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| St. Petersburg Marina |
We started our French adventure yesterday (Tuesday). So far we've made it about 25 miles. We are all the way in St. Petersburg where we spent the night. Don't worry, this was all by design. Our flight to Paris is later today. Actually a little later than we had anticipated. We were scheduled