Picture Yourself in Ruskin

Meeting Spaces - Places to Stay - Community Directory - Relocation

3 days 2 nights in SouthShore Tampa Bay

You've seen the sights in Tampa, now what? How about the "other" Tampa Bay? A short 15 - 20 minutes south of the hotels of Tampa and Brandon, experience the outdoors in SouthShore. Get out on the waters of the bay & rivers; hike the trails of Old Florida; learn about our natural environment, native cultures and fossil past. Enjoy home-cooked meals, fine dining and sunset beverages.

Friday

4 p.m.
#1) Stock up on fresh supplies

Pick-your-own seasonal strawberries, blueberries and tomatoes at Hydro Harvest Farms. Hydroponics is a technology for growing plants in nutrient solutions (water that contains the fertilizer). It is a highly productive method of growing and lends to the conservation of water and land. The Market and farm is open daily Monday-Saturday 10 a.m.- 6 p.m. and Sunday 10:30 a.m.- 5 p.m.  Closed on New Year’s Day, Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Yearly Events include: Fabulous Pumpkin Patch, Halloween BOO Fest, Santa at the Farm and Easter Egg Hunt.

Owners: John and Terrie Lawson john@hydroharvestfarms.com
1101 E. Shell Point Rd., Ruskin, FL 33570
Phone: 813-645-6574; www.hydroharvestfarms.com

4:30 p.m.
#2) Eat Cuban

Afternoon refreshments at Ybor Grill in Ruskin include such Cuban favorites as flan, bread pudding and guava cheesecake with café con leche and buchito. Also famous for tapas and sopas served with sangria or cerveza.

                        Contact: Bobby Fernandez
bobby@yborgrill.com
                        105 E. Shell Point Rd., Ruskin, FL 33570
                        Phone: 813-641-7300; www.yborgrill.com

5:30 p.m.
#3) Drive/walk by historic Ruskin homes

A.P. Dickman House -
     120 Dickman Drive S.W., Ruskin, FL 33570

Landmarked by Hillsborough County. Queen Anne/Colonial Revival built in 1911. The A.P. Dickman House, once known as Ruskin House Bed and Breakfast, is situated on a one-acre parcel of land originally platted in 1910 as a part of a larger tract for A.P. Dickman, one of the founders of Ruskin. Built at a time during which Colonial Revival style houses supplanted Queen Anne style residences, the house exhibits features associated with both styles. Private. Built entirely out of heart pine, the house was the first finished wood structure in South Hillsborough County 

L.L. Dickman House -
     416 US Hwy. 41 S., Ruskin, FL 33570

This building was erected in 1910 for the Ruskin founder and is one of the three major structures associated with the utopian community to survive. The generously proportioned house shows the stylistic influence of Charles A. F. Voysey, the English architect who popularized a revival of English, vernacular architecture. The sweeping gable roof, simple, uncluttered lines, ranges of casement windows and substantial massing are all hallmarks of Voysey's Arts and Crafts style. The house is a remarkably mature local expression of the Craftsman Bungalow mode considering its early construction date. 

Miller House -
503 US Hwy. 41 S., Ruskin, FL 33570

This building was erected in 1914 as the home of Ruskin College's founder, Dr. George McArthur Miller. He followed the theories of British Christian Socialist John Ruskin and, with A.P., L.L. and N.E. Dickman, purchased 12,000 acres in 1907-08. He believed in making education available to everyone. This was the third college he founded. The remainder of the college burned down in 1919. This building became the home of the Ruskin Woman's Club in 1940. The building designed by Adeline Dickman Miller shows a Swiss Chalet influence with elements of both the Stick and Prairie styles. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 23, 1974.

Dusk
#4) Tiki Sunset over the bay

Grab your favorite cold beverage and enjoy the hottest views of Tampa Bay at the Tiki Bar in Little Harbor Resort, open seven days a week. Enjoy live music Wednesday through Sunday evenings. Welcome to your Caribbean-style island resort on the South Shore of Tampa Bay!

Contact:  Robert Newhart; RobertNewhart@LittleHarborFlorida.com
611 Destiny Dr., Ruskin, FL 33570
813-645-3291 or 800-327-2773
www.StayLittleHarbor.com
 

Saturday

7:30 a.m.
#5) Down home breakfast

Breakfast at Popi's Place featuring Popi’s Breakfast Platters served w/grits or home fries; Jack’s Special (Home fries, biscuit & sausage gravy); Eggs Benedict (served with grits or home fries); Country Benedict (Smothered with sausage gravy, served with grits or home fries).

Popi's Place V
813 649-1315
1010 N US-41, Ruskin, FL 33570

9:00 a.m.
#6) Return to nature

Tour Camp Bayou Outdoor Learning Center on the Little Manatee River in Ruskin, the 160-acre preserve packs diverse Florida habitats into a small space. It offers a Nature Center, Fossil Museum, Native Peoples Camp, butterfly habitat, native plant gardens, canoe launch, and trails through pine flatwoods, hardwood hammock and wetlands. It is home to a gopher tortoise population (a threatened species in Florida) and other interesting plants and animals. Camp Bayou Outdoor Learning Center operates as a partnership between the Hillsborough County Parks, Recreation and Conservation Department and the Ruskin Community Development Foundation, Inc.

Contact: Dolly Cummings; campbayou@yahoo.com
4140 24th St. SE, Ruskin, Florida 33570
Phone: 813-641-8545; www.campbayou.org

 

11:15 a.m.
#7) Get schooled on building green

Hillsborough Community College SouthShore eco-friendly "green" campus. It is the first green college structure in the area, meaning it is both environmentally friendly and resource conserving. The building incorporates a large windows to capture natural available light and structures to capture rain.