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Considering a trip to Tampa over Thanksgiving.  For those of you in the area... can you make suggestions on free/cheap things in the area?  We thought about driving over to Legoland, but with our dog...that's a bit of a hassle, so I think we'll rule that one out. 

This site showed some interesting options:  

http://www.10best.com/destinations/florida/tampa/attractions/free-things-to-do/

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will there be kids?  
there is an aquarium and the museum of science
the aquarium is at the other end of the riverwalk so you could do both in the same day.

there are a ton of breweries in the area and most have free or cheap tours

I live 2 hours south so I am not an expert in that area

Lazydays RV is right there and they have a nice campground if your still looking for a place to stay, sites are small but lots of benefits like breakfast and lunch included ( not on sundays) 

Dino world is just up the road and its like $30 a person last time we were there, there is also the water ski hall of fame and a place called fantasy of flight

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Hillsborough River State Park is great for camping and also the old fort Foster tour every Saturday for $2.00 per person.
https://www.floridastateparks.org/park-activities/Fort-Foster#Tours
The schedule is always funky and very variable but worth looking into. 

Downtown Tampa has a wonderful riverwalk and with UT on the shore, its really pretty. There is a Glazer Kids Museum and also the Tampa Art Museum right at Cutris Dixon Park. Tampa Art Museum does a free kids art project every Saturday.

With it being colder, the manatees should be in full force at the Manatee Viewing center and its 100% free. They have live Web Cams so you can see how many cows are there before you go, but its a good time always!  http://www.tampaelectric.com/company/mvc/ 

Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks (https://spongedocks.net/) are fun and also go see Mermaids while you are up that way!! https://www.floridastateparks.org/park/Weeki-Wachee

Also eat lunch at the docks, some of the best Greek food ANYWHERE!!! They also look to be having an arts and craft festival.


 

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Thanks for the suggestions!  Yes... the manatees were on our to-do list :)

We reserved a site at Lazy Days... of course, we'll have to walk their sales lot as well ;)

I'm waiting to hear (have a call into them) if the kids can walk the Yuengling Brewing tour... if not, I may drop Tom off as I know he'd really like it.

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Yes kids can walk the tour, they give the adults 2 free samples at the end.B) Also they have the ferry running now from riverwalk in Downtown Tampa to St. Pete its a fun little boat ride and there's shopping within walking distance from both docks. (Tampa/St. Pete)

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3 minutes ago, Tony said:

Yes kids can walk the tour, they give the adults 2 free samples at the end.B) Also they have the ferry running now from riverwalk in Downtown Tampa to St. Pete its a fun little boat ride and there's shopping within walking distance from both docks. (Tampa/St. Pete)

Awesome...thanks!

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I agree with the recommendations of the Manatee viewing area and Lowry Park Zoo.

The Florida Aquarium in Tampa is nice.  A lot of kids like the Clearwater Marine Aquarium because that's where Winter the DolphinTM lives.  But, that could be a brutal drive from LazyDays with Thanksgiving week traffic. Same with Tarpon Springs and Weeki Wachee.  I'm not sure the drive would be worth it.

TCD

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If you have any passes at home for museums, etc, they may be reciprocal agreements with places in Tampa.  Glazer doesn't have any agreements. Lowry Park, MOSI, and the Aquarium do.

If you are used to bigger aquariums like the Atlanta one, or big science museums you may be underwhelmed by the ones in Tampa.  They are nice but not up to par with the Orlando Science Center or the Omaha Zoo.

The Riverwalk is nice, it's a little over a mile long.  There is a History Museum at the one end closest to Channelside.

Besides the water taxi to St Pete, there is one that goes along the Riverwalk and makes 4 or 5 stops.  There is also a trolly from Downtown to Ybor City

 

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Also if you are staying at Lazy Days, look into going to Parksdale for Strawberry Shortcake. You will be staying right up the road and they are famous for them :)
http://www.parkesdale.com/

They get VERY busy on the weekend. I also love Downtown Plant City.  And they are having a food truck weekend there as well. http://www.plantcity.org/events/details/main-street-food-truck-rally-11-25-2016-2617

This is also super fun, its a Strawberry grower that used to have this display t his house and he slowly outgrew his property. It moved to the Strawberry Festival Grounds in Plant City last year. Its a favorite for our family.
http://www.christmaslane.com/index.html

This is right up the road from me and would be an easy drive from Lazy Days as well. http://www.thewonderlandoflights.com/

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2 hours ago, Travisma said:

Also if you are staying at Lazy Days, look into going to Parksdale for Strawberry Shortcake.

 

And they have Dole Whip!

 

2 hours ago, Mich1073 said:

Also if you are staying at Lazy Days, look into going to Parksdale for Strawberry Shortcake. You will be staying right up the road and they are famous for them :)
http://www.parkesdale.com/

 

Looks like you two had the same idea ;)

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49 minutes ago, oft013 said:

Well we just moved to the Plant City area, I guess we better check out Parksdale for Strawberry shortcake and Dole Whips.  

 

Check out Keel and Curley Winery

https://keelandcurleywinery.com/

They have a brewery there also.

And be prepared for a mad house in February when the Strawberry Festival opens.

 
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