Many families associate theme parks and spring training with central Florida, but this family loves wild animals and wild artists.

Meow...  To be more accurate,  ROAR!!!  That isn't Garfield in front of us -- imagine instead Simba from "The Lion King." We are at Big Cat Rescue, a Tampa educational animal sanctuary and one of a couple of offbeat sites in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area that make for an insightful and fun family weekend at any time of year.  The other is the Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, and don't jump to conclusions that an art museum is deadly for kids. If any artist can intrigue children, the eccentric and flamboyant Dali would be the one.

Where the Wild Things Are

Back to Big Cat Rescue (813/920-4130).  It is not a zoo, although it is a place to inspect and interact with animals that would fit just fine on the Serengeti Plains of Africa. The over 150 residents here are mostly descended from the tribe of the lion. A few house cats that could easily have names such as Puff and Snowball reside here and some meows are heard, but walk around and you will hear big cats sounds that can be aptly compared to the tone of Homer Simpson yawning.

Roaming safely among the ample vegetation of western Florida behind metal fences in their "cat-a-tats" are some considerably larger and wilder felines with formidable names such as Bengali and Jumanji. There is also a feline named China Doll, but don't let her girly name fool you; she is an 11-year-old Bengal tiger who weighs in at 400 pounds. Her neighbors include cougars, leopards, ocelots and other variety of cats you likely never heard
of.

Big Cat Rescue, nee Wild Life on Easy Street, bills itself as the world's most diverse collection of exotic animals. It is actually located on 40 acres off Easy Street in the Citrus Park section of north Tampa. "One difference between most zoos and Big Cat Rescue" says manager Scott Lope, "is that there is no breeding of animals here."  The residents consist entirely of abused or abandoned animals, mostly in the cat family.  Some were adopted as house pets by well-meaning people who learned in time that a fully grown bobcat makes as convenient a pet as, well, a wild animal.

Others were parts of performing acts, or actual roadside zoos and not all were abused; some were simply retired. However, volunteer Susan Mitchell tells the story of Shaquille, a black leopard who was regularly beaten by the owner of a Las Vegas animal act.  Mitchell says, "There was a man who was trying to teach him to jump through a burning hoop. I've heard broomsticks. I've heard baseball bats. I've heard different weapons that were used because Shaquille did not want to jump through a burning hoop." Lasting injuries to Shaquille include permanent eye damage.

Other similar stories are heard. A baby Florida bobcat whom the staff named Faith was found one day in 2003 at Big Cat Rescue's outside gate. Perhaps she was once a house pet that outgrew her welcome when she outgrew her home.  Or, maybe her mother was hit by a motorist and killed and rather than confessing to the accident, the driver scooped up the orphan cub and brought her to the sanctuary door. Faith was healed sufficiently and is one of
several former residents returned to the wild.  Scott Lope says, "It's sad that a place like this has to exist. These are animals that were designed to be free, in the wild, and they are hunters, and they need to chase their prey."

The staff works to keep the resident animals physically and mentally fit by encouraging them to behave as they would in the wild. That can mean making them forage for food or giving them some novel scent to investigate - anything to keep them from sitting around bored or pacing back and forth all day long.

Not all residents of Big Cat Rescue are big cats. In fact, some are not cats at all. A mute swan, a couple of peafowl and some guinea hens wander the grounds, earning their keep by eating ticks and fleas and entertaining the cats with their silly habits, like fussing loudly when upset and always walking in single file.  Llamas, civets, fallow and Sika deer also call Big Cat Rescue their home. Scott Lope says they were brought or abandoned here just as the cats were and literally had nowhere else to go for care. So they too are at home here.

Hello Dali

On the other hand, the wild things at the Salvador Dali Museum (800/442-3254, 727/823-3767) are hanging on the walls. "You have to have good eyes see Lincoln in that painting," offers a bespectacled man standing next to me, looking at a fairly recent acquisition obtained from a private collection and unveiled in 2005.  This oil is officially named (deep breath), "Gala Contemplating the Mediterranean Sea Which at Twenty Meters Becomes a Portrait of Abraham Lincoln." It is one of the Spanish surrealist's trademark trompe l'oeil (French for "trick the eye") artworks, with a double image. On one hand, viewers see the back of Dali's wife Gala peering at the sea and a fiery sky, framed in a mass of solid black and dark blue painted lines. Step backwards and one should see the image of Lincoln as it looks on an American $5 bill. My neighbor squints but still no sign of Lincoln. He tries a new tactic. He takes off his prescription glasses and - what do you know - there is Abraham Lincoln. He then offers me his prescription glasses.  I put them on and sure enough I now see Lincoln in this optical illusion.

