Great school field trip Great way to spend an afternoon in…read morean outdoor museum dedicated to Florida heritage and beginnings. Learn how to crack a whip, make candles, make butter, see how schools used to be (chalk board tablets and dunce cap) Heard the blacksmith is the best part Trains Did you know cars used to stop at the FL-GA line broke down cuz they couldn't go through the sand!!!

So one random fair day it was a step back in time to what a settlement would have looked like next…read moreto a fair of the future! So coming here was totally random as none of us knew this existed it was just tucked away from the rest of the state fair and what a cool treat this was to an already awesome day! So this area is basically a bunch of colonial style buildings with lots of people playing those parts as it has everything a town would have back then and then some! We explored all the different buildings some with individuals crafting items like candles and rugs the old school way which was super cool to see as that isn't always the case anymore but with that said you really can't go wrong as that's when things were quality built to last! Pretty much everything here was a history lesson and a much needed one as it had been a while since I've been in an atmosphere like this making for a super fun time! Overall this is a super cool addition to the fair and a must do on your visit as we spent a good deal of time here and could have spent more time had we discovered this sooner, so definitely don't overlook this super cool area of history as it's a lot of fun!

Cool little museum in the heart of Mulberry…read more Free to walk through and learn about phosphate mining. Fossils and bones displayed connecting paleontology and mining. Located in a historic train depot, you can tour a decommissioned caboose. Worth a trip!

Big thanks to Cheyanne at the gift shop. She was so knowledgeable and really made our trip fun! The…read moreboys found a shark tooth and a bone fragment. Really interesting way to spend the day!

Not as fun as it use to be but still worth going. Fairly cheap. The shows are fun like the pig…read moreraces. The concerts arent as good with the lineups but still ok. Cool town and love the strawberries

My strawberry shortcake was phenomenal, as it should be at a strawberry festival. We liked our…read morelemonade as well. The rest, eh. It was overcrowded chaos. Lines were blocking walkways, people were taking off their shoes and holding them which caused us to get hit with a lot of boots, and lines for food were mostly a free for all. Some people were just walking up to the window to order while there was a line waiting, or somehow had two or more lines because people were just making their own line at any given point. Not sure a repeat visit is ever needed. 07.09.2026

We were in the area and wanted to check this place out. We were outside exploring and then came to…read morethe museum to cool off. For Florida residents, the tickets were $16/per person rather than $20. My kiddos loved the various stations this museum had to offer. I would absolutely go again, especially to cool off from the Florida heat.

My cousin in Florida recommended this place. She had been wanting to take my nephew, so we took our…read morekids and made it a family day. The museum itself is very interactive which is great for kids of all ages! There's a big outdoor playground enclosed by a cool, large, yellow alligator structure. Inside there is a huge dragon hanging from the ceiling made out of random trinkets. Outside is a MASSIVE beautiful park with a small man made lake/pond. Very beautiful place to visit. We enjoyed it very much. Adjacent to the main building is a food court as well and there's plenty of parking (free).

Good music, good weather and the most are good food. I am enjoying this festival with a strong…read moreCuban emphasis. This is more into the Latin cuisine then just Cuban food. I have seen Puerto Rican food there. This year Cuban sandwich winners are Aloha food truck (third place), the Floridian (second place), and the no 1 winner is Trias. Their secrets ingredient is salami. The Cuban community here is strong and they do hold this festival every year. Latin music playing at the background and people enjoy their afternoon off with family. We have try Sergio's Cuban sandwich from Miami. The line to get the sandwich is long. It takes me 30 minutes to line up to order. The price is cheap with whole sandwich for $7. I could have just order 10 of them and sell $10 to the people line up at the back. The drinks stand that next to the hot the benefits for the people who are in the line. The sandwich is ok. I have tasted better Cuban sandwich at Miami with better mojo pork. We also order the grilled steak meat from one of the food stand. It was juicy and nice. My wife gets the Puerto Rican food. It has the blood sausage, pig stomach soup, and bacalao fried dough. I like the fried bacalao and the pig stomach. It cooks with yellow bean base. Those are savory. Love the festival. The organizer pull a lot of heart include donation to the homeless to assemble the longest Cuban sandwich.

