{"id":329502,"date":"2026-07-04T20:31:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T20:31:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/329502\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T20:31:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T20:31:15","slug":"florida-aquarium-celebrates-americas-250th-anniversary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/329502\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida Aquarium celebrates America’s 250th anniversary"},"content":{"rendered":"

TAMPA, Fla. \u2014 The Florida Aquarium is celebrating America\u2019s 250th anniversary with three days of patriotic activities, animal encounters and special entertainment during its \u201cSea to Shining Sea\u201d event.<\/p>\n

The celebration runs July 3-5 and features patriotic d\u00e9cor, animal ambassador appearances, character meet-and-greets, holiday-themed stilt walkers and special underwater appearances by costumed divers dressed as Lady Liberty, Uncle Sam, Captain America and a bald eagle.<\/p>\n

Guests can also enjoy the Aquarium\u2019s \u201cDive into Adventure\u201d show, themed food and beverages, face painting, commemorative photo opportunities and exclusive America 250 merchandise.<\/p>\n

In honor of America\u2019s 250th anniversary, guests who purchase tickets at the Aquarium\u2019s ticket window after 2:50 p.m. each day of the celebration will receive 25% off admission.<\/p>\n

The Aquarium is also inviting visitors to support conservation efforts by donating $25 to help fund the planting of 250 mangroves on World Mangrove Day, July 26.<\/p>\n

The \u201cSea to Shining Sea\u201d celebration continues through Aug. 9, with patriotic d\u00e9cor, the \u201cDive into Adventure\u201d show and extended operating hours.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here<\/a> to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

TOP STORIES FROM WFTV CHANNEL 9<\/p>\n

\u00a92026 Cox Media Group<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA, Fla. \u2014 The Florida Aquarium is celebrating America\u2019s 250th anniversary with three days of patriotic activities, animal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":329503,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[130912,147,145,135551,28,1351,30,29,139,136234,135553,144,146],"class_list":["post-329502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-americas-250th-anniversary","tag-central-florida","tag-channel-9","tag-dive-into-adventure","tag-florida","tag-florida-aquarium","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-orlando","tag-patriotic-activities","tag-sea-to-shining-sea","tag-wftv","tag-wftv-channel-9"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=329502"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329502\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/329503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}