Gulf Coast Beaches
Anna Maria Island, Bradenton Beach area. There are three major beaches on Anna Maria: Coquina, Manatee Public and Bayfront Park. Coquina (West Side of Gulf Drive/S.R. 789) is a 96-acre stretch of clean beach popular with both families and kids. It has lifeguards on duty seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.…
Letters to the Editor
Responses to Fawn's Germer recent column on the media, a comment about a proposed trade bill and rant about the recent "Planet Puzzler" snafus. All the News that Fits to Print Re: "The Misunderstood Media" by Fawn Germer (May 1-7) Timely media piece. Here's my two cents' worth. As far as "nasty" stories designed to…
Web Site of the Week
Evil Plan Generatorhttp://www.darksites.com/evilplan.php Let's face it, between kidnapping damsels, hijacking plutonium shipments and dealing with your henchmen's health and 401(k) plans, you really don't have time to create new schemes. Hey, no need to stop raping and pillaging — let the Internet help you! Ta-da! One Evil Plan Generator, complete with spiteful glee. Be your…
The Need for 10 Speed
Too old for summer camp? Think again. If you've got enough spunk to spend your vacation on your bicycle, you are in for an adventure that is challenging — and cheap. Roooooad trip! Most people assume that bicycling adventures are limited to those upscale treks that cost hundreds of dollars a day and pamper you…
Sherry-0h, Baby!
Chances are you have a bottle of sherry stashed somewhere in your kitchen. You know the one: You bought it two years ago, used some in a recipe and left the rest to rot in the back of the cupboard. Perhaps you've been wondering what to do with it. Here's a hint: Take it out…
Labor Gains: The Art of One-Day Jobs
Just how bored are you, really? I mean, it's all well and good to sit there with your back sticking to your Naugahyde loveseat, with your forehead like a sponge in reverse, with your privates swimming in summer-uncomfortable undies, and tell me you're bored. But this one requires a little more than garden-variety humdrum, inattentive…
Dine and Dance Afloat and Elegant Ship
A ship that sails across the bay/ Its diners feasting all the way. Poems are nice and sometimes rhyme/ But I prefer a meal sublime. With apologies to the late American poet Joyce Kilmer, from whom I have borrowed the cadence, I'd like to take this occasion to celebrate April, National Poetry Month, maybe at…
Things to Do
Activities to help You Survive The Dog Days of Summer
Spins
Reviews of new releases from Tom Waits, Badly Drawn Boy, Mull Historical Society and Nine Inch Nails. ******************************************** Tom Waits Blood Money Alice Throughout his prodigious career, Tom Waits has had periods of coming perilously close to going off the deep end (those with tamer tastes might suggest he's been swimming in there for quite…
Refreshing Indian in the Heart of Tampa
Until recently, downtown Tampa had all the culinary excitement of casino night in Mr. Rogers' neighborhood. The odds of finding some new, extraordinary dining spot, or simply enjoying a memorable meal, were pretty slim. Pizza and sandwich joints, and an ancient burger shop, did not bode well for a city hoping to be world class.…
Giving Theatergoers The Works
How's Stageworks' health?That's the question I put to producing director Anna Brennen as we sat in Rick's Italian Restaurant on Davis Islands a few days ago. I've known Brennen for years, at one time taught a playwriting workshop at Stageworks and was even (briefly) on the company's Board. I know other things too: that some…
Real and Simple Mexican Food
I remember rather well my first visit to a Taco Bell: I was astonished that the taco shells could so closely resemble cardboard and still be considered food. Since then, I have quite determinedly avoided mainstream corporate "Mexican" cuisine, and it is with pleasure that I divulge a few of my favorite alternatives — more…
Good Bet for German
From the thick, rich goulash soup all the way to the obscenely huge Bratwurst sausage, from the rouladen to the oh-so-light multilayered chocolate cake, you're going to incur some serious calories as part of your trip to Schnizelhaus. Oh, there are ways you might find to pass the low-cal test of your Weight Watchers' counselor:…
Here Todai, Back Tomorrow