I gotta say, 2016 Cuban sandwich festival was a disappointment…read more There was maybe a handful of trucks selling 2$ samples, but none of the really impressed me! There were some with mayo (complete sin) and some that did not have Cuban bread! The day was beautiful, the weather cooperated beautifully, vendors and crafts a plenty, the he people were great/friendly. We missed this festival the past 2 years in a row, both since we came on the wrong day and the wrong time! So we finally made it and did it. It would be so much better if they offered a sampler plate with the top 5 to compare side by side, and some beer, sangria something for the palate Not sure we will go back next year, but maybe we will make our own sandwich sampler throughout the Bay Area!

I was so excited to have won tickets from Yelp for this event! You cannot beat an evening of craft…read morebeers and chili. Plus, the cold Florida weather was perfect for chili. The chili cook off was formerly known as the "Steve Otto Chili Cook Off." Steve Otto, has since retired and has given his blessing for the event to be renamed as the "Big Guava Chili Cook Off." We got to the event right as it started and everything ran smoothly with checking into will call. The craft beer sampling was included with the tickets but the chili sampling was not. Tickets to sample the chili were only $10, so we didn't mind. There were also some food trucks at the event but I wanted chili to warm me up in this weather. There were several different tents set up with craft beers to sample provided by Pepin Distributing. A couple of my favorites were the Widmer Bros Beers and the Goose Island Beers. There were many tents set up with chili being served. It was so hard to choose which was the best out of all of them. I also liked that there were chairs and some tables throughout Curtis Hixon. I hate to eat standing up! Live Music was provided by Easy Posse and Amanda Drake and the Barnburners. The music was predominantly country music...yuck. Thus, the reason for the four stars.. Curtis Hixon was not overcrowded, for once. The amount of people there was perfect. This definitely was a no-frills event. This was a fun event. I will definitely make time to schedule this event in my social calendar every year!

Great concept and yummy chili. Chili ran out early, but $10 unlimited samples was a great deal. The…read moretwo bands were awesome and played great music. I give two stars because Craft beer was not local, which is disappointing since Tampa has so many great breweries. Also, it was $20 to get a five 4 oz samples of the same beer I can buy at the market across from the event or at the bar across the street and get more than 16oz. I didn't care for the voting. It was determined by how much tasters donated money to the specific competitors. The teams that won had great booth designs and gave out free shots, but the chili was not the best there. It felt more of a popularity contest instead of based on the art of making chili. The teams with the best chili ran out early because it was so good but majority of the public didn't get to experience it, so they didn't get votes. :(

