Eat BBQ & Raise Money for a Good Cause

Where else can you ride your bike for a good cause and chow down on some of the best barbecue around? Only at East Pasco Habitat’s Orange Blossom Special BBQ & Bike Festival, of course! Choose from individual, family fun or team rides of up to 62 miles through the hills around Dade City or along the Withlacoochee State Trail. Follow that with a fabulous BBQ lunch and live entertainment including country, gospel and fiddlers at the Dade City Business Center Festival Courtyard. The BBQ competition is officially sanctioned by the Florida BBQ Association and includes cash prizes. There will also be crafters, civic booths and vendors and the Citrus History Museum will be open all day. To keep the kids entertained, there will be a Kiddie Corner with face painting, clowns and old‐time games. The event takes place from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Visit http://www.ephabitat.org/ for more info.

Winery Featured on Call-In Radio Show

Wine lovers will want to check out a new call-in radio show featuring local wine expert Ron Hunt of Florida Estates Winery in Land O' Lakes. The show is broadcast online every Thursday at 7 p.m. Listeners can call in and "Ask Ron" about Florida wines. Visit the show's link here.

This weekend is also the vineyard's monthly Wine Festival & Market, including a yummy sampling of Florida wines. The event is from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday and includes vendors offering sauces, arts & crafts, jewelry and plants, plus live music. Meet the winemaker (Ron) and sample some of his latest creations. The winery is located four miles west of I-75 on State Road 52. Visit the website here.

Pasco Featured on Visit Florida Website

Pasco County has gotten some great publicity recently from the state's official tourism site, VisitFlorida.com. The Visit Florida site has been ranked the No. 1 travel site in the country by a number of different experts and being featured on the site is a nice shout-out for events and attractions in Pasco.

St. Petersburg Times outdoor writer Terry Tomalin recently posted an item on "Hiking, Paddling and Biking" in Pasco County. You can read his article here.

Authentic Florida Expert Lucy Tobias recently made a trip to Dade City for the Kumquat Festival and also dined at Lunch on Limoges. Check out her writeup on the festival here and her review of Lunch on Limgoes here.

Unrelated to Visit Florida, but still great publicity for Pasco attractions, St. Pete Times writer Barbara Fredricksen recently did a nice piece on the beautiful murals in downtown New Port Richey that depict scenes from the city's glamorous Hollywood past. Read it here and check back to Adventures of a Pasco Tourist frequently for more fun features on Pasco County!

Little Everglades Steeplechase Thunders Into Town

Dade City ‐ It was recently named Best Attraction in Florida by Florida Monthly magazine and now it’s returning for another exciting year of pageantry at the 2,000-acre Little Everglades Ranch north of town. With its elegant lawn boxes and "parties on the homestretch,'' the Steeplechase takes place from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday, March 8. It is the largest steeplechase event in Florida, with a purse of more than $45,000. This year, downtown Dade City will welcome the event with the first‐ever Steeplechase Parade on Saturday, March 7 at 11 a.m., followed by a BBQ with music at nearby Agnes Lamb Park to benefit the Dade City Youth Council.

For the uninitiated, the steeplechase is way more than just horses running and jumping, although that is very cool. Spectators can check out the Parade of Hounds by South Creek Foxhounds, the popular ‐ and hilarious ‐ Jack Russell Terrier Races and the Hat Contest featuring prizes for most unusual and most elegant.

To view an award-winning video on the event, A Day at the Races, click here.

For a complete race day schedule and tickets, visit the Steeplechase website

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