Going to the Florida State Fair or any other event at the Florida State Fairgrounds?
Stay a day or two at a hotel across the street or around the block.
There are more things to see and do in Tampa.

Hotels across the street from the Fairgrounds:

Comfort Suites At Fairgrounds-Casino
The Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites Fairgrounds
Red Roof Inn
La Quinta Inn Tampa East Fairgrounds

Hotels around the block from the Fairgrounds:

Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino
Crowne Plaza Hotel TAMPA EAST
Baymont Inn and Suites Tampa Sabal Corporate Park (formerly AmeriSuites)
Hilton Garden Inn
Residence Inn by Marriott
Staybridge Suites Tampa Sabal Park

Capture that sweet feeling of Chocolate Affair on February 2, 2012 as Heath Care for the Homeless celebrates what you make possible through your support.

Come be inspired by stories of personal transformation that couldn’t have happened without you. Meet the staff and hear about the incredible work they do to change our community for the better.

Baltimore’s best restaurants, caterers, and chocolatiers will share their gifts with you during an incredible hors d’oeuvre reception and dessert buffet. Savor a chocolate-inspired dinner prepared for you by Executive Chef Carlos Gomez of the Baltimore Waterfront Marriott (location information).

Nearby Attractions

• American Visionary Art Museum (< 1 mile)
• DC Metro Food Tours – Baltimore (< 1 mile)
• Baltimore Harbor Pass (< 1 mile)
• Spirit Cruises – Baltimore (< 1 mile)
• Maryland Science Center (< 1 mile)
• Sports Legends Museum at Camden Yards (< 1 mile)
• Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum (1.2 miles)
• SuperShuttle Washington DC (7.76 miles)
• SuperShuttle Baltimore (7.99 miles)
• Medieval Times Baltimore / Washington DC (10.66 miles)
• Open Top Sightseeing DC (34.4 miles)
• Martz Gold Line/ Gray Line of Washington DC (34.4 miles)
• DC Metro Food Tours (34.82 miles)
• National Museum of Crime & Punishment (34.88 miles)
• International Spy Museum (34.9 miles)

Nearby Hotels

• Fairfield Inn & Suites Baltimore Downtown/Inner Harbor (< 1 mile)
• Brookshire Suites Hotel (< 1 mile)
• Quality Inn Downtown (< 1 mile)
• InterContinental Harbor Court Baltimore (< 1 mile)
• Sheraton Inner Harbor Hotel (< 1 mile)
• Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel (< 1 mile)
• Days Inn Baltimore Inner Harbor Hotel (< 1 mile)
• Pier 5 Hotel (< 1 mile)
• The Admiral Fell Inn (< 1 mile)
• National at Promenade at Harbor East (< 1 mile)
• Blue Door on Baltimore (< 1 mile)
• Oakwood Park Charles (< 1 mile)
• Hilton Garden Inn Baltimore Inner Harbor (< 1 mile)
• Homewood Suites by Hilton Baltimore (< 1 mile)
• Scarborough Fair Bed & Breakfast (< 1 mile)

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• 2 Women Jump From Burning Rowhouse In Southwest Baltimore (baltimore.cbslocal.com)
• Guylian Artisanal Belgian Chocolate Truffles Giveaway (texaskitchen.wordpress.com)
• PHOTO: Maryland Terrapins Mascot Wears Baltimore Ravens Colors (dc.sbnation.com)
• Court Overturns Lead Paint Judgment In Baltimore (baltimore.cbslocal.com)
• Top 10 Chocolate Festivals in the USA (proflowers.com)
• French Chocolatier Organizes Chocolate Boat Regatta (odditycentral.com)
• A Chocolate lovers’ dream in Lyon (europe.eurostar.com)
• Lee Evans may be on way out of Baltimore (profootballtalk.nbcsports.com)

Adams Avenue’s long-running Roots Festival of Music has been renamed by the Adams Avenue Business Association to Adams Avenue Unplugged. This will be a weekend event for the whole family.

The April 2012 event will include 100 bands playing on 12 stages throughout the area and the local parks. Trolley service will help move people up and down Adams Avenue to the various venues. 

The 2012 Florida State Fair in Tampa

Featuring: Discount Days &
Free Daily Shows

Blues Brothers
Dennis Lee
Kachunga & The Alligator
Welde Bear Show
Paul Bunyan Lumberjack Show
Racing Pigs
Circus Hollywood

New This Year! Ride the Zip Line
Returning Favorite! Ride the Batcopter

Don’t Forget!
Arts and Crafts Showcase
in the Special Events Center
Lots to Do and See in the Expo Hall
Free Special Attractions!