Spirited Dinner is actually mean spirit drink pair with dinner. This is a very delightful even to…read moreattend. Many people wear a formal night wear and the ladies present themselves very beautifully. The hostess great us and point us to the assigned table. The pre-dinner starts with an open bar and Hors-d'oeuvre. I am attending with my two favorite people Anna and Nick during the dinner extravaganza. I like Hors-d'oeuvre. When we see new item pass by, we are waving to direct to our direction. They have started with curry beef, Cheese ham bread plate, fried oyster, scallop dumpling. The appetizers are amazing. I like the fried oyster on the shell. The oyster is light batter and fried and top with larger egg caviar. Mm Mm Mm Good. The caviar pair on top of the oyster with lightly secret sauce has made this oyster one of the best that I ever taste. I was wondering which chef prepares this. Since this dinner have five chefs prepared the meal and five mixologists prepared the pair cocktail is such a treat in one night. Many praise to the chefs and mixologists with a successful night. Many thanks to the organizer who gather name chefs into one place. And thanks to the men and women who serve us tonight with a wonderful job. It show the true color of the Bay Area restaurants that we are living in many wonderful restaurants and bars that many city may not have. It show the living in the bay area is vibrant and great. The first course is the Rooster and The Till's Lamb Heart Tartare serve with green harissa, pistachio and radish. The Tartare is mix well and balance. The green harissa take the edge off the tartare and make it very desirable to taste. It pair with Ciro's Speakeasy J Bitter Blush cocktail - Twisted Sun Rum with house made pistachio, Orgeat, Fresh Lime Juice and Aperol. The rum with slightly sweetness balance with the twist of the lime juice made it the best drink of the night. This is the glass that I may go for more. The first course and drink are part of my favorite tonight. The second course is the Massimo's Twisted Sun Rum Glazed Kurobuta Pork Belly and Scallop top with bean ragout. The pork belly is glazed on the bottom make the meat part tough. The pork belly has three parts - skin, fat and meat. The chef needs to conquer all three parts to make it great. That why pork belly is difficult to prepared. I believe the meat part was not up to texture that needs to be for all three parts to be harmony. Some improvement can be made. This dish is pair with Pangea Lounge Italian Sun cocktail - Twisted Sun Rum, Jack Simple. It garnish with pumpkin seed rub, red pepper and lemon peel. The jack actually makes it strong for me. I am more into wine so I cannot comment on this drink. It is pretty much hate it or love it situation, no in between. The third course is the Mise en Place's Red Miso Coconut Tea Cured Tuna accompany with Smoked pineapple crab salad, Edamame Peanut Puree and Blood Orange Curry Salt. A cure meat with salt will make it too salty. I have to remove the salt on top and eat the cure tuna along. The tuna has it unique way to cure and it taste like chewy candy. This dish is pair with the Mandarin Hide War on Winter cocktail - Twisted Sun Rum, pineapple juice, white coconut, tea concentrate, giffard orgeat and angostura. I like this better than the second dish drink. The fourth course is Maestro's at the Straz's Hay Smoke Duck Breast top over Goat Cheese Cake. It accompanies with rum braised figs, pea shoots, roasted golden beets. This is one of my favorite of the night. The duck is will smoke to medium that preserve the tenderness of the meat. This is very hard dish, a slight mistake will make the duck are too tough to eat. But tonight the chef has done a wonderful job to prepare this. This dish is pair with the Anise Global Gastrobar "And the Gander" cocktail - Twisted Sun Rum, cinnamon mango reduction, honey syrup, lemon juice, ground cinnamon. The drink matches the requirement of the dish and pairs it beautifully. The last course is the CENA's Carrot Cake with goat cheese mouse, pineapple jelly, carrot orange foam, brown sugar streusel, and mint rum fluid gel. A simple carrot cake is paired correctly with jelly and gel that make it perfect closing for the night. The surprise of this dish is the white chocolate slide make we like kid want the candy in their hand. This dish is pair with The Bricks' "Better Days" cocktail - Twisted Sun Rum, coco lopez, carrot juice, orange juice, vanilla ice cream, and grated nutmeg. At this point I only take a sip for the fun of it. I like it but not the favorite. The feature spirit tonight is the unique Twisted Sun Rum. It is a cool name. The rum is great mix with juice, lime, sweet, vanilla ice cream. I believe it may be good with chocolate. Overall the experience tonight is great with the food and drink. I am enjoying the night with my main man Nick and accompany with Anna. Our table is certainly great and makes the most noise of the night. Great Party

