A lot of people believe that Plant City was named because of the colorful flora, especially the many fruits and vegetables that grow in the area, with its almost all-year long Gulf Coast climate. However, it was actually named after the railroad developer Henry Plant. Regardless though, in contemporary times, Plant City is actually the winter strawberry capital of the world. In February or early March, it hosts the Florida Strawberry Festival. The city still has that hometown community feel to it despite it being home to the many farms that supply produces all over the US. If you happen to be in this area, drop by for a day or so with your kids. It’s an ideal place to catch some sun, relax, and have fun. Here are a couple of fun things to do in Plant City, Florida.
1. Explore the beautiful McCall Park
Editor's Note: There's no photo available at the time of writing
McCall Park is a beautiful and super spacious park that takes up around two blocks of the city. Originally opened in 1971 and then expanded in 1998, this is where most of the important events in the town are hosted, such as the Chamber Classic Car Show, Main Street Food Truck Rallys, Chamber Bike Fest, and even some non-profit events. This Plant City attraction is a great place to spend a nice sunny afternoon, enjoy watching the trains go by or just take a stroll in the evening.
McCall Park
Address: 100 N Collins St, Plant City, FL 33563, United States
2. View the passing trains at Plant City Train Viewing Platform
Editor's Note: There's no photo available at the time of writing
Plant City Train Viewing Platform, as the name might suggest, is basically a viewing platform to watch trains go by. For train enthusiasts or if you’re traveling with kids who absolutely love trains, then you must plan a visit to the Plant City Train Viewing Platform. However, it is important that you take a look at the schedule of the trains before you plan your visit. You can also head to the website and go on a virtual tour, just so you know what to expect from your visit.
Plant City Train Viewing Platform
Address: Plant City, FL 33563, United States
Website: Plant City Train Viewing Platform
Opening hours: 24 hours (daily)
Price: Free
3. Spend a nice sunny afternoon at Walden Lake
Editor's Note: There's no photo available at the time of writing
Walden Lake is basically a developed community that is nestled around the eponymous lake. Originally, this area had nothing but wildness, but over time, it developed into a beautiful location that many local residents call home. With various nature walks, hiking trails, a sports complex as well as a playground for the kids, a dog park, and a baseball court, Walden Lake has everything that you could ask for, and more. Enjoy the views of the lake, have a nice picnic with your family, and spend some time in nature when you explore the hiking trails at Walden Lake.
Walden Lake
Address: Walden lake park, Plant City, FL 33566, United States
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4. Take some pictures of the adorable Plant City Water Tower
Editor's Note: There's no photo available at the time of writing
Plant City claims to be the winter strawberry capital of the world! In honor of that, the Plant City Water Tower was built in the shape of a strawberry! Probably one of the most adorable water towers in the world, the water tower is located in a nice green park. So, you can head here to get some pictures, maybe a cool video from your drone, and then you can enjoy a nice picnic with your family or friends. Until you’ve seen the Plant City Water Tower, your trip to Plant City is just incomplete!
Plant City Water Tower
Address: 2602 E Cherry St, Plant City, FL 33563, United States
5. Educate yourself at the East Hillsborough Historical
Editor's Note: There's no photo available at the time of writing
East Hillsborough Historical is a museum in the city that was founded in 1974. This museum is dedicated to preserving the history and the culture of Plant City and Eastern Hillsborough County. Also, the museum is a great source to know about the history of Florida. East Hillsborough Historical also hosts various events, one of the most famous ones being the Strawberry Festival. To know more about the upcoming events, do visit the website.
East Hillsborough Historical
Address: 605 N Collins St, Plant City, FL 33563, United States
Website: East Hillsborough Historical
Opening hours: Tue - Sat: 10am - 5pm (closed on Sun & Mon)
Price: Free
6. Check out livestock shows at the Grimes Family Agricultural Center
Editor's Note: There's no photo available at the time of writing
Grimes Family Agricultural Center is a state-of-the-art building that is popularly used for concerts, livestock shows, trade shows, and even school functions. With an amazing ambiance and a great vibe, this place is worth the visit. You must check out a livestock show at the Grimes Family Agricultural Center since it will be a truly unique experience.
Grimes Family Agricultural Center
Address: 2508 W Oak Ave, Plant City, FL 33563, United States
Website: Grimes Family Agricultural Center
7. Go to the land before time at Dinosaur World
Be transported back to your childhood with 20 acres (8 hectares) of exhibits and 200 life-sized dinosaurs including hundreds of animatronics that will give you a true to life experience of what dinosaurs looked and sounded like when they still ruled the earth. There are also a lot of artifacts from the Jurassic period, which includes fossils of dinosaur eggs and raptor claws. The kids can also play paleontologist in the many sandboxes where they can dig or sift some shark’s teeth, gastropods, ancient stones, and the like. A Dinosaur World Paleontologist can guide you through the process of recovering fossils or gems, and they’re always open to answer any questions presented by the young ones.
This is a great area for those who want to let their kids run around and enjoy the weekend. You can bring your own healthy snacks to make a picnic day out of it. You can even bring the dog with you on this excursion! At the end of the day, you can also get souvenirs at their gift shop that sells toys, games, and geodes for the adults.
Dinosaur World
Address: 5145 Harvey Tew Rd, Plant City, FL 33565, USA
Website: Dinosaur World
8. Wine and jazz at Keel & Curley Winery
Ever wondered how wine is made? If you don’t have the luxury of going to Europe or even California, don’t fret. The Keel & Curley Winery, an award-winning fruit winery, offers four daily tours every Saturday and Sunday of the week. You’ll have to call and book the tour at 5 USD per person. These wine flights let you sample four different types of wine. They also have beer flights that offer five different beers or ciders. If you should decide, you can also upgrade to make it a wine and food pairing.
