West and East Lealman, FL Indoor Activities

Having seen an upswing in interest in one of the world’s oldest dance styles, Johanna and Karen started a belly-dancing collective in 2004 as a way to create a community for both professionals and students and an audience for monthly showcases. They gave these enthusiasts a brick-and-mortar hangout in 2008 when they opened their first center for classes and events, which has since blossomed and moved into a new space nearly four times the size of the old studio.

Today, Hip Expressions offers drop-in and ongoing classes led by seasoned instructors. Classes focus on introducing newcomers to the art form’s fundamental isolation techniques that keep hips and waists from arguing over the remote. In addition to belly dancing, classes include a variety of other dances and fitness crazes such as Zumba, yoga for dancers, or active isolated stretching.

Since 1922, St. Petersburg Museum of History has preserved the heritage of St. Petersburg and the Pinellas Peninsula with expansive collections and four galleries that host annually rotating exhibits. Its permanent exhibits, meanwhile, trace the area’s history from Native Americans to the present day through artifacts such as a cannonball fired by Union sailors and replica of a parlor car from the Orange Belt Railway. Elsewhere, the World's First Commercial Airline Gallery charts commercial aviation history with a full-size working replica of the Benoist Airboat and the first-ever pterodactyl to earn a commercial-flying license. Visitors looking to delve deeper into the past can explore more than 32,000 artifacts in the museum archives or partake in one of its educational programs such as tours, community classes, and camps.

Just minutes from downtown's bustling shops and overlooking the glassy waters of Tampa Bay, The Mahaffey's picturesque building hosts some of Florida's most entertaining art and performance offerings. Originally built in 1965, the renovated building's floor-to-ceiling glass façade pierces the night with softly glowing light, cordially inviting patrons inside and awakening desires in moths that can never be fulfilled. The box-style seating of the theater ensures clear sightlines for all patrons, and its excellent acoustics make the venue suitable for both thunderous rock bands and delicate chamber ensembles.

The Morean Arts Center connects visitors with myriad forms of modern art, welcoming them to explore galleries, a glass studio, and a clay workshop, all of which host classes and events. The Chihuly Collection showcases a permanent exhibition of world-renowned glass-blowing artist Dale Chihuly's work. His magnificent bright forms, many of which are inspired by nature, spiral toward the ceiling, housed in a 10,000-square-foot structure designed by award-winning architect Alberto Alfonso. A visit to the Glass Studio and Hot Shop immerses guests in the creation of glass works, as artists manipulate molten glass into vibrant orbs and vases. At the Center for Clay visitors can get their hands dirty in forming delicate earthenware during classes and open-studio time.

A pirate ship hangs suspended in midair. Styrofoam pellets vibrate to sound frequencies. Tennis balls rocket toward the ceiling. Plastic robots jolt to life. Recipient of a 2008 MetLife Foundation award for promising practices, Great Explorations Children's Museum incites creativity and inventiveness from visitors of all ages with a constantly rotating lineup of interactive exhibits that fill 18,000 square feet with touch, light, and sound. Pulley towers allow children to hoist themselves into the air, and a mock fire station thrills wee visitors with a fire engine, child-sized firefighters' gear, and microscopic dalmatians. Museum guides lead lesson programs in a multidisciplinary style, though visitors can also find the friendly professionals and their orange polo shirts bouncing between exhibits while performing science experiments, dancing, and playing music.

Themed events let visitors discover the museum's potential through focuses such as "Superhero Saturday," "Slightly Spooky Boo!seum," and "Winter Wonderland," and seasonal camps explore annual topics such as the life cycle of a bunsen burner.

Children press their faces against the glass of a trio of two-story cylindrical tanks to catch a glimpse of fish, crabs, and other sea life from faraway oceans. Native tidal-zone fish swim inside the first tank; in the second, fish from Africa mingle with those from South America; and in the third, tropical fish from throughout the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans create a colorful tapestry. At the waterfront Pier Aquarium, these three tanks stand among 14 aquariums, an interactive exhibit with ocean sounds broadcast by hydrophone from underneath the pier, and wall murals that showcase aquatic life from each of the world’s oceans. Visitors explore fish and plant life using lighted microscopes, magnified viewing boxes, and plastic replicas of sea stars and horseshoe crabs—and they can touch and hold biofacts such as shells and spines.

Educational staffers divulge facts and embarrassing secrets about creatures living in four main tanks on the second floor. They show visitors how to handle crabs, sea urchins, and flounder at the Tampa Bay touch tank, and point out exotic clownfish, anemones, lionfish, and eels in the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Coral, and Pacific Ocean tanks. They also help visitors identify spineless animals in the Invertebrates aquarium or enlist their help in feeding and caring for sharks and lobsters, just as car mechanics enlist the help of customers when feeding air fresheners to their cars.

Visitors further explore facts about marine life in the museum shop, where staffers display shelves of aquatic toys, puzzles, games, books, and apparel. They can also stroll down the pier, where a Water Walk display offers information about local Tampa Bay waters, and down to the beach, where researchers and marine scientists show visitors how to study aquatic denizens in a hands-on outdoor marine lab.