Picture Yourself in Ruskin
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3 days 2 nights in SouthShore Tampa BayYou'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.
Owners: John and Terrie Lawson
john@hydroharvestfarms.com
4:30 p.m.
Contact: Bobby Fernandez 5:30 p.m.
A.P. Dickman House
- 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
- 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
- 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
Contact: Robert Newhart;
RobertNewhart@LittleHarborFlorida.com
Saturday 7:30 a.m.
9:00 a.m. 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.
11:15 a.m. 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 and recirculate water for irrigation and other non-drinking uses. Furnishings and interior features are also constructed of environmentally friendly materials.
Contact: Dr.
Allen A. Witt, Noon
The Fish House is a small-town, no-chain
eating place. The owners catch fish Monday through Wednesday and cook and
serve their catch Thursday through Saturday. Sunday they go to church (and
so should you.)
Fish
House - 1902 W. Shell Point Rd., Ruskin, FL 33570
1:00
p.m. You have three nearby choices to get some sand between your toes: The Resort & Club at Little Harbor, and E. G. Simmons County Park and Apollo Beach Nature Preserve. Welcome to a Caribbean-style island resort on the South Shore of Tampa Bay! This unique resort and residential village provides a harmonious blend of Anglo-Caribbean architecture, lush tropical landscaping, island style hospitality and the natural wonders of a waterfront resort. Conveniently secluded between Tampa and Sarasota, The Resort & Club at Little Harbor is a full-service, AAA Travel Guide, three-diamond, resort hotel and conference center situated on 124 acres, completely surrounded by the tranquil waters of our harbors, marinas and Tampa Bay. BoatWorks (813-641-9181) features kayaks, wave-runners, Hobie Cat sailboats, Stingray boats, and center console motor boats for fishing, tubing or cruising. The Resort & Club at Little Harbor is part of the larger residential village known as Little Harbor. Situated on 350 acres, this community offers the resort hotel, restaurants, lounge, tiki bar, secluded beach, marinas and a bounty of recreational amenities. The village of Little Harbor offers a vast array of residential purchase options including waterfront single-family homes, villas, lofts, townhomes, resort-condos and private condominiums, all with water views, as primary residences, secondary/vacation homes or investment opportunities.
Contact: Robert Newhart;
RobertNewhart@LittleHarborFlorida.com
E. G. Simmons Park is located between Ruskin and Apollo Beach, on Tampa Bay and was created in the 1960’s by dredging and filling an area of 258 acres of mangrove swamp along the southeast shoreline of Tampa Bay. Simmons Park provides a swimming beach, picnic shelters, restrooms, a boat launch, fishing platforms and overnight camping. This is one of the most popular parks in Hillsborough County, especially during the winter for campers and during the summer for beachgoers. Fishing is excellent in and around the park, and a special permit is available for after-hours access for fishermen.
Contact: Paul Caldorni
The Apollo Beach Nature Preserve provides a rare piece of public access to the shoreline of Tampa Bay, and the extensive restoration provides habitat to a variety of wildlife. The warm water from the nearby power plant provides unusually good fishing and occasional manatee sightings. Amenities include: public access and parking, picnic areas, tables, pavilion, comfort areas, restrooms, paved and unpaved hiking / walking trails. Located at 6760 Surfside Blvd., Apollo Beach, FL 33572 3:00 p.m. For twenty years, visitors of all ages have enjoyed the Manatee Viewing Center, an ecological gem tucked among the mangroves beside the discharge canal of Tampa Electric's Big Bend Power Station. The Florida manatee is a large, plant-eating, warm-blooded marine mammal found in Florida's shallow coastal waters, rivers and springs. The average adult manatee or "sea cow" is about 10 feet long and weighs approximately 1,200 pounds. It has a large, seal-like body that tapers to a large, spatula-shaped flat tail. The two forelimbs or flippers of the manatee are paddle-shaped with three nails at the tip of each flipper. During the cold winter months, the manatees return to the canal to find refuge from the chilly coastal waters of west central Florida. Manatees gather in numbers that can top 300 when the temperature of Tampa Bay drops below 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Your visit will include a tidal walkway showcasing vibrant Florida plants and birds, butterfly gardens, and the educational building.
Contact: Wendy Anastasio; wfvalle@tecoenergy.com 4:00 p.m. Enjoy a brief boat tour of E.G. Simmons inlets and mangroves with Captain Gus Muench, a 31-year blue crab commercial fisherman. Through his four-hour Crabby Adventures, Captain Gus provides a once-in-a-lifetime eco-experience with live blue crabs and stone crabs as well as all the living creatures of the bay including bird life such as laughing gulls, pelicans, herons, egrets, and osprey. "Crew mates" learn how to pull and bait crab traps; catch, clean, steam, and eat crabs; and see how Gus invented Seawall Oyster Reefs designed to restore shoreline habitat destroyed by seawalls. Return to the dock for a real Southern crab boil dinner and watch the sun go down through the mangroves. Contact: Gus Muench;
baychopgus@tampabay.rr.com Sunday 9 a.m. Captain Joel Brandenburg is a native Floridian and Southwest Coast resident and heads AnaBanana Fishing Company. He has fished and hunted the globe from Africa to Argentina, Australia to Hawaii, Costa Rica to Canada, Bahamas to Mexico, Virgin Islands to Puerto Rico along with many other areas. After his vast experience of different lands and waters, he is convinced the world's most epic fishing adventures are right here in the gulf and bay waters! Let Captain Joel prove to you that this is unequivocally the true sportsman's epicenter!
Contact: Captain Joel
Brandenburg; Annual Events in SouthShore February
Annual Chili Cook-off March
Apollo Beach Manatee Arts Festival April
Riverview Hog Roast and Silent Auction
Ruskin Family Fishing Tournament
Camp
Bayou Spring Open House May
Ruskin Tomato & Heritage Festival October
Florida State
Championship Series 5 November
Ruskin Seafood Festival
Alafia Fat Tire Festival
The
X-Country Marathon
Alafia Challenge Canoe and Kayak Race
Organized by the Alafia River Basin Stewardship Council and the Hillsborough
County Parks, Recreation and Conservation Department to benefit preservation
programs for the Alafia River. December
Riverview Lighted Boat Parade and Chili Cook Off Camp
Bayou Holiday Open House |
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