Welcome back, my friend! This edition is jam-packed with awesome events this weekend and beyond. I also may or may not have purchased an inflatable kraken tentacle at Aldi for Halloween. Fall is coming! Let’s dive in.

Free Museum Day is this Saturday, September 19. The St. Petersburg Arts Alliance runs it with the City of St. Pete and the participating museums, modeled on the Smithsonian's national version. Two tiers this year, so check which list your stop falls on before you go.

Free for everyone:
-The Florida Holocaust Museum
-FloridaRAMA
-Imagine Museum of Contemporary Glass Art (free Saturday and Sunday, reservations required)
-The James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art (10am to 5pm, reservations strongly encouraged)
-Morean Arts Center (always free)
-Queer Asian Museum
-Tampa Bay Watch Discovery Center
-The Woodson African American Museum of Florida

Free with residency restrictions (bring a valid ID):
-The Dalí Museum (free for Pinellas residents, walk-ups only, no advance tickets, and Dalí Alive 360 is no included)
-Museum of Fine Arts (free for Florida residents, advance registration required)
-St. Petersburg Museum of History

New this year: show proof of your museum admission, and participating restaurants, shops and galleries around town will honor special offers. Visit St. Pete/Clearwater has the running list.

If you're stacking stops, the SunRunner, the Downtown Looper and the Central Avenue Trolley cover most of the downtown venues, and the public garages downtown handle the rest. SPAA also has a printable map on its site.

Planning to make a habit of it or want to make advanced registration to a spot? Our complete guide to St. Pete's museums breaks down what all the museums cost the other 364 days, the cheap evening windows at the Dalí, MFA, The James and Imagine, and the one $50 membership that gets you into a bunch of local institutions. Read the museum guide here.

We interrupt your typically cheery newsletter briefly for a very important PSA about mosquitoes and dengue fever.

Pinellas County went decades without a dengue case. This summer it has five, and Tampa Bay sits at the center of Florida's biggest dengue outbreak in roughly a century. The state counted 111 locally acquired cases as of Sep 5, with 95 of them in Hillsborough.

The carrier is Aedes aegypti, a small black-and-white striped mosquito that bites during the day, flies low, and goes for your ankles. It breeds more in urban settings than mangroves or marshes. Think rainwater in a bottle cap, a birdbath, or a toy left in the yard. Since traditional spray trucks are less effective, crews are knocking on doors, setting traps, and treating yards by hand.

Pinellas County's advice comes down to three words:

-Dump standing water in buckets, saucers, tires, and gutters once a week.
-Dress in long sleeves, pants, and closed-toe shoes when you can.
-Defend with repellent containing DEET, picaridin, IR3535, or oil of lemon eucalyptus.

Symptoms look like the flu: fever, body aches, mild rash. Only about one in four infected people notice symptoms at all, so you can carry it without knowing.

The county will also inspect your yard for free and hands out mosquito fish for ponds and horse troughs. Call (727) 464-7503 if interested.

Back in August we shared that Florida Fin Fest was expanding from Jax Beach for a St. Pete edition in November, with the lineup unannounced. Well, here it is!

Fitz and The Tantrums, Flipturn, and Plain White T's are headlining, with local acts like Shevonne & The Force filling out the bill. Flipturn is a repeat guest, having played a past Fin Fest on the other coast.

Things have also grown since we first wrote about it. Fin Fest now takes over Spa Beach for three days, November 13 through 15. Gates open on Friday and Saturday from 12-10pm. Sunday is Education Village only, noon to 9pm, which is your VR-and-touch-tank day with panels from folks like The Ocean Conservancy and OCEARCH.

Tickets are still in early bird pricing. Two-day GA is $69, single days are $34 for Friday and $49 for Saturday, and there are day-only passes for $19 (Friday before 6pm) and $29 (Saturday before 5pm) if you just want to visit without the seeing the headliners. VIP starts at $114 for both days, Premium VIP at $194. It is all ages, and kids 12 and under get in free with a paid guardian.

