Things to Do in Lakeland
Recommended Things to Do by Groupon Customers
Start by selecting any plate, bowl, flowerpot, mug, jug, or unexpected pottery discovery from a variety of contemporary and functional finely crafted artifacts. The Pottery Patch's colorful design books and friendly staff can help if you need inspiration or artistic guidance. After you make a sketch, you'll pick out paint colors (The Pottery Patch has more than 50 pigments). Then carefully direct your brush in tune with your dreams and wishes, letting your creative juices flow wildly onto the dinnerware of your choosing and spill onto the floor that is thoughtfully provided. There are no studio fees at The Pottery Patch, and pottery ranges from $7 to $75, depending on size and type. Once you're finished, The Pottery Patch glazes and fires your piece in a kiln; it'll be ready for pick-up in about a week, just like a slow-baking cake or a reverse movie rental.
The Bead Boutique puts beauty into the hands of the beholder, leading to a sense of accomplishment rivaling that of a financially successful mime. There are more than 60 different rotating classes, most of which are about two hours long, for aspiring bead buffs of all experience levels. Beginners can learn the tricks of the trade with a class in basic stringing, basic wire wrapping, or basic knotting. Intermediate users can choose from a number of weaving classes, increasing technical proficiency while earning the sophomoric right to put freshmen in lockers. With the basics down pat, third-level mages can try out a class in metalsmithing, PMC, or copper etching, among many other advanced-level courses.
The shallow-water capabilities of Clearwater's Coast Guard–certified jet boat allow the expert captains to venture where other tour boats fear to paddle. During the 40- to 60-minute ride, which takes off from slip 20 in the Clearwater Municipal Marina, maintain girded loins for quick turns and wave-spewing slides, while scanning the horizon for local wildlife. Bear wet witness to all manner of fish, dolphins, exotic sea birds, and even occasional manatees.
The licensed skydive veterans of Skydive Tampa Bay, Inc., have accompanied customers soaring from the bellies of airplanes since 1978. These plummetologists have earned national and international championship titles and multiple world records, and now start beginners on a path to their own air-bound accolades with introductory tandem jumps. Lessons begin with on-ground instruction before instructors securely attach students to their torsos like thrill-seeking mother kangaroos and freefall for two miles. After students learn the basics through tandem dives, instructors put them through the Accelerated Freefall Program, which includes classroom time, ground training, solo jumps, and post-dive critiques of freefall techniques and maneuvers.
Café Kiln offers a variety of ways to cultivate creativity. Paint and glaze a blank piece of pottery, fuse glass, tile your own mosaic, or nurse a tender hunk of clay into form. The all-inclusive art emporium doesn't charge a studio fee, and all supplies (glaze, tools, instruction, paints) are included. Start by selecting your piece of pottery or mosaic shape. Consult stencils and stamps for design direction if you're stumped on the design—with more than 100 colors to choose from, Café Kiln rivals the Crayola Big Box with its wardrobe of hues. Mosaic creations will be ready for you to take home that day. Allow a week for pottery pieces to be fired and glazed.
Saturn 5’s intergalactic theme seeps into every corner of its 20,000-square-foot fun center, which encompasses an 18-hole mini-golf course illuminated by black lights, a laser-tag arena, a 400-square-foot bouncy obstacle course, an arcade with more than 70 games, and a billiards room. The indoor mini-golf course takes after its fresh-air counterparts with diminutive greens and obstacles, but it replaces the sun with black lights that illuminate holes lined in green, red, and blue. A rainbow of hues also embellishes the behemoth bounce house, where kids careen down slides and scramble around cushy pillars to get to meshed-in areas for jumping.
At the arcade, the perimeter of an air-hockey table glows a space-age green, and retro pinball machines exude a vintage air akin to the black-and-white makeup worn by ‘50s-era TV stars. In the billiards room, a 40-inch TV and an 80-inch projection screen are emblazoned with the day's games, which can be watched atop bar stools with snacks, beer, and wine from the concession bar.
