Five ways to celebrate the Fourth of July

Here are five out-of-the-ordinary options to celebrate your independence.

By TIMES STAFF
Published July 2, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT Want to go traditional? Check out our list of events with fireworks [Times (2004)]

1. Want to avoid the heat? Head to the movies. Transformers debuts Wednesday, the DreamWorks and Paramount movie based on the Hasbro toys from the 1980s. Find out for yourself if there's more to the car-turned-robots flick than "meets the eye."

2. Wanna get the party started early? Take part in the 28th annual Kiwanis Morton Plant Mease Midnight Run 10K, which starts at 12:15 a.m. Wednesday in Dunedin. More than 700 luminarias will light the way to Honeymoon Island State Park, where runners will turn around and head back. Since 1980, this event has raised over $443,000 for Kiwanis' children and community charities. Information: Visit www.kiwanismidnightrun.com or (727)535-2257.

3. Here's something you don't hear about every day: Hernando Sportsman's Club is putting on a July Fourth Machine Gun Shoot at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday. Five cars, along with other targets, will be destroyed. Spectator admission is $2 for adults; children 15 and younger admitted free with an adult. Shooters with their own guns pay $20 to shoot for the day. Call 597-9931 or visit the Web site at www.hernandosportsmansclub.com.

4. Put on a patriotic picnic – with a Florida twist. Instead of serving up the same old, same old hot dogs, try grilling grouper. This recipe from www.about.com serves six: Sprinkle two pounds of grouper fillets with salt and pepper, top with a mixture of 1/4 cup of butter, 2 tablespoons of parsley, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and 1/2 teaspoon of dill weed and sliced onions and carrots. Seal in individual foil packets and grill 10 to 12 minutes.

5. If eating is your thing, check out Sparklebration at the Pasco County Fairgrounds, which features a hot dog and apple pie eating contest (and yes, there will be fireworks too).

[Last modified July 2, 2007, 19:08:45]