Opening Day Deal – February 9
After 5:00 PM – Admission for $5.00 – Ride Armbands for $20.00
College Night – February 9 – College Students with I.D.
After 3:00 PM – Purchase a $20.00 Midway Ride Armband and
Receive FREE Fair Admission
5 After 5 – February 9, 13, 14, 15, & 16
After 5:00 PM – $5.00 Adult Admission
Student Days
February 10 – Hillsborough County Students Provided a Free Ticket
February 20 – Pasco, Polk, Manatee County Students Provided a Free Ticket
All Other Students – For Discount Purchase Your Tickets at the Gate
$6.00 Admission for Ages 12 through 12th Grade
$5.00 Admission for Ages 6 to 11
Midway Power Hour – February 11 & 18 – 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM
Most Midway Rides – One Ticket
4-H & FFA Days – February 11 & 18
FREE Admission with Member I.D. or Jacket
Senior Days – February 14, 15, & 16
Gate Admission $8.00 – Advance Tickets $6.00 for 55+
Country Gold Tour – February 15 – $10.00 Admission
Does not Include Fair Admission
Featuring: LeRoy Van Dyke, Lynn Anderson, Gene Watson,
Janie Frickie, T.G. Sheppard
National Salute to Veterans Day – February 20
FREE Admission For Everyone After 4:00 PM
Pepsi Armband Days – February 10 & 20
Bring an Empty Diet Mtn Dew Can – Pay $25.00 for Ride Armbands (Save $5)
1 Discount Per Diet Mtn Dew Can – Offer Valid Only on Diet Mtn Dew
Spanish Lyric Theater
International Stage
Horse Shows at the Bob Thomas Equestrian Center
Bluegrass Music in Cracker Country
Livestock Shows in the Agribusiness Area
The Florida Armed Forces Museum
Exotic Petting Zoo
Elvis Extravaganza
February 11 & 12
Elvis LIVE
February 17, 18, 19, & 20
Xtreme Sports Show
Daily in the Sweetbay Entertainment Hall
No Show on February 15
Lawnmower Races
February 18 & 19
In the Bob Thomas Equestrian Center
Yesterdaze Show
70’s Music
February 10, 11, & 12
Cheer & Dance Competitions
February 11 & 12
Chris MacArthur &
Florida Cracker Boys
February 17 & 18

SWEETBAY ENTERTAINMENT HALL

 Xtreme Sports Show – February 9 – 20 at 12pm, 3pm, and 6pm 

The Xtreme Sports Show will not be performing on February 15th

Elvis Extravaganza Impersonator National Finals – February 11 & 12 – 3pm and 6pm

Chris MacArthur & The Florida Crackers – February 17 and 18 at 8pm

Leroy Van Dyke Country Gold Tour -
Leroy Van Dyke, Lynn Anderson, Gene Watson, Janie Frickie, and T.G. Sheppard
February 15 at 12pm, and 4pm – Admission is $10.00 -
Does Not Include Fair Admission

MAIN ATTRACTIONS

Circus Hollywood  February 9 – 20

Monday – Thursday at 1:30pm, 3:30pm, and 5:30pm 

Friday and Saturday 1:30pm, 3:30pm, 5:30pm, and 7:30pm

WALK AROUNDS

Oscar the Robot - February 9 – 20 from 11am to 5pm

Runa Pacha - February 9 – 20  from 11am to 5pm

Willy’s Washboard Jamboree - February 9 – 20 from 11am to 5pm

Dwayne Hill - February 9 – 20 from 11am to 5pm

Hi Pockets - February 9 – 20 from 11am to 5pm

Steve the Pretty Good - February 9 – 20 from 11am to 5pm

INTERNATIONAL STAGE

Spanish Lyric Theatre - February 9 – 20

Monday through Friday at 6pm, 7pm, and 8pm

Saturday and Sunday at 4pm, 5pm, and 6pm

Distinguished Men of Brass - February 17, 18, and 19 at 11am, 1pm, and 3pm

FAMILY THEATER

Dennis Lee  February 9 – 20

Daily at 11am, 1pm, and 5pm

Saturday, February 11, at 11am, 1pm, 5pm, and 8pm

Friday, February 17, at 11am, 1pm, 5pm, and 8pm 

Yesterdaze – 70′s Music  Friday, February 10, Saturday, February 11, and Sunday, February 12, at 2pm, 4pm, 6pm 

