📜 A Few Reasons to Scroll Today:
Fun Things to Do: Solve a murder mystery dinner
Local Businesses: Cook a fine-dining fall pasta at home
Site Seeing: Where a two-year detour begins
Hidden History: Walk on a Civil War battlefield
Connect with Nature: When to spot another jellyfish cloud
Worth the Drive: Find a fall festival
Community Contributions: Which fall dishes deserve a taste?
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Fun Things to Do
Will You Solve the Mystery?
Step into a 1920s haunted manor, where you’re part of the story and anyone could be the killer! In this interactive murder mystery game, half the characters are living and half are ghosts. Your outfit will help determine who you’ll be. Costumes are not required but strongly encouraged to be a 1920s or earlier period outfit, pirate, classic ghost, or any black attire. Upon arrival, you’ll receive your character’s profile with questions to ask, answers to give, secrets to tell, and game instructions. Simply mingle and attempt to figure out whodunit.
Hosted by yours truly for the 35+ On the Town Meetup at Belle’s Pizza Kitchen on Oct. 24 from 5:30–9 PM. Tickets are required by Oct. 22.
Meet New Friends
This Weekend
A Traveler’s Notebook Experience: A meetup and craft session where you’ll design custom notebook refills and collage covers. At The Paper Seahorse on Oct. 17 from 2–4 PM. Tickets required.
Watermelon Swim Fall Festival: A free community celebration with trunk-or-treating, a costume parade, games, prizes, and photo opportunities at Watermelon Swim on Oct. 17 from 4–7 PM. (They also have a pumpkin patch benefit we covered last week.)
Oktoberfest Sausage-Making Class w/ Dinner & Beer Tasting: Learn to make sausages from start to finish while sampling three beers from BarrieHaus Beer Co. and eating a full dinner. Hosted at The Boozy Pig on Oct. 17 from 7–10 PM. Tickets required.
Next Week
Global Dumplings Cooking Class: A hands-on dumpling class at Sur La Table in Hyde Park Village on Oct. 19 from 4–6 PM. Tickets required.
Tuesday Pickleball- Beginners: Hosted by the Tampa Bay Sports and Socials Meetup at Skyview Park on Oct. 20 from 6:30–8 PM.
Storytime with Mother Boo: Autumn stories on blankets in the Hyde Park Village pumpkin patch on Oct. 21 from 10:30 AM–12:30 PM. The patch opens afterward.
Bingo & BOOs: Multiple rounds of bingo with prizes, a Halloween cocktail, and appetizers from Ro. Hosted by That’s So Tampa and Hyde House HOME at the latter’s space on Oct. 22 from 7–9 PM. Tickets required.
➡️ Do you have a unique public event coming up? Reply to this email for a chance to feature it.
Feel Good Giving Back
Children’s Cancer Center Giveback Weekend: Participating boutiques in Hyde Park Village are donating 10–15% of sales when you mention the Center at checkout on Oct. 17–18, plus a champagne moment with Sunni Spencer on Oct. 17 from 12–3 PM.
Walk to End Alzheimer’s: A fundraising walk hosted by the Alzheimer’s Association at Benchmark International Arena and along Bayshore Blvd. on Oct. 17 from 8:30–11 AM.
5th Annual Bourbon Ball: A bourbon-themed gala hosted by the Ybor City Rotary Club, benefiting Madi’s Movement, at the Tampa Garden Club on Oct. 23 from 6–10 PM. Tickets required.
Early Voting Begins
Hillsborough County voters can vote at any early voting site from Oct. 19–Nov. 1. On Election Day, Nov. 3, you must vote at the polling place assigned to your precinct. Find locations, wait times, and requirements on the Supervisor of Elections website.
Local Businesses
Foodie Find
Fresh pasta from The Ravioli Co. (By Danielle Glick for The South Tampa Scroll).
The Ravioli Co. on South Dale Mabry Highway makes fresh pastas, then freezes them for you to cook at home. For a fall flavor explosion, I recommend boiling a few of their Pumpkin & Mascarpone Ravioli and Pear & Gorgonzola Sacchettoni together, toss them in browned butter, and sprinkle with rosemary. Oh my! It’s outstanding enough to be the star dish on a fine dining restaurant’s seasonal menu, but super fast and easy to cook at home.
P.S. Stone crab season opens today and runs through May 1!
Businesses on the Move
Hattricks sports bar has opened its second location as a quick-service restaurant in South Tampa, in the newly constructed building at 4075 Henderson Blvd.
State Flour Bakery announced they’ll be moving from South Tampa to Lutz in Jan. 2027.
➡️ Is your business opening, closing, moving, or renovating? Reply to this email for a chance to feature it.
Site Seeing
Traffic Changes
Bayshore Blvd. will have heavier traffic during the Walk to End Alzheimer’s on Oct. 17 from 8:30–11 AM.
Raymond James Stadium area will have heavier traffic for USF vs. Kent State football game on Oct. 17 from 7 PM, and for the Buccaneers vs. Pittsburgh Steelers on Oct. 18 from 1 PM.
South Tampa St. at E. Brorein St. will close starting Oct. 20 at 8 PM for about two years as crews build supports for the Selmon Expressway expansion. Expect detours and potential backups around this area.
Hidden History
This Week in Local History: Battle of Ballast Point
On Oct. 18, 163 years ago, the Civil War came to South Tampa. Two days prior, Union gunboats steamed toward downtown Tampa and shelled Fort Brooke. But this was actually a decoy.