The founder, Keel, was a blueberry farmer before he turned to blueberry wine. Today, Keel & Curley produces about 20,000 cases of wine a year, specializing in blueberry wine in the sweet, semi-dry and dry variety. The winery also has fun fusion wines such as Strawberry Riesling, Wild Berry Pinot Noir, Key West - Key Lime, and Peach Chardonnay. At the end of the day, you can enjoy all these at their spacious deck that lets in the Eastern Hillsborough County country air.
Keel & Curley Winery
Address: 5210 Thonotosassa Rd, Plant City, FL 33565, USA
Website: Keel & Curley Winery
9. Taste the fruit ciders at Two Henrys Brewing Company Tasting Room
If fruit wine isn’t your thing, and you like the casual feel of beer, don’t worry. You’ll find that Plant City offers that too at the Two Henrys Brewing Company, where they constantly offer new and seasonal tap beers. They also have specialty beers, hard ciders, as well as canned and bottled offerings.
Two Henrys specialize in five signature craft beers, which they only make in small batches because, according to them, “local and small is just better.” They have a tasting room in the brewery where you can learn about all their products as well as how the history of Florida plays a part in their own company history. The tasting room is co-located with Keel & Curley Winery and is available on weekends. They also have live music every Friday and Saturday night if you want to sit back and enjoy with a good cider in hand.
Two Henrys Brewing Company Tasting Room
Address: 5210 Thonotosassa Rd, Plant City, FL 33565, USA
10. Let your kids run free at Robert W. Willaford Railroad Museum
Editor's Note: Photo taken from the establishment's official social account
If you happen to be especially interested in trains, the Rober W. Willaford Railroad Museum is found in the historic train depot in downtown Plant City. It’s a great place to visit with kids who want to learn more about this transportation from the CSX to Amtraks that pass by on a daily basis. There are also photos and memorability of past and present railroads including a well-maintained and restored Seaboard Airline Caboose and a small model railroad that children can check out. The museum has no entrance fee and is open seven days a week, even up to late in the evening.
Robert W. Willaford Railroad Museum
Address: 102 N Palmer St, Plant City, FL 33563, USA
Website: Robert W. Willaford Railroad Museum
11. Nature at its finest at Edward Medard Regional Park
This 700-acre (283 ha) reservoir and park used to be a phosphate mine in the 1960s. In 1969, the American Cyanamid Company donated almost the entire property to Florida. They named it the Pleasant Grove Reservoir Park, which helped with flood control along the Alafia River. Today, it is one of the largest regional parks in Hillsborough County. If you’re wondering who Edward Medard is, he was one of the district’s governing board members in 1977. The park was later renamed after him.
The park plays host to over 500,000 visitors a year. It has a boardwalk fishing pier that leads to an observation tower. It also has great paved park roads for cycling and inline skating. And if you’d like to go in the water, you can rent a boat or canoe at the dock. The park also has 40 campsites where you can pitch a tent or park the RV. Have a picnic in one of its three picnic areas, complete with tables and grills.
Edward Medard Regional Park
Address: 6140 Edward Medard Pkwy, Plant City, FL 33567, USA
Website: Edward Medard Regional Park
12. Enjoy entertainment and attractions for all ages at the Florida Strawberry Festival
The Florida Strawberry Festival was started in 1929 by the Lions Club. It has since been growing stronger through the years. It is the stronghold effort of the county to promote their main crop, strawberries. Every year, the festival has livestock shows, contests, displays and exhibits, and even celebrity appearances.
Florida Strawberry Festival
Address: Plant City, Florida
Website: Florida Strawberry Festival
13. Taste the famous strawberry shortcake of Parkesdale Farmers Market
If you can’t catch the strawberry festival, don’t worry about it. There’s always the Parkesdale Farmers Market, which is the largest family-operated strawberry and citrus market in Florida. Every year, the farm produces about 3 million pounds of strawberries. You can even handpick your own basket while you’re there. The market is especially famous for its strawberry shortcake. The farm is open every day from November to April.
Parkesdale Farmers Market
Address: 3702 W Baker St, Plant City, FL 33563, USA
Website: Parkesdale Farmers Market
14. Enjoy metals and nature at the Metals and Nature Garden
These craftsmen specialize in iron gates, railings, furniture, and decor for homes. But if you don’t really need any of these things, you can still visit their “showroom,” a garden with original wrought iron work in Plant City. The garden has beautiful trails with mossy oaks interspersed with handcrafted iron designs by the company. They also have charming peacock decor, fountains, and other items in the garden.
Metals and Nature Garden
Address: 1501 State Road 60 West, Plant City, FL 33567, USA
Website: Metals and Nature Garden
15. Go Skydiving with Jump Florida
Looking for the absolute fun thing to do in Plant City this weekend? Skydive from 14,000 feet (4,267 meters). Step out of that aircraft door to a 60-second free-fall at 120 miles (193 km) per hour. You can jump with an instructor or by yourself. The whole jump involves an hour of training. With an instructor, you can also get the photo and video package so you don’t have to worry about capturing this thrilling adventure.
Jump Florida
Address: 9002 Paul Buchmman Hwy, Plant City, FL 33565, USA
Website: Jump Florida
Sunshine and lots of fruits at Plant City
As you may have already noticed from this list, Plant City holds two things dear: fruits and their historic past. With these two in mind, Plant City holds a lot of events that promote their natural and intangible heritage such as the Strawberry Classic Car Show and the Plant City State Farmers’ Market. Plant City residents take so much pride in them, so be sure to drop by these five places that become great microcosms to how the whole community works. Enjoy!
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