TECO Big Bend Station (Main Entrance/Guard house) — Attraction in Riverview

We went to the Manatee TECO plant where you can take the kids to visit the manatees that show up every year for the warm water. There is a long boardwalk where you can see all the manatees swimming in the water. There are information panels all alongside the boardwalk to show you different kinds of birds, fish and wildlife which is fun for the kids to try to pick out each of them. After observing the manatees in the water, you can walk back down and grab yourself something to eat at the South Shore Cafe and various other food vendors that are above at the establishment. There is also a store with knick knacks, stickers, shirts and souvenirs to buy from the place. Next to a store upstairs, there's a food store that serves sandwiches and ice cream. After you eat your ice cream next door to the food store is a little showroom that kids can go in and learn all about manatees and it's interactive so the kids can play as well as learn about them. It's free to the public and there is plenty of free parking as well...

I'm planning on taking the gf here probably next weekend. All you people with negative opinions of the plant smells and what, there are very strict guidelines they have to stay within. Yes it probably should be converted to gas, do you have the millions it would take to build the components of a gas refinery as well and the millions to clean up the coal equipment that wouldn't be used anymore.. they have a projected date to close it, or convert it, not sure. I do refinery turnarounds all over the country and offshore in the gulf. You want to see rust. Go visit a production platform that's been there since the 60s..I think it's good they have a park and stuff there to do. Go see it for yourself and...

Yes, yes, no one likes looking at the big, ugly TECO smokestacks. They are truly the eyesores of Apollo Beach, an otherwise fantastic community. But after living here a while, you get desensitized. Here's hoping one day everything is solar, right? Meanwhile & that being said, if you can get over the optics of the factory itself, this is a great place to view the manatees in the winter. I'm not talking about just one or two manatees; on a cool day in the winter, you could see dozens. The warm waters around the plant provide a cozy, warm spot for the manatees to gather...one perk of the plant. This viewing area is lots of fun for adults and...