Week two of school is done and everybody is still standing.

Friday night has three separate things going on, which around here counts as a traffic jam.

Saturday has a museum that only unlocks the gate twice a month, and this is one of the two.

Manatee Village Historical Park is closed most Saturdays of the year.

This Saturday is one of the two it isn't.

Start: Manatee Village Historical Park, 1404 Manatee Ave E in Bradenton, about 25 minutes down 301 and out SR-64.

Free to get in, and they only ask for a donation if you feel like it.

Open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., second and fourth Saturdays only, and Aug 22 is the fourth one.

Turn in off 14th St E — the entrance is on the side street, not the highway.

You'll know the place by Old Cabbage Head, the 1913 Baldwin locomotive parked out front facing SR-64.

Start the self-guided walk at the Wiggins Store, the brick building, where the paper maps are.

Most of the buildings have no air conditioning, so be there at 9 and be out by 11.

Restrooms are behind the 1887 church and inside the Wiggins Store.

Gates close at 4 and the park says anything left on site stays there until the next open day.

Then: the Rocky Bluff branch library, 6750 US-301 N in Ellenton, straight up 301 on the way home.

Open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, closed Sunday, (941) 723-4821.

Free, quiet, and about thirty degrees cooler than the last stop.

Lunch: Parrish Pizzeria, 12345 US-301 N, opens 11:30 a.m. Saturday.

Hand-tossed, three sizes, and the 18-inch is the one that keeps you from ordering a second pie.

Treat: Jeremiah's Italian Ice, 6809 Buffalo Rd Unit 100, in the Trevesta plaza, (941) 258-9455.

They don't unlock until noon, which is exactly why it goes last.

Forty-plus flavors on the board, made in house, and nobody has ever ordered quickly there.

Bradenton and back with three stops in between is under an hour of actual driving.

Get in the car, kids. Dad has a plan.

Brightwood Pavilion event lawn, 11510 Little River Way at North River Ranch, 5 to 8 p.m.

One truck is booked this week: Grand Mom's Taco, running quesabirria, birria, nachos and carne asada tacos.

One truck, not a festival — tell the kids before you get there, not after.

You can pre-order off that same page and walk up to a bag instead of a line.

No drive time on this one. It's ours.

1611 9th St W in Bradenton, about 25 minutes down 301, six games against the Jupiter Hammerheads to close the homestand.

Friday is Y2K Night, 6:30 first pitch, and the first 500 fans through the gate get a vintage Marauders t-shirt.

Kids run the bases after Friday's game, which is the whole reason to pick Friday.

Saturday at 6:30 is Grateful Dead Tribute Night with a postgame concert, and that is a grown-up evening dressed up as a ballgame.

Sunday is noon, which is the easy one with little kids.

The season ends Sept 6, so there aren't many home dates left to put this off.

Bradenton Area Convention Center, 1 Haben Blvd, which is in Palmetto, about ten minutes down 301.

Saturday 9 to 4, Sunday 10 to 4.

Single-day tickets run $12 to $15 adult, $6 to $7 for ages 5 to 12, free at 4 and under.

Go Sunday if you can — same snakes, half the crowd, and you're not fighting the morning rush at the doors.

Tickets here.

Lakewood Ranch at Parrish Community, 7 p.m. Friday, at the high school.

Last Friday's game was the preseason kickoff classic, so this is the first Friday night on the actual 2026 record.

An all-Manatee County opener at home is about as good a first week as the schedule gives you.

Every Bulls athletic gate runs through GoFan, so the ticket lives on your phone.

Set the account up at the kitchen table, not in the parking lot at 6:50.

Manatee County rec basketball took fall registrations July 1 through July 31, and that window is shut.

It's $90 a player with the jersey included, ages 3 to 17, eight regular-season games plus a single-elimination tournament.

Games start the first week of September at G.T. Bray and John Marble.

Learn the county's pattern and you stop missing things: they close sign-ups a full month before anybody touches a ball.

Recreation Division is (941) 742-5923.

i9 Sports runs its fall season Sept 26 through Nov 7, Saturday games at Tom Bennett Park, PreK3 through tenth grade.

No tryouts, no drafts, everybody plays every week.

Do not budget off a price you read on a page — the early-bird rate expired Aug 1 and stale numbers are still floating around.

Call 941-312-2400 and get the real one.

You drive past the turn for Terra Ceia Preserve State Park every time you complain about Moccasin Wallow Road.

Two thousand acres, about 20 minutes from the middle of town, and it costs nothing.

Open 8 a.m. to sunset, and the boat ramp at the far end of Moccasin Wallow Road is open 24/7.

The hiking trail is at the very north end of Hightower Road, foot traffic only, with a map kiosk at the trailhead.

Here's the part to plan around: the park's whole amenity list is two lines long, boat ramp and kayak launch.

There's no ranger station out here — the park office is over at Gamble Plantation — so bring your own water and use the bathroom before you leave the house.

Much of it is old farm ground being turned back into marsh, which means the views are wide and the shade is not.

This is a walk-and-look park, not a playground, so go for the wading birds and go before 9 a.m.

Park phone is 941-723-4536.

2100 US-301 in Ellenton, about ten minutes south, and yes, the name says Parrish.

Second thing to know before you go: it's a truck, not a dining room.

Cuban sandwiches, empanadas, croquettes, and guava pastries, family-run.

Plan on takeout and plan on eating somewhere with a picnic table.

Call (941) 404-7483 before you drive over, because a truck keeps a truck's hours and no website changes that.

The Facebook page is where they actually post.

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Three things going on a Friday night in a town that used to have none.

Until next week — stay gritty, stay healthy, and keep Parrish strong.

— Greg.