The cell phone lit up Wednesday night. One simple message. One invitation. One great venue. One…read moregreat cause. One great five-course dinner paired with five potentially fabulous cocktails. One wonderful reason to get all dolled up. By six o'clock the very next night I was ruffling up my puffy a-la- sex-and-the city black mini skirt and annoying my downstairs neighbor with the incessant clicking of my very high heels. The Spirited Dinner sponsored by Northern Trust and on behalf of the David A. Straz, Jr. Center for Performing Arts had just begun. Each table exquisitely decorated like your own very small English garden. Roses, and silk. Candles and crystals. Emily introduced herself. Friendly and knowledgeable about the benefit and the history of the conservatory and its importance for Tampa. Blue eyes filled with light and enthusiasm. The rum to be featured throughout the night was Twisted Sun. Ordered a "Cuba Libre" (rum and coke with lime) and, when I turned away from the bar, the amuse bouche were passed around. A charcuterie plate with savory slices of salchichón and blue cheese. A curried beef tartare on a sesame cracker. A scallop hidden in a pastry puff. A panko covered fried oyster decorated with caviar eggs and floating on its shell in a light sauce of Tabasco and citrus. Waiters attentively and encouragingly passed by and always stopped to offer. The fried oyster was so fresh and lightly breaded... I discreetly swayed many times in the direction of the server. It was a gastronomic waltz we were doing. I hope only he noticed. The strangers at my table were the perfect companions. Within five minutes of seating, we managed to drown our candles with the water they were floating on and a handsome man spilled his first cocktail on the table and his tie. The ice between us officially broken and skated on. Ferrell Alvarez (Rooster and the Till) prepared Lamb Heart Tartare with green harissa, pistachio and radish. I was apprehensive. Heart? Lamb? Somehow I began to feel like Maleficent. Ignored the first impulse to deny myself the experience. The texture of the meat incredibly tender. Unsavory but to be eaten along the drops of various sauces. The grains of sea salt distinctively discovered. The drink was called "Bitter Blush." A bittersweet pink cocktail created by Brenda Terry (Ciro's Speakeasy.) The second course was prepared by Chef Massimo Patano (Massimo's). Kurobuta pork belly and a scallop glazed with Twisted Sun Rum over bean ragout. The scallop, a smell of the ocean. This plate was served along an "Italian Sun." A cocktail confectioned by Brad Coburn (Pangea Lounge) and composed of Twisted Sun Rum, jack simple, garnished with pumpkin seed rub, fresh red pepper and lemon peel. A kind of classic Old Fashioned, but with rum. Smooth with a discreet kick. The rub kindly placed on only one side of the rim of the glass. A choice. A blessing, really, as I am allergic to pepper and my lips would have looked like Angelina Jolie's, but in steroids. An instant kissing-fish transformation unlike Cinderella's. The third course featured red miso coconut tea cured tuna, smoked pineapple crab salad, edamame, peanut puree, blood orange curry salt. A delicacy created by Marty Blitz (Mise en Place). What a beautiful plate. The drink was "War on Winter," a libation of Twisted Sun Rum, pineapple juice, white coconut tea concentrate, Giffard orgeat and angostura. The fourth course belonged to Maestro's. Hay smoked duck breast, savory goat cheese cake, rum braised figs, pea shoots and roasted golden beets. If my table mates and I had had our way, we would all have stood on our chairs and salute Chef Benito D'Azzo with a rendition of "Oh, Captain! My Captain!" This foodie madness was paired with Justin Gray's (Anise Global Gastrobar). "And the Gander" was Twisted Sun Rum, cinnamon-mango reduction, honey syrup, lemon juice and garnished with a puff of cinnamon. Lovely sweetness like a fruity kiss. The gastronomic hallucination ended with a carrot cake, goat cheese mousse, pineapple jelly, carrot -orange foam, brown sugar streusel, mint rum fluid gel. Look at the picture and behold an edible miracle. Evan Schmidt from Cena balanced all components and flavors. Autumn on a plate. The last drink perfectly named "Better Days" (by Scooby Oliver) an alcoholic version of a milkshake. Twisted Rum, coco lopez, carrot juice, orange juice, vanilla ice cream and grated nutmeg. It tasted like Christmas. The Spirited Dinner spoke about spirit and to the spirit. The name no longer about the spirit as in alcohol, though very present, but rather, the spirit of every talented chef and mixologist who poured his or her spirit into the event. Everyone left feeling satiated, a tad tipsy or a bit drunk... and in awe of the culinary holy.

Such a beautiful place and a really nice experience for all ages…read more My friend and I went there last night to visit and absolutely loved it. The admittance is $8/adults and kids under 2 get in for free. It's a small area but so festive. There is a 1/4 mile trail of walking around to see various light displays and characters. They have a scavenger hunt paper for kids to fill out while walking, but we enjoyed it as well. There is also a little maze to go through - super cute! After the light displays you can get a free gift at the concessions. There are a variety of food options (I recommend the fresh donuts and hot chocolate) that are very reasonably priced. You can tell it's more about the family friendly feel than the profit. Around the area they play Christmas movies for kids and have tons of games to keep them occupied - duck races, connect-4, coloring, letters to Santa, photograph area, and ping-pong. I highly recommend for all ages to enjoy as it is really a nice outing if you are looking to experience something some small town festivities for the holidays.