Peter Alden (Elvis) Friday, February 17, Saturday, February 18, Sunday, February 19, and Monday, February 20 at 2pm, 4pm, and 6pm

Blues Brothers  February 9 – 20

Daily at 12pm, 3pm, and 7pm

Friday, February 10, at 12pm, 3pm, 7pm and 8pm

Saturday, February 18, at 12pm, 3pm and 7pm and 8pm

FLORIDA CENTER

Lloyd Mabrey  February 13 – 20 at 10am, 12pm, and 2pm

Sandtastic  February 9 – 20 All Day, Everyday

WATERFRONT CAFÉ 

Johnny Lowry  Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at 12pm, 2pm, 4pm, and 6pm

CHILDREN’S STAGE

Doggies of the West 

Daily at 12pm, 2pm, and 4pm

OUTSIDE ATTRACTIONS

Welde Bears  February 9 – 20

Daily at 2pm, 4pm, and 7pm   12:00 Noon – Play in the Pool Time

Racing Pigs  February 9 – 20

Daily at 12:30pm, 2:30pm, and 4:30pm

Exotic Petting Zoo February 9 – 20 All Day, Everyday

The Paul Bunyan Lumberjack Show  February 9 – 20

Daily at 1:30pm, 3:30pm, 5:30pm, and 7:30pm

Kachunga The Alligator Show February 9 – 20

Daily at 12pm, 2pm, and 4pm

Friday and Saturday at 12pm, 2pm, 4pm, and 6pm

Lawn Mower Races

February 18 and 19 located in The Bob Thomas Equestrian Center

Florida Ranch Rodeo

February 15 – 16 at 2pm, and 7pm located in the Charlie Lykes Arena

High School Jazz Festival February 10 – All Day at the Special Events Center West

CHARLES M. DAVIS SPECIAL EVENTS CENTER

Big Band

Sunday, February 12 at 12pm, 1pm, 2pm, and 3pm 

Friday, February 17 at 11am, 12pm, 1pm, and 2pm

AG AREA

Melody Farm Follies Revue February 9 – 20 All Day, Everyday

ALL DATES, TIMES AND ACTS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUR ADVANCE NOTICE.*

For more information, call 813-621-7821 or toll-free 1-800-345-3247

Gate admission is not included with purchase of armbands, ride tickets, or concert tickets. There are no refunds, exchanges or rainchecks. All acts, concerts,  scheduled times, exhibitors, prices and other advertised events are subject to change and/or cancel without notice. All acts are included with a fair gate admission ticket, except for the Country Gold Tour concert, rides and games are extra.  NO RE-ENTRY; once visitors exit the gates another admission ticket will be required to re-enter the Fair.  The Florida State Fair Authority is not responsible for any third party advertisement.

Check Online for Current Show Dates and Times
Shows are Subject to Change or Cancellation

Find hotels near the Florida State Fairgrounds Tampa Florida -
maps, driving directions, photos, and hotel discounts.

The next time you are in the Tampa Bay area of West Central Florida looking for things to do, consider a visit to the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts in downtown Tampa. At any time, there are one or two important exhibits of famous photographer’s work on display. Right now through February 11, 2012 is a display of photographic works “Bud Lee’s America”.

Tampa Photography classes, workshops, safaris and camps are offered year-round. A small gift shop has a wonderful collection of photography books and related items.

You can walk to FMoPA from these two downtown Tampa hotels:
Hyatt Regency Tampa
Sheraton Tampa Riverwalk

Feel the excitement the 9th Annual Members Show captured on video by Gary Reimer.