The experience is weird. But then again, Salvador Dali was weird. His artistic subjects are dreamlike, like a dream you might have one night in which Fenway Park is in your backyard, but it is not really your backyard because part of it morphs into your old cinderblock-lined college dormitory which turns into a prison occupied by mythical gryphons holding pitchforks.  No flowers in vases deck the walls in this art museum; no wave-crested landscapes hang for eternity here. The sheer size of Dali's paintings, plus their intricate details and double images attest to Dali's skill as an artist.

But what about taking youngsters here? How does one keep little Tyler and Emily occupied in a museum where the exhibits don't come with touchscreens and video monitors?  A museum press release reads, "Because of Dalí's sense of whimsy and fun, a visit to the museum can be a rewarding and enjoyable experience for the entire family. His holograms, optical illusions, and strange dreamlike canvases can engage a child's attention like few other artists can." Breakfast with Dali is a special project for children ages five to ten and their adult companions. Guests begin by taking a tour that is an interactive gallery experience featuring artworks especially selected to appeal to children. The tour is followed by a breakfast with the docent where the children and families can discuss their experience.

If you choose to tour on your own, suggest to your kids that they examine a Dali original and compare it to the muted colors of a print. Try playing a memory game. Ask the kids to study Dali's 1921 self-portrait, for example, then turn around. Then ask them what are the colors of the scarf and cape Dali wears in the painting. Or consider playing a Dali-esque version of "I Spy." In addition, the museum information desk periodically has family discovery guides for children and parents to complete in the galleries. Not bad ways to get young, first-timers involved in comprehending the magic of art.

Detail, Details

Big Cat Rescue is open for regular day tours at 9am and 3pm Monday-Friday, 9:30am,11:30am and 1:30 pm on Saturdays.  No children under age 10 are allowed on this tour because of proximity to the animals. Hour-long special Kids Tours, geared for ages 10 and under are offered at 9am every Saturday or by reservation. Other specialty tours, offered by reservation only, include a chance to watch the big cats being fed and a nighttime tour offering he opportunity to observe the animals' nocturnal habits.

The Salvador Dali Museum is open daily except Thanksgiving and Christmas, Monday-Wednesday and Saturday 9:30am to 5:30pm, Thursday and Friday 9:30am to 8pm and Sunday noon to 5:30pm. Free hour-long guided tours are offered daily, usually starting on the hour; but the schedule is often inconsistent so you may want to call ahead. A caveat:  This is an art museum, emphasis on art. You may encounter depictions of nude or partially-nude figures inside. Note: The next temporary exhibit, "Dali and the Spanish Baroque," showcasing the works of key 17th century Spanish artists juxtaposed with Dali's art, will be up from February 2 to June 8, 2007.

There's a variety of convenient lodging, in addition to St. Pete's beach resorts. The Inn at the Bay Bed & Breakfast (888/873-2122, 727/822-1700) at 126 4th Avenue, NE, St. Petersburg, is a 12-room, antiques-filled bed and breakfast in a house built in 1910.  Rates from $145-$289 include full breakfast. The Days Inn St. Pete Central (727/321-2958) at 650 34th Street N, St. Petersburg offers doubles between $59-$109 and includes continental breakfast.

Other good chain hotel choices include the well-priced Hilton Garden Inn/Tampa Ybor City (813) 769-9267) at 1700 East 9th Avenue, Tampa offersp doubles between $139-$159. Microtel Inn & Suites (813/739-2244) at 5405 North Church Avenue, Tampa offers doubles between $59-$89 and includes continental breakfast.

For more about those nearby theme parks (such as Busch Gardens) and spring training grounds (think New York's Yankees, among others), contact St. Petersburg/Clearwater Area Convention and Visitors Bureau (877/352-3224, 727/464-7200) at 13805 58th Street N., Suite 2-200, Clearwater, FL 33760 or the Tampa Bay Convention and Visitors Bureau  (800/448-2672, 813/223-1111) at 400 North Tampa Street, Suite 2800, Tampa, FL 33602.