I can make your fins clap. Sorry, that’s a bad lyric pun (not sorry).

Café Clementine is hosting "From Hive to Bite: A Honey Tasting & Flight of Bites" tomorrow, Thursday, September 17, 5 to 7pm in the MFA Membership Garden, with the Museum of Fine Arts and Noble Nectar Apiaries. September is National Honey Month, and what better way to celebrate?

It opens with a glass of Clos Lentiscus Nuria 2018, a sparkling wine made with honey (NA options also available). Allison of Noble Nectar then guides a tasting of four local honeys, ranging from floral and delicate to rich and complex, as well as a look at the MFA's rooftop apiary and how the honey gets harvested.

It closes with a flight of petite bites from Café Clementine, all vegetarian-friendly, each paired to one of the honeys.

Capacity is limited and tickets are available here ($45 for MFA members, $60 for non-members).

There is a trophy on the line November 8 for neighborhood shuffle bragging rights.

CONA St. Pete is running the third Neighborhood Shuffle Showdown at the St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club from 3 - 8 PM that Sunday. Neighborhoods send as many residents as they can round up. You get colored beads at check-in to find your people, pair off, and play eight-frame doubles matches against other teams. The four highest-scoring neighborhoods go to a Final Four, and the winner takes home the Mae Hall Trophy.

Instruction is provided, so no experience needed. There's music and food, and plenty to do if you'd rather not touch a cue: neighborhoods staff their own tables, keep score, take photos, or just show up and cheer for the block.

If you want to practice first, CONA has a limited number of free Shuffle Bucks passes for neighborhood practice nights at the Club. To ask for some, email [email protected].

To get your neighborhood in, reach out to your association and find out who's captaining. You don't need to be a CONA member to play.

Details and sign-up here.

🚰 The city began adding an EPA-approved orthophosphate and polyphosphate blend to St. Petersburg's water supply on Sep 8, a response to drought conditions and an ongoing rehab of softening equipment at the Cosme Water Treatment Plant. Residents have reported harder water than usual and occasional rust-colored discoloration, which the city describes as a treatment adjustment rather than a safety issue.

🌿 Pinellas commissioners tentatively approved the FY27 budget last Thursday, cutting the property tax rate to reduce collections by $6.026 million from the original proposal, the fifth such cut in six years. Funding for Weedon Island Preserve and Shell Key, which we reported was proposed for elimination on August 26, stays intact. Final hearing is September 24.

🌊 City Council approved the ballot question for a 2026 General Obligation Bond referendum on July 23, asking voters to authorize up to $600 million for stormwater, wastewater and drinking water infrastructure. The question is on the November ballot, and if it passes the city expects to issue the bonds in multiple series from 2027 through 2030.

🏗️ Mayor Ken Welch has made a $325,000 funding determination through the South St. Petersburg CRA's Economic Development Incentive Program to support the Looking Glass Initiative, a mixed-use redevelopment on MLK St. S anchored by Black-owned businesses. City Council still has to approve the award, which would be the program's first.

Want to spread the word about your business, a project you’re working on, an exciting event, or just want to say hi to 12,000+ neighbors? Partner with us.

DINNER CLUB: Only 15 spots left to attend in October. Sign up here!

SUNNY SAVINGS: Noble Crust Happy Hour: Monday - Thursday 4-7, Friday 4-6, $2 off draft beer + barrel fresh wines, $5 premium spirits. $5 Craft Cocktail Mondays starting at 4 pm. ½ off all Barrel Fresh Wines Wednesday starting at 4 pm

CATCH OF THE DAY: Adopt Arturo the dog or Dupree the cat. See them here.

SUNNY CREWNECK: Florida fall is here! Bundle up!

LAST WEEK’S SCRAMBLE: Haunted

FLIGHT DEAL: Tampa → Santa Barbara. $207 in October (41% less than usual). Visit The American Riviera!

