is available when you need it.

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Just in case its raining, come out of the wet weather and stop by the Plant Museum in downtown Tampa and see living history. Step back in time and enjoy these living history vignettes that bring turn-of-the-century Tampa Bay Hotel staff members and guests to life. Based on original research conducted by the Henry B. Plant Museum, the characters in our one-person shows are based wholly or in part on actual Hotel staff and guests. Recreating the attitudes and mores of a bygone time, along with the sorrows and joys of their existence, characters Arthur Schleman (hunting and fishing guide), Otis Freedman (head waiter), Maggie Stroud (laundress), Richard Harding Davis (guest and war correspondent), Henry Dobson (Spanish American War soldier) and First Lady Edith Roosevelt present their individual perspectives on what it meant to be part of Plant’s luxury resort. The Museum presents Upstairs/Downstairs at the Tampa Bay Hotel each Sunday at 2pm. The Plant Museum opened in 1974 and is housed in the former Tampa Bay Hotel which was built in 1891 by railroad magnate Henry Plant.  It is now a National Historic Landmark and home to The University of Tampa and located on the banks of the Hillsborough River.  The Henry B. Plant Museum is located at 401 W. Kennedy Boulevard, Tampa, FL 33606, approximately one mile off I-275 on the campus of The University of Tampa. From southbound I-275, take exit 45A to Downtown West, Ashley Drive. Proceed seven traffic lights to Kennedy Boulevard, turn right, cross bridge, and proceed 1/4 mile to The University of Tampa on your right. From northbound I-275, take exit 44, Ashley Drive, and proceed seven traffic lights to Kennedy Boulevard. Turn right on Kennedy Boulevard, cross the bridge and we are located 1/4 mile down on the right. As you enter The University of Tampa campus, you will see Plant Hall, the large building with the silver minarets on top. The musuem located at the end of that building closest to Kennedy Boulevard. There is a sign on the front lawn and flags at the entrance. Free parking is available in front of the Museum or in the parking garage two blocks away at the corner of North Boulevard and North “B” Street. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children 4-11 yrs old.

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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.

“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.