TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Fun On The Cheap

ADVERTISEMENT

By KEVIN WALKER and JANINE DORSEY

of The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 22, 2008

-

TAMPA - If there is one thing that is definite about the summer of 2008, it's this: We're all certainly a lot poorer.

Our retirement accounts are plummeting with a skittish stock market. Gas prices are taking more and more out of our paychecks. Our savings accounts are earning a paltry 3 percent interest, which doesn't come close to keeping up with inflation. Meanwhile, all the talk around the office is about the next round of layoffs.

Yikes.

With all this stress, it occurred to us it might be a good time to share some free - or, at least, cheap - entertainment options with you. Because we cover so many entertainment events and venues, we often find ways to shave a few bucks here and there. We also go out and have families just like you, and we're on the lookout to save money.

Art For Less

St. Petersburg is home to one of the more interesting art museums anywhere - the Dali Museum, which features the work of surrealist painter Salvador Dali. But did you know that if you go after 5 p.m. on Thursdays, you can get in for just $5? It's usually $15. Sweet.

Other area museums, including the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts in downtown Tampa, Ybor City Museum, H.B. Plant Museum and the Tampa Museum, in its temporary home on Howard Avenue, have admissions or suggested donations of $5 or less.

Cost: $5 (or less)

Got Plants?

We love plants. We love the outdoors. We love our dog.

Well-behaved and leashed pets are welcome at USF Botanical Gardens. Explore the temperate forest, carnivorous plants, tropical and subtropical trees and shrubs, as well as plant species found in Florida's upland habitats together. Just make sure to pick up your pal's "droppings."

Cost: Free; (813) 974-5653

Free Music

In October, The Florida Orchestra will play free concerts in parks across the Bay area as part of the Pops in the Park program. Pack a picnic and grab some culture! Here's the schedule: Oct. 9, Coachman Park, Clearwater, 7 p.m.; Oct. 10, Al Lopez Park, Tampa; Oct. 17, River Tower Park, Tampa; and Oct. 18, Vinoy Park, St. Petersburg.

Cost: Free

Zoo Birthday

To celebrate its 20th anniversary, Lowry Park Zoo will continue to offer discounts on the 20th of each month through November.

Cost: $20 for two tickets (on the 20th of each month, excluding December); (813) 935-8552

Manatee Heaven

Between Nov. 1 and April 15, Tampa Electric Co. opens its Manatee Viewing Center in south Hillsborough County, where you can see manatees in the wild, drawn to the area by the Big Bend plant's warm water. The center will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.

Cost: Free; (813) 228-4289

Cheaper Concerts

This summer, Ford Amphitheatre and The Forum have dropped concert ticket prices a week or so before certain shows. (We'll let you guess as to why.)

For example, tickets for the Rod Stewart show at the Ford Amphitheatre just fell to $35 (lawn tickets are just $15). A similar price drop occurred for the Rascal Flatts show last week. There's a chance prices won't drop, so you run the risk of not getting a ticket. But if it's a performer you only sort of, kind of want to see, why not wait?

Cost: Varies; $35 for Rod Stewart on Thursday

Tour Ray Jay

Even Buccaneers season ticket holders don't get to see all the ins and outs of one of Tampa's crown jewels. Now, Joe Public can take a tour of Raymond James Stadium's locker rooms, pirate ship, player tunnel, press box and more.

Tours are offered Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 2 p.m.; reservations required.

Cost: $5, adults; $3, seniors and children ages 6 to 15; (813) 350-6576.

Embrace Nature

Weedon Island Preserve is just one of many parks and preserves in the area where you can hike, fish, canoe, kayak or bird and animal watch. The preserve number is (727) 453-6500. Others include the Brooker Creek Preserve in Tarpon Springs, (727) 453-6800; Lettuce Lake Park, (813) 987-6204; and Upper Tampa Bay Park, (813) 855-1765.

If history is more your thing, check out the Tocobaga Indian Mound at Phillippe Park in Safety Harbor, where there also are picnic areas and a nice view of Old Tampa Bay.

Cost: Free (although you might want to buy some bug spray and sunscreen)

Fun Card

This is one of those perks of living in Florida (like beaches, bikinis and rainy summers. Oh, wait). Go to Busch Gardens once, and for that one price of admission you can get a Fun Card that gets you in free for the rest of the year. This is perfect for those with kids or lots of visiting relatives (another perk of living down here. Oh, wait).

Cost: $67.95 for adults, $57.95 for children ages 3 to 9; 1888-800-5447.

A Movie For Breakfast

AMC theaters offer a discount for those coming to see a movie before noon on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. A ticket only costs $5, about half the regular cost of $9.50. There also are food discount promotions. Check it out at www.amctheatres.com.

Cost: $5

Movie From A Box

With Redbox, you rent a movie like you'd get a soda: out of a vending machine. A Redbox carries about 50 or so movies. Using a credit or debit card, the movie is dispensed to you. The cost of rental is $1 a day, and it can be returned to any Redbox machine. In the Tampa Bay area, Redbox machines are at five area Wal-Mart stores. Go to www.redbox.com for locations and store hours.

Cost: $1 a day

Fall Fun

On Oct. 4, the Zellwood Corn Maze will open to the maze-crazy masses. The six-acre maze in Orange County, east of Tampa, takes about an hour and a half of wandering. After that, take advantage of the other amenities such as the 60-foot superslide, Labyrinth/Rock Maze, nature trail, picnic area and maze tower. Don't forget to take home some of that legendary Zellwood sweet corn.

Fall also means many free community craft shows and art fairs; keep a lookout in Friday Extra or at TBOextra.com for details.

Cost: $8, ages 3 to 16; $10, 17 and older; closed Mondays; (352) 383-6900.

For more information about these events and venues go to TBOextra.com or check out the Free and Cheap blog on TBO.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT