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5 things to do under $5: Science festival, free flights for kids, Streetcar Fest, eat Localicious

 
Hop on one of Tampa’s historic streetcars for just a quarter a ride from 10 a.m. Saturday until 1:30 a.m. Sunday.
Hop on one of Tampa’s historic streetcars for just a quarter a ride from 10 a.m. Saturday until 1:30 a.m. Sunday.
Published Oct. 13, 2015

1 MarineQuest and USF St. Petersburg Science Festival: This annual family-friendly open house at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute and the USF St. Petersburg campus will have loads of science-related exhibits and activities. Visitors can handle animals in the touch tank, create "fish prints" (gyotaku), put together a manatee skeleton, play with robots and meet renowned scientists. Live entertainment will include Mad Science, MOSI's Steam Punks and DrumQuest. Food trucks and local vendors will be on site. It runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday along Seventh and Eighth avenues SE at Bayboro Harbor on the downtown St. Petersburg waterfront. Free.

2 Streetcar Fest: Ding ding! You can take the kids for a cheap day riding Tampa's historic streetcars for just 25 cents a ride from 10 a.m. Saturday until late into the night at 1:30 a.m. Sunday. It will be a day filled with live music, entertainment and activities at most of the stops. Centro Ybor, 1600 E Eighth Ave., Ybor City. tecolinestreetcar.org.

3 Fall Wildflower Festival: Walk through a butterfly-filled tent on Saturday at Brooker Creek Preserve and stroll among the colorful wildflowers for sale. There will also be talks on how to photograph wildflowers, how to landscape using wildflowers as well as live honeybee exhibits, nature crafts for kids, wildflower identification "hunts" and food for sale. Free. 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at the preserve, 3940 Keystone Road, Tarpon Springs. (727) 453-6800.

4 Free Flights for Kids: Kids 8 to 17 can get free rides from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday with certified pilots who will take them up on a short flight from Albert Whitted Airport to the Skyway Bridge, over the beaches and then back downtown. It's all part of International Young Eagles Day, devoted to inspiring young people to take up aviation. As many as 125 kids have participated in past free flight days and the spots fill fast. Each child must have a consent formed signed by parents or guardians. It's free at Albert Whitted Airport , 540 First St. SE, St. Petersburg. (727) 822-1532.

5 Localicious: The boosters at Keep St. Petersburg Local have set up a week of special activities that aim to get more people to "eat local, drink local." The kickoff Friday is a food truck rally from 6 to 10 p.m. at the Port of St. Petersburg, next to Albert Whitted Airport. Nosh with a live DJ and other entertainment. Then on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., families can visit the Pinellas Pioneer Settlement at 2900 31st St. S for free admission to an old-fashioned, family-friendly fall celebration and farmer's market with vendors, hay rides, a pumpkin patch and make-and-take activities such as corn husk dolls. Find dinners and speakeasy events that fill the rest of the week at keepsaintpetersburglocal.org/localicious.