Past exhibits have included:
Life and Death by Duane Michals;
Classic Images: Photography by Ansel Adams;
Eye in the Sky – The Works of Robert Hartman;
Natural Fashion: Art & the Body, Photographs by Hans Silvester;
Cuba: Selected Works of Clyde Butcher and Maria Martinez-Cañas;
Naked City: Photographs from the Vassar College’s Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center;
Cuba Particular: (Private Cuba) The Photography of David Audet;
Bhupendra Karia and Derry Moore: Stillness and Shadows / Vintage Photographs of India;
Infected Landscape: Works by Shai Kremer;
Face to Face: Judy Dater’s Portraits from Italy and California;
Tom Abercrombie: National Geographic Photographer;
August Sander, The Twentieth-Century Man and Jules Aarons, Views from the Street;
Aaron Siskind A Harlem Document (1932-1940);
Andrea Modica: Flights of the Soul;
No Mans Land The Photography of Lynne Cohen;
Suzanne Camp Crosby: Kid City;
One Shot Harris The Photographs of Charles Teenie Harris;
Burk Uzzle’s Woodstock and Other Americana;
Caterpillar’s Conundrum The Photographic Investigations of Todd Watts;
Cut, Edit and Embellish A Life in Collage: Photographs by Hugh Shurley;
The Disappeared: Native American Images from The Drapkin Collection;
Abstractions and the Neo-Cubist Order Photographs of Barbara Kasten;
Hard Won Dreams the American Southwest Photographs of Bruce Dale;
Stopping Time Photographs of Doc Edgerton;
My Florida Home: Recent Work by Benjamin Dimmitt;
NFL® History from Getty Images;
Berenice Abbott, American Photographer A Fantastic Passion;
Clyde Butcher Retrospective
Graciela Iturbide: The Spirits of the Earth ~ Los Espíritus de la Tierra;
“Just Suppose”: Jerry Uelsmann and Maggie Taylor;
The Photography of Peter B. Kaplan;
Faces and Places One Man Show by Herb Snitzer;
The Magic Box of Abelardo Morell

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• V&A’s Photographs Gallery showcases world’s oldest collection (guardian.co.uk)
• Nudity in art (examiner.com)
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• The Hawk eyes of Hockney….. (insideoutart.co.uk)

Barcelona’s Museum of Funeral Carriages is so far off the beaten track that once we found it (in the building housing the very-much-active municipal morgue) even the two people behind the information desk were slow to recognize that we were trying to view this free exhibit. 

It took pointing to the photo in our tour book to get one of them to dig out the key and take us into the basement down a creaky elevator. She even had to turn on the lights for us, as very few people visit the collection and we were the only ones there in the middle of the day.

She did however let us wander around for as long as we wanted. Upstairs there were several family funerals going on, but no one ventured below.

The highlight of the museum are the dozen or so carefully preserved horse-drawn  funeral carriage hearses dating back to the mid-1800′s; some for the poor, others for the rich.

Special white carriages were reserved for dead children and virgins. Other carriages with darkened windows were meant to discretely carry the mistress of the dearly departed.

The museum is full of symbolism; all the coaches you can see represent in many ways, the transition from life to death, symbolized in some cases with the inscription the Greek letters alpha and omega (beginning and end).

Address: Carrer de Sancho d’Àvila 2
Hours: 10am-1pm & 4-6pm Mon-Fri, 10am-1pm Sat, Sun & holidays

Closest hotel: Confortel Barcelona

» More things to do in Barcelona

Festival of Chocolate

Price: Free with MOSI admission

The Festival of Chocolate brings an incomparable tour through a unique chocolate themed museum on-site at MOSI. The event will be a fun-filled, educational experience for everyone, especially those with a sweet tooth.

There will be treats and events for guests of all ages. MOSI will exhibit the science and history of chocolate along with the journey of the cacao bean.

There will be tasty treats for everyone and a complementary chocolate raffle.

Comic books, magazines, toys, artwork, anime, cosplay at the Tampa Bay Comic Con! Attend dressed as your favorite superhero, Star Wars character, or anything nerdy! Meet the convention’s celebrity guests such as Bob Camp (co-creator of Ren and Stimpy), Alex Saviuk (Marvel Comics artist) and cast members Larry Mainland and Sonya Thompson from AMC’s TV series “The Walking Dead“. Admission is $5.00, kids (12 and under) get in FREE and parking is FREE.

OK, so every tourist in the world who comes to New York City eventually goes to Times Square. That doesn’t mean YOU shouldn’t go there. It has to be one of the safest places to be in NYC, late at night, on the streets. Especially if you can walk home. The best deal going has to be the Best Western Plus “President Hotel at Times Square”. Check out a map to the hotel. You can walk from the hotel to not only Times Square, but also Radio City Music Hall and “The Rock” (Rockefeller Center).

If you ever wanted to go to a Broadway (or off-Broadway) show, this is the theater district where you will wind up any way. Lots of restaurants of every price and description.

One of the newest New York things to experience is “The Ride“. Imagine a tour bus with all the seats facing the sidewalk, making all of Manhattan a stage. Along with the usual landmarks, you will see the people on the streets, coming and going, and some doing street performances. You never know what to expect on this 75-minute ride. Just be sure to get your tickets in advance online, especially if you want to take the tour at a specific time or day.