{"id":1415,"date":"2026-05-23T04:06:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T04:06:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=1415"},"modified":"2026-05-23T04:06:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T04:06:13","slug":"teco-manatee-viewing-center-and-st-pete-pier-compete-in-usa-todays-best-free-attraction-contest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=1415","title":{"rendered":"TECO Manatee Viewing Center and St. Pete Pier compete in USA Today’s best free attraction contest"},"content":{"rendered":"

APOLLO BEACH, Fla.<\/strong> – <\/span>Two Bay Area landmarks are gaining national recognition after being nominated in USA Today\u2019s 10Best Readers\u2019 Choice Awards for best free attraction.<\/p>

Read more Polk County commissioner and former NASCAR driver Rick Wilson reflects on Kyle Busch\u2019s racing legacy<\/a><\/p>

Nationwide competition<\/h2>

The backstory:<\/p>

The TECO Manatee Viewing Center and St. Pete Pier are both competing against top tourism destinations across the country. Other nominees include the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach; Niagara Falls in New York; Boston\u2019s Freedom Trail and other attractions nationwide.<\/p>

<\/div>

Every winter, many manatees make the Apollo Beach sanctuary their temporary home, giving families a front row seat to see these animals up close. Jamie Woodlee has worked at the TECO Manatee Viewing Center for 26 years.<\/p>

Manatee Viewing Center’s growth<\/h2>

What they’re saying:<\/p>

“It gives the public a way to learn about the manatees,” Woodlee said. “See them up close and then start to care about the manatees.”<\/p>

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n

Courtesy: TECO<\/span> <\/p> <\/div><\/div>

The nearly 40-year-old attraction welcomed more than 500,000 visitors last season. Warm water flowing from the nearby TECO power plant attracts manatees throughout winter weather months.<\/p>

“Everything\u2019s free as far as what you can do here,” Woodlee said. “We have trails, viewing platforms, a raised touch tank and an education building.”<\/p>

Woodlee says the attraction has grown significantly since it first opened in 1986.<\/p>

“It started out as one little viewing platform, a trailer on the ground,” Woodlee said. “It\u2019s become a lot more popular than they ever imagined.”<\/p>

Read more Clearwater stroke survivor regains arm movement with new Vivistim device, shares recovery story<\/a><\/p>

St. Pete Pier joins competition<\/h2>

Dig deeper:<\/p>

Over the last two years, the TECO Manatee Viewing Center has finished runner-up in USA Today\u2019s annual competition. This year, however, the St. Pete Pier is also competing for the top title.<\/p>

St. Pete resident Arian Cangas described the pier as a popular place for tourists and local families.<\/p>

“There\u2019s a lot of things you can do here for free,” Cangas said. “It\u2019s a great place.”<\/p>

By the numbers:<\/p>

The St. Pete Pier reopened in 2020 and attracts roughly 2.3 million visitors annually. The waterfront attraction features restaurants, a beach area, playgrounds and opportunities to get a glimpse of marine life.<\/p>

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n <\/div>

“There\u2019s a lot of wildlife because a lot of this pier is environmentally friendly,” Cangas said. “You see a lot of sea animals, sharks and dolphins all the time.”<\/p>

Online voting continues<\/h2>

What you can do:<\/p>

Voting for USA Today\u2019s best free attraction runs up until June 15. People can vote online here, once per day.<\/p>

Read more Tampa Mayor Castor defends Rays stadium plan amid tepid council support<\/a><\/p> <\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two Bay Area landmarks are gaining national recognition after being nominated in USA Today\u2019s 10Best Readers\u2019 Choice Awards for best free attraction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1412,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,144,228],"tags":[4,145,229],"class_list":["post-1415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hillsborough-county","category-st-petersburg","category-tourism","tag-hillsborough-county","tag-st-petersburg","tag-tourism"],"yoast_head":"\nTECO Manatee Viewing Center and St. Pete Pier compete in USA Today's best free attraction contest - Tampa moving journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=1415\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"TECO Manatee Viewing Center and St. Pete Pier compete in USA Today's best free attraction contest - Tampa moving journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Two Bay Area landmarks are gaining national recognition after being nominated in USA Today\u2019s 10Best Readers\u2019 Choice Awards for best free attraction.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=1415\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tampa moving journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-23T04:06:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1be2ef5a9766dc839e2b177ed8846ded.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"932\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"524\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=1415#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=1415\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/78095676a3b6259b7b3bc65f6997dc2a\"},\"headline\":\"TECO Manatee Viewing Center and St. Pete Pier compete in USA Today’s best free attraction contest\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-23T04:06:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=1415\"},\"wordCount\":463,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=1415#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/7cd5ba2f7b3a80f3c0541453549e4d4f.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Hillsborough County\",\"St. Petersburg\",\"Tourism\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Hillsborough County\",\"St. Petersburg\",\"Tourism\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=1415#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=1415\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=1415\",\"name\":\"TECO Manatee Viewing Center and St. Pete Pier compete in USA Today's best free attraction contest - Tampa moving journal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=1415#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=1415#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/7cd5ba2f7b3a80f3c0541453549e4d4f.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-23T04:06:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/78095676a3b6259b7b3bc65f6997dc2a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=1415#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=1415\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=1415#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/7cd5ba2f7b3a80f3c0541453549e4d4f.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/7cd5ba2f7b3a80f3c0541453549e4d4f.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=1415#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"TECO Manatee Viewing Center and St. Pete Pier compete in USA Today’s best free attraction contest\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Tampa moving journal\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/78095676a3b6259b7b3bc65f6997dc2a\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"TECO Manatee Viewing Center and St. Pete Pier compete in USA Today's best free attraction contest - Tampa moving journal","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=1415","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"TECO Manatee Viewing Center and St. Pete Pier compete in USA Today's best free attraction contest - Tampa moving journal","og_description":"Two Bay Area landmarks are gaining national recognition after being nominated in USA Today\u2019s 10Best Readers\u2019 Choice Awards for best free attraction.","og_url":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=1415","og_site_name":"Tampa moving journal","article_published_time":"2026-05-23T04:06:13+00:00","og_image":[{"width":932,"height":524,"url":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1be2ef5a9766dc839e2b177ed8846ded.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=1415#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=1415"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/78095676a3b6259b7b3bc65f6997dc2a"},"headline":"TECO Manatee Viewing Center and St. Pete Pier compete in USA Today’s best free attraction contest","datePublished":"2026-05-23T04:06:13+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=1415"},"wordCount":463,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=1415#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/7cd5ba2f7b3a80f3c0541453549e4d4f.webp","keywords":["Hillsborough County","St. Petersburg","Tourism"],"articleSection":["Hillsborough County","St. Petersburg","Tourism"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=1415#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=1415","url":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=1415","name":"TECO Manatee Viewing Center and St. Pete Pier compete in USA Today's best free attraction contest - Tampa moving journal","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=1415#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=1415#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/7cd5ba2f7b3a80f3c0541453549e4d4f.webp","datePublished":"2026-05-23T04:06:13+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/78095676a3b6259b7b3bc65f6997dc2a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=1415#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=1415"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=1415#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/7cd5ba2f7b3a80f3c0541453549e4d4f.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/7cd5ba2f7b3a80f3c0541453549e4d4f.webp","width":1200,"height":630},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=1415#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"TECO Manatee Viewing Center and St. Pete Pier compete in USA Today’s best free attraction contest"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/","name":"Tampa moving journal","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/78095676a3b6259b7b3bc65f6997dc2a","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com"],"url":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1415"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1415\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}