Busch Gardens Tampa has heart-lurching roller coasters, heat-beating water activities, climbing complexes for kids, outstanding musical entertainment, and expansive safari lands with wild animals.

For the state’s finest collection of sharks, stingrays, moray eels, alligators, otters and other slippery, swimming things, come to the Florida Aquarium. More than just a huge, sea life collection, the park has a wealth of water-inspired activities for kids.

Rated the best zoo in the nation by both Parents (2009) and Child (2004) magazines, ZooTampa at Lowry Park has 60 acres of animals. There are African and Asian animal habitats, aviaries, a primate area, and birds of prey.

Clearwater Marine Aquarium is most famous these days as the home of Winter, the dolphin with the prosthetic tail that starred in the motion picture Dolphin Tale.

Located on St. Petersburg’s waterfront, the Chihuly Collection is a vast assortment of artist Dale Chihuly’s dazzling glass creations, located in a stunning 10,000-square-foot building designed by architect Albert Alfonso.

Children can explore and expand their cranial potential in this wonderland of science, technology, nature and pure fun. There are dazzling, interactive exhibits about space, weather, even a high-wire bike.

This free park is made up of five interconnected islands (keys) for a total of 1,136 acres of natural beauty. It has three miles of white-sand beaches, wetlands, birds and even a loggerhead sea turtle refuge.

Soak up some feasting and fun in this Greek-American neighborhood, which was built on the local natural sea sponge industry. The area makes a great day trip from the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area.

A storm is rolling in and lightning is about to strike! Amalie Arena is the only place in the world where you can see electrifying bolts of lightning skate across the ice. Check out Tampa’s beloved NHL team—it’s an exciting treat that will cool you down and rev you up.

Argh! If you be a Buccaneer fan, you won’t be findin’ any treasure…unless you’re at the one and only Raymond James Stadium. Pirates and landlubbers alike enjoy a bit of football every now and again and Raymond James Stadium has a lot to offer a sports fan or scalawag.

Nature’s gifts are plentiful in all 240 acres of Tampa’s Lettuce Lake Park. From pinky-sized grasshoppers to alligators the length of a sedan, there’s more wildlife at Lettuce Lake Park than you could ever see on any nature show.

More than twice the size of Lettuce Lake Park, Upper Tampa Bay Park is a 596-acre natural wonderland. The diverse habitats of Upper Tampa Bay Park are sprinkled in every direction. With plenty of fresh air and peaceful nature sounds, Upper Tampa Bay Park is ideal for relaxation.

The Tampa Theatre was resurrected from extinction in the late 1970s and stands as a nationally recognized historic building as well as a Tampa City Landmark. This 1920’s-era theatre still boasts the grandeur of an old-school movie theatre, and continues to thrive as an entertainment powerhouse.

Tampa’s Bayshore Boulevard is claimed to be the world’s longest continuous sidewalk. At four and a half miles in length, it’s an impressive stretch for an active afternoon.