Meanwhile, about 100 Union troops slipped ashore near today’s intersection of Bayshore and Gandy. They marched 14 miles north through woods that later became Palma Ceia, West Tampa, and Seminole Heights. At a Hillsborough River shipyard near today’s ZooTampa, they torched two notorious blockade-running ships, one of which is believed to still rest on the river bottom.
Both ships belonged to a Tampa mayor, who escaped and raced to Fort Brooke to sound the alarm. Confederate troops gave chase and caught the raiders scrambling into dinghies near today’s Ballast Point Park. Gunfire cracked across the shallows as Union gunboats fired cover from the bay and Confederates shot from the shore in what became known as the Battle of Ballast Point. Despite 16 casualties, the Union succeeded: shipping out of Tampa nearly stopped for the rest of the war.
The next time you visit Ballast Point Park, picture rowboats racing through gunfire and be glad you weren’t there 163 years ago!
Connect with Nature
Upcoming Natural Events
Jellyfish cloud over Florida from the October 13 Falcon 9 launch. (Courtesy N.A.S.A.)
Notable Weather Changes: Storm chances jump to 72% on the afternoon of Oct. 17. Northeast winds will be gusting up to 32 mph on Oct. 18, so secure loose outdoor items and check the marine forecast before heading to the water.
Hurricane Prep: The National Hurricane Center expects no new tropical storms for at least a week. Use the break to check your emergency food supply doesn’t contain any expired items.
Major Sky Events:
Another SpaceX Falcon 9 launch is scheduled for Oct. 19 at 6:30 AM. If it launches on time, look low in the eastern sky for another spectacular jellyfish cloud like the one pictured above!
The Orionid meteor shower peaks the night of Oct. 21–22 with up to 18 meteors per hour. The darkest skies will be after the Moon sets at 3 AM to dawn.
➡ If you capture a great photo of any recent or upcoming weather event, please reply to send it to us for a chance to be featured next week!
Wildlife Sightings
Our Sept. 11 edition reported 43,000 migrating birds crossing Hillsborough County in one night. On Oct. 13, the tracker estimate was over 4 million! At the 9:10 PM peak, roughly 933,600 birds were flying over our county at once. To spot them, step away from streetlights 2–3 hours after sunset and look up over the water. Turning off unnecessary outdoor lights helps keep birds from getting disoriented.
➡ Have you seen a rare animal this week? Please reply to let us know when and where! Include a photo for a chance to see it featured next week.
Worth the Drive
Nearby Events
One-Day Only
Pattern and Pause: Glassblowing artists talk about their process at the Chihuly Collection Special Exhibition Space and Morean Glass Studio in St. Petersburg on Oct. 16 from 6–8 PM. Tickets required.
30th Annual Dishes & Wishes: A night of gourmet food and beverages from top local restaurants, benefiting Make-A-Wish, at Armature Works in Tampa on Oct. 16 from 7–11 PM.
Flicks & Food Trucks— Wicked For Good: Free outdoor movie at the St. Pete Pier on Oct. 16 from 7:30pm. Bring something to sit on.
International Archaeology Day: Hands-on pottery workshops, archaeological activities, and anthropologist discussing her research in Peru’s cloud forests. Hosted by Friends of Weedon Island on Oct. 17 from 10 AM–3 PM at the Weedon Island Cultural and Natural History Center just over the Gandy Bridge.
Boo on the Bay: Family-friendly, Halloween-themed science activities at the Tampa Bay Watch Discovery Center on the St. Pete Pier on Oct. 17 from 11 AM–3 PM. Tickets required.
Indie Flea Season Opener: Hundreds of vendors plus food trucks at Campbell Park in St. Petersburg on Oct. 17 from 12–4 PM.
15th Annual Tampa Pig Jig: A charity barbecue and music festival headlined by Thomas Rhett, benefitting NephCure, at Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park in Tampa on Oct. 17 from 1–10 PM.
All Weekend
47th Clearwater Jazz Holiday: Four days of live music with headliners Chris Botti, Arturo Sandoval, Sheila E., Larkin Poe, and The Wood Brothers. At Coachman Park in Clearwater with gates open on Oct. 15–16 at 4 PM and Oct. 17–18 at 3:30 PM. The side stages are free before the ticketed evening shows.
Art Fair Tampa: The city’s first art convention with about 300 artists, at the Tampa Convention Center in downtown Tampa on Oct. 16–18.
St. Pete Fall Festival: Live music, food, a Kids Zone, and the area’s biggest pumpkin patch at the St. Pete Pier on Oct. 17–18 from 11 AM–7 PM.
Community Contributions
Cast Your Vote
What tasty new fall restaurant dishes have you discovered in South Tampa? We want to taste and feature them in our next Foodie Finds!
➡️ Simply reply to this email to tell us the item and where to find it.
Neighborhood Roast of the Week
Palma Ceia: Where everyone belongs to the same country club, or is strategically befriending someone who does.
➡ A.I. came up with the joke, and a human refined the wording. How accurate was it?
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Your Local Writer & Founder: Danielle is a lover of food, craft cocktails, wine, travel, nature, and history. After living in Ohio, Dallas, New Zealand, and 37 countries as a digital nomad, Danielle decided South Tampa was the best place to settle in 2022. She blends a world’s worth of experiences with local expertise as a Meetup event organizer and marketing director to ensure The Scroll is always worth your read!