It reminded me of a roomy college cafeteria, shiny metallic, with tray lines, simple, unclothed tables and spare chairs. Maybe it was due in part to the annoying electronic music coming over the sound system, or the young, enthusiastic employees tending the buffet line. Todai's ambience might've suggested sorry dorm food. Its fare was anything…
Museums and Other Stuff
Art Florida International Museum, 100 Second St. N., St. Petersburg (727-822-3693). Summer exhibits include On Miniature Wings: Model Aircraft of the National Air and Space Museum. This exhibit demonstrates the rapid advancement of aviation in this century. The 25 aircraft models on display are on loan from the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. The…
Tapas Galore for the Chic at Heart
On any given night, this trendy upscale restaurant is packed with well-dressed diners until the wee hours. Reservations are only accepted for groups of six or more, so be sure to arrive early if your party contains fewer people. Better yet, come with a large group. You'll want the extra mouths when it comes time…
The Stream of Unconsciousness Tape
When someone has a fantastic and original idea, sometimes you just want to kick yourself for not thinking of it yourself. I, a longtime aficionado of the mix music tape and CD, had never once thought I could capitalize on my creativity by utilizing one of my favorite pastimes: TV watching. Imagine spending a rainy…
Books
Fox Girl by Nora Okja Keller Viking/$24.95 Nora Okja Keller's follow-up to her American Book Award-winning Comfort Women delves into the darker side of human nature and the complex relationship between family and culture. Fox Girl tells the story of the children of American GIs in Korea after the Korean War and doesn't hold back…
Songs of the Season
What makes a great summer song? Mostly, it's in the ears of the beholder. Maybe it was the tune that always seemed to be on the box during the best summer of your life. Or perhaps it's more the images evoked — heat, sunshine, sweat, freedom, the beach, the streets, cars, girls, boys, skin, sex,…
The Dark Side of Cedar Key
A wise man once said roughing it for him was spending the night in a cheap hotel. I wasn't going to sacrifice that much. While some Weekly Planet coworkers swatted mosquitoes and rubbed sticks for a campfire to bring you this Summer Guide, I hoped to kick back at a homey bed and breakfast on…
Summer Camps and Workshops for Kids
Artists Unlimited Inc., 223 N. 12th St., Tampa (813-229-5958). This center for creative thinkers is offering weeklong art camps for children ages 4-14 in areas such as candlemaking, cartoon drawing, mosaics, silk painting, printmaking, pottery, painting, drawing, photography and music. The Summer Arts Institute Program runs June 3 to Aug. 2, and prices for the…
Tender pork and Luscious Ribs
Transplants to Florida often miss one of the state's most notable culinary delights: country barbecue. One reason may be that the most authentic barbecue restaurants are small, family-owned and operated, often a single room or two hidden inconspicuously among the neighborhoods that supported them for decades. To find them, it helps to be a native.…
Outtakes
Short reviews of movies playing throughout the Tampa Bay area. ********************************** A Beautiful Mind (PG-13) Russell Crowe is the main reason to see this atypically twisty Ron Howard production, the Academy Award winner for Best Picture, about an emotionally fragile genius whose life spins out of control in all sorts of unexpected ways. About a…
WMNF’s 21st annual Tropical Heatwave
Cuban Club Ballroom6:40 p.m., Jennifer and The Venturas This eclectic Sarasota outfit was voted Best Original Band and Best Jazz Band in last year's Best of the Suncoast issue. They ply a high-energy smelting of jazz, jump blues, surf and spicy R&B. 8:00 p.m., Inner Visions For 17 years, Inner Visions have infused their native…
Simple Restaurant Serves Top-Notch BBQ
Transplants to Florida often miss one of the state's most notable culinary delights: country barbecue. One reason may be that the most authentic barbecue restaurants are small, family-owned and operated, often a single room or two hidden inconspicuously among the neighborhoods that supported them for decades. To find them, it helps to be a native.…
Amusements and Attractions
Adventure Island, 10001 Malcolm McKinley Drive, near Busch Gardens (813-987-5660). This waterpark's 30 acres of consumer-friendly, faux-tropical surroundings are quite tranquil. The slides wind, corkscrew and free-fall. There's a waterfall, wave pool, children's water playground and other family amenities, such as picnic and sunbathing areas and a white-sand volleyball complex. Admission (all children must be…
