12 Days of TBAY 🎶

12 days of Tampa Bay

Good things come in small parcels over at Hyde Park Village. | Photo by TBAYtoday

On the 12th day of Christmas, Cigar City sent to me... 🎶

Twelve sister cities
And that’s just in Tampa. There are 16 total when you include the Burg.

Eleven ounces in our mug
Need a last-minute gift idea? May we suggest heading to our online shop?

Ten secret beaches
Looking for a private beach day? We rounded up the best ones with minimal activity.

Nine hallowed holiday traditions
Tampa Bay has an incredible lineup of festive happenings and seasonal festivals this time of year.

Eight ways to give back
Now’s your chance to give back to our neighbors and the children in need.

Seven reputable restaurants and bars
In need of a tasty cocktail or a Michelin-starred meal? There’s plenty to go around inside Tampa’s newest hotel, The Edition.

Six places to get your holiday tree
Whether you prefer a Fraser Fir or Douglas Pine, we jotted down a few spots to purchase yours.

Five activities to do this winter
Technically you can do this stuff all year round, but with temps just a smidge cooler, everything’s a little bit more enjoyable.

Four ribbon-like rivers
DYK Tampa Bay has four main waterways? We didn’t either till we cooked up this list of interesting factoids.

Three trails for trekking
Hike, hike, baby. Surprisingly, ol’ flat Florida has a handful of picturesque spots to unleash your wild side.

Two awesome editors
Humble-brag incoming. Between the two of us, we get the privilege of sharing the news with thousands of readers on the daily — and we love every second of it.

And a really old, really cool Shuffleboard Club
What really is a partridge in a pear tree? We’ll tell you what it’s not. It’s definitely not the St. Petersburg Mirror Lake Park Shuffleboard Club. That’s for sure.

Click here to have your event featured.

Today, Dec. 7

Winter Village | Wednesday, Dec. 7-Wednesday, Jan. 4 | 4 a.m.-11 p.m. | Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park, 600 N. Ashley Dr., Tampa | $17-$ | The park transforms into a shopping village, complete with ice skating and curling.

Thursday, Dec. 8

“Jacob Hashimoto: This Particle of Dust” Exhibition Opens | Thursday, Dec. 8 | 10 a.m.-5 p.m. | Tampa Museum of Art, 120 Gasparilla Plaza, Tampa | $0-$20 | Hundreds of white and blue kite-like disks will be suspended from the ceiling.
Highball Cocktail Competition | Thursday, Dec. 8 | 8-10 p.m. | NOVA 535, 535 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. N., St. Petersburg | $30-$90 | Find out who makes the best cocktail in Tampa Bay.

Friday, Dec 9

Girl Talk | Friday, Dec. 9 | 9 p.m. | Jannus Live, 200 First Ave. N., St. Petersburg | $29.50 | This concert is for all ages, rain or shine.

Saturday, Dec. 10

United YFL National Cheer Championships | Saturday, Dec. 10 | 8 a.m.-8 p.m. | Florida State Fair, 4800 US Hwy. 301 North, Tampa | $0-$20 | Watch youth cheer teams battle it out for a trophy.
St. Pete Fools Presents Charity Ride 2022 | Saturday, Dec. 10 | 11 a.m.-5 p.m. | OCC Road House & Museum, 10575 49th St., Clearwater | $15 | Ride your hog over the Sunshine Skyway with the SPPD.
Corgi Races | Saturday, Dec. 10 | 5 p.m. | Tampa Bay Downs, 11225 Race Track Rd., Tampa | $3 | After the horse race, Corgis take the track.

We have a calendar filled with events and activities you can plan for in advance. Click the button below to bookmark ideas for upcoming date nights, family outings, and time with friends.

100+ MORE EVENTS

Still shopping for a hunter or angler this holiday season?

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Weather

84º | Mostly sunny | 10% chance of rain
The last full moon of the year will be visible starting around 11:08 p.m. tonight. December’s Cold Moon will join Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars as naked-eye bodies in the night sky — all viewable from our beautiful beaches. 🌕

Sunrise + sunset

Rise: 7:08 a.m.
Set: 5:34 p.m.

Tide
Old Tampa Bay

High: 1:33 a.m. + 5:00 p.m.
Low: 9:25 a.m. + 7:56 p.m.

Clearwater Beach

High: 12:08 a.m. + 10:09 p.m.
Low: 5:09 a.m. + 4:21 p.m.

Civic

Tampa Police Chief Mary O’Connor’s recent resignation means the city is on the hunt for a new police chief — launching its second search this year. Check out Trevor Noah’s commentary on the situation here. 🚨 (Spectrum Bay News 9)

Development

The last plot of land within the gated Westshore Yacht Club will become three luxury condo towers. The development, called Aqua, plans to launch presales early next year, starting in the mid $1 million range. Some of the resort-style amenities include two pools, pickleball courts, and a spa. ䷖ (That’s So Tampa)
Port Tampa Bay’s new storage dome can hold up to 70,000 tons of cement. But why do we need that much? Florida is going through an infrastructure, residential, and commercial boom — and state officials needed a spot to store materials. The $35 million project will complete in early 2023. 🏗 (Tampa Bay Business Journal)

Ranked

18. That’s what The Bitter Southerner ranked the album “Beautiful Mind” — by St. Petersburg’s own Rod Wave. The list looked at 22 of the best southern albums of the year. Pro tip: listen to the song “Yungen.” 🎶 (The Bitter Southerner)

Edu

USF, with its 48.82% avg. three-year acceptance rate, is officially Tampa Bay’s most selective college. The Business Journals ranked 866 US schools based on acceptance and enrollment rates. UT followed with an acceptance rate of 51.53%, Eckerd with a rate of 68.89% + Saint Leo University with a rate of 71.65%. 📚 (Tampa Bay Business Journal)

Eat

Let us know if this is too cheesy. Mazzaro’s Italian Market’s (2909 22nd Ave. N., St. Petersburg) annual Christmas cheese cutting is today at 10 a.m. The shop plans to cut open 854 pounds of Auricchio provolone aged 18 months — and it’s going to go fast. 🧀

Kids

Life finds a way. Now’s your chance to travel back in time to the land of dinosaurs. Dinos + Dragons, a traveling exhibition of more than 100 animatronic dinos, will populate downtown New Port Richey at the Harry Schwettman Education Center (5520 Grand Blvd.) from Dec. 9-Feb. 26. 🦕 (Tampa Bay Times)

Shop

Got a coffee lover in your family? We can almost guarantee these two products are on their wish list — the Fellow Stagg Electric Kettle and the Fellow Pour Over Coffee Set. Both strike the perfect balance of form and function. Psst — don’t forget the matching travel mug. ☕ *

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THE WRAP

Today’s issue was written by Brad.

Editor’s pick: We’ve all heard of the elusive Florida Man, right? This video came across my feed. Would you ever base jump out of a building? And if you’re brave enough, let us know which building here in TBAY, you’d parachute from. 🪂

In need of some Vitamin D therapy? Today the D stands for drone. Check out this sunset footage I posted on our IG. ☀️

Missed yesterday’s newsletter? We listed the best spots in TBAY to get your tree for the holidays here. 🎄

Connect with us.

Editorial: Brad Haft, Bailey LeFever, Jessalin Heins-Nagamoto, Emily Shea | Send us a scoop, question, or feedback.

Sales: Kailey Burke | Advertise with us.

Content marked with an * was created in partnership with 6AM City’s advertising partners. Paid content helps keep this newsletter free. 6AM City may also receive a commission on purchases made through affiliate links in this newsletter.

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