‘BURG ABODES: Historic Old Northeast Reimagined. $2,475,000 | 5 bd 3 ba | 3,108 sqft. Historic charm up front, endless vacation in the back. Your private tropical oasis awaits!

A sampling of ten-ish fun things to do this week.

SUBMIT AN EVENT

The Stella Artois Shuffleboard Soirée runs this Saturday evening at the St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club. General admission is free, but you need to RSVP on Eventbrite and spots are limited.

DJ Ekin is on the decks, Lost Coast Oysters and King of Pops are set up on site, and 16 two-person teams play a tournament for prizes. Teams were drawn at random back on September 14, so you're going as a spectator at this point.

$35 gets you into the clubhouse for the VIP package: a sampling of Stella Artois, Nutrl and Cutwater, a chalice to take home, three oysters from Lost Coast and a King of Pops popsicle. The whole thing is 21+.

Proceeds go to Bay It Forward, which gets technology to pediatric cancer patients so they can stay in touch with family during treatment.

Get tickets.

Jutes | Jannus Live | Sep 16, 6 PM | $39 🎟️
Raw alt-metal concert. He was on our flight back from Mexico City last Sunday.

Visiting Artist Lecture – Jimmy Turrell: Collage, Culture & Creative Practice | St. Petersburg | Sep 16, 6 PM | Free
British artist explores collage culture.

A Taste of Grand Central | Coastal Creative | Sep 17, 6 - 9 PM | $100 🎟️
Local tastings support Grand Central.

Pups and Pilates | The Dog Bar | Sep 17, 6 PM | $10 🎟️
Pilates with playful shelter pups.

Get Fit St. Pete | Zumba | Childs Park | Sep 17, 6 PM | Free
Outdoor Zumba for every level.

Tommy Stinson Live | St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club | Sep 17, 7 PM | $30.52 🎟️
Replacements cofounder plays historic shuffleboard club.

St Pete SUP x Sunshine City Comedy Club | Sunshine City Comedy Club | Sep 17, Paddle at 6 PM, Show at 8:30 PM | $20 🎟️
SUP outing followed by comedy.

Pirates of the Caribbean In Concert | Mahaffey Theater | Sep 18 7:30 PM, Sep 19 2 PM | $20 🎟️
Classic Disney film with orchestra score.

Intro to Foraging | Pinellas Pioneer Settlement | Sep 19, 9:30 AM | $5 🎟️
Learn edible plants on guided hike.

Weenie Walk | Go Greek, The Sundial | Sep 19, 10 AM | Free
Dachshund meetup celebrating Go Greek opening.

Free Museum Day 2026 | Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg | Sep 19, 10 AM | Free
Local museums offer free access.

Oktoberfest! | 3 Daughters Brewing | Sep 19, 12 - 11 PM | Free
Oompah beer games and bratwurst.

Keystones on the Trail | Boyd Hill Nature Preserve | Sep 19, 1 PM | $5 🎟️
Explore local keystone species hiking.

Tampa Bay Rowdies vs. Birmingham Legion FC | Al Lang Stadium | Sep 19, 7:30 PM | $24+ 🎟️
Rowdies match w/ hispanic heritage celebration fireworks.

Soul Ties Surf Club🏄‍♀️ | Caddy's Treasure Island | Sep 20, 9 AM | $35 🎟️
Beach yoga with wellness activations.

Daycation Vogue Pool Party | Hollander Hotel | Sep 20, 1 - 5:30 PM | Free
Poolside vogue party with DJs.

Collage Clique: Meet Up + Cut Up | The Book Lounge | Sep 20, 4 - 6:30 PM | Free
Create collages among romance book stacks.

Full list of events this weekend and in the coming months. Plus, local shows and concerts coming up.

Thanks so much for reading! As always, feel free to reply directly to this email to let me know how I did with today’s edition!

Stay Sunny,
Josh