The Weekly Planet Summer Guide 2002
It's that time of the year again. As soon as the mercury rises above 95, our hopes of enjoying the weather drop like a john's pants on Nebraska Avenue. Beat the sticky, icky blues with this year's Summer Guide. That's right, the issue you have in your hot little hands. We've got info on all…
Hammer Time:
Perhaps you just finished your spring cleaning and were reminded how lackluster your place is. Or maybe you've been inspired by a Trading Spaces marathon on TLC. Whatever your reasons for tackling a summer home improvement project, you realize full well you're not Bob Vila, and like the rest of us tape-measure-challenged amateurs, could do…
Join Fellow Mex Lovers at Miguel’s
In the midst of all the rush and hustle of Kennedy Boulevard is Miguel's Mexican Restaurant, where hungry customers are treated to a little bit of Mexico in Tampa. Brightly colored flags hang down from the ceiling in this festive eatery, giving the impression that everyday here is the once-a-year celebration of Cinco de Mayo.…
Celebrate Cultural and Culinary Diversity at Tropics
The loud buzz of a busy restaurant — glasses clinking, diners chattering, waiters rushing about — makes for a very gay atmosphere inside Tropics on any Saturday night. And though it gets louder as it gets later, the noise never reaches the level of places like Ybor's Mezzanotte, where the red stuff on your pasta…
International Travel, Without the Plane
There's no substitute for visiting another country. Disney can have Epcot. Vegas can have its phony Paris and Venice replicas. These recycled American versions are as flimsy as the plastic porticos that adorn them. They offer no real interaction with people who think, act, smell and speak differently than you. The food is custom made…
Sliding Into Home
Three decades ago, Sonny Landreth saw something behind the glass. A hard-working slide guitar player in a blues band, he had grown frustrated at having to reconfigure his guitar to accommodate different tunings, especially when the key went from major to minor. He played bottleneck (rather than a metal slide) and one day he had…
Send in the Clones
Episode II is the best Star Wars movie since The Empire Strikes Back, and it's good in ways that are very similar to that earlier, landmark film. Like Empire, Episode II (sorry, can't quite bring myself to refer to it by that goofy Attack of the Clones tag) constitutes the middle section of a trilogy,…
Smokin’ ‘Grass
Virginia band brings the mountain to Heatwave
Parks and Trails
These parks and trails are free and open dawn to dusk unless otherwise indicated. A.L. Anderson Park, 1095 Tookes Road, Tarpon Springs (727-943-4085). This 128-acre site includes a boardwalk and nature trail, boat ramp, playground, picnic shelter and restrooms. Alderman's Ford, State Road 39, south of State Road 60 in Hillsborough County (813-757-3801). This 1,141-acre…
Elegant Carribbean Dining
3 Palms Grille & Gallery is one of those places you go when you don't want to get dressed up but want to eat extremely well. Its casual charm, friendly neighborhood ambiance and high-quality dishes — a creative mix of various ethnic influences and culinary styles — is an attractive combination that's hard to resist.…
The Invisible Muslims
Although nearly one third of this country's 2.8-million Muslims are African-American, they remain a largely hidden — and separate — segment of the Muslim community. Not long ago, I was watching the 25th-anniversary broadcast of Roots, and I got a small start every time Kunta Kinte referred to his god as Allah or prayed to…
Pool Crashing
Swimming is the only bearable outdoor exercise in the summer. Nothing's more relaxing than slicing through the cool blue water. Breathe, stroke, breathe, stroke. The rhythm is hypnotic, meditative. The only problem is that unless you live in a semi-upscale apartment complex or have a lap pool in your back yard, finding a place to…
DIY Outward Bound
In 1941, educator and Outward Bound creator Kurt Hahn was called upon to answer a question that plagued the British Navy: Why was it that older sailors survived longer than their similarly equipped but more youthful counterparts when the going got tough? The answer, Hahn determined, came from within. And if you have a few…
