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Things to do with holiday visitors in the Tampa Bay area

 
Florida theme parks are a good bet, but keep in mind that this is one of the busiest times of the year. Big crowds build before and around Thanksgiving and last until about Tuesday. Orlando Sentinel (2009)
Florida theme parks are a good bet, but keep in mind that this is one of the busiest times of the year. Big crowds build before and around Thanksgiving and last until about Tuesday. Orlando Sentinel (2009)
Published Nov. 22, 2017

If you have relatives in town or kids at home on break this weekend, you may be in need of some diversions. Here are some destinations to get people out of your house and enjoying the local sights:

Only in Florida

• The Tampa Bay area's beaches, with their sugar-white sand and calm waves have landed on the list of the nation's best beaches so often that some of them (Fort De Soto in St. Petersburg, Caladesi Island in Clearwater) had to be retired to let other beaches have a shot at making the list. Keep in mind that even the beach can feel mighty cold when the wind is whipping off the Gulf of Mexico, so bring a jacket. As Christmas approaches look for sandy "snowmen" cropping up along the shoreline. More on the area's best beaches here.

• Rent a canoe, a bike or golf cart to explore the Hillsborough River State Park, a wilderness park with birds, turtles, gators and seven miles of nature trails. The park is open 8 a.m. to sundown at 15402 U.S. 301 N in Thonotosassa. Admission is $6 per vehicle of up to eight people. For questions, call the ranger station at (813) 987-6771.

• For bicycle riders, check out the Pinellas Trail, an urban trail stretching from Tarpon Springs to St. Petersburg. The trail has rest stops and parking plazas along the path, and the county's trail guide, found at pinellascounty.org/trailgd, has maps and even has a list bike and skate rental shops found near the trail.

• Nothing impresses those Northern relatives more than a herd of manatees lolling about. This time of year, the gentle lugs love the warmer water coming out of TECO's Big Bend power station. The company's Manatee Viewing Center is open to the public. Note: The center is closed for Thanksgiving Day, at 3 p.m. on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day, but otherwise open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Best of all, it's free at 6990 Dickman Road in Apollo Beach. See tampaelectric.com/manatee for live webcams.

Art and culture

• The Dalí Museum holds the largest collection outside of Spain of art by surrealist Salvador Dalí, but also has a Picasso exhibit right now running through Feb. 16 with rarely loaned works from more than 25 international art museums and private collections. The exhibit rereads the relationship between Dalí and Picasso, two key figures of 20th-century art, exploring new interpretations of the period in which their lives and works intersected. More info is available here, or by calling the museum at (727) 823-3767.

• Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg has a comprehensive permanent collection of 19th century French and American paintings, and is currently showing an exhibit of Star Wars costumes used in the movies. More info is available here, or by calling (727) 896-2667.

• The Tampa Museum of Art has a permanent collection that includes broad holdings of Greek and Roman antiquities, contemporary American art and works on paper. It also has a special exhibit called Mernet Larsen: Getting Measured. More info is here, or by calling (813) 274-8130.

Mural tours: St. Petersburg has become a city rich with urban murals by artists hailing from all over the world, and a number of locals, thanks in part to the annual Shine Mural Festival. You can discover many of them on your own anytime by visiting shineonestpete.com. Or take a guided tour, the benefit of which is the background stories of the murals and artists. The tours are available through Florida CraftArt, and can be booked by calling (727) 821-7391, or visiting floridacraftart.org.

Day trips

• Keep in mind the big Florida theme parks do huge business during a holiday week, so brace yourself for crowds if you are hitting any of them. The vacation planning site touringplans.com has a crowd indicator rating of 1 to 10. Starting this week it's a solid 10. Thanksgiving is the third busiest week of the year behind Christmas and Easter as the theme parks, hotels, buses and the parking lots overflow with visitors. If you go, plan ahead and arrive early to get on the must-see attractions. The further away from Thanksgiving Day, the lower the crowds, Touring Plans advises.

Visit an Entertainment Hub

East of downtown Tampa and off of Interstate 4 a massive entertainment complex has developed in recent years that includes indoor skydiving at iFLY, the Tampa Bay area's first Dave & Buster's arcade, restaurant and bar, the state-of-the-art indoor driving range called TopGolf and more things to see, such as a Bass Pro flagship store. 10690 Palm River Road, Tampa.

MORE THINGS TO DO

Events: Top things to do in Tampa Bay post-Thanksgiving weekend

Eat: Top 50 affordable places to eat while visiting Tampa Bay

Art: Four art exhibits to check out Thanksgiving weekend

Movies: What to see, and avoid, in theaters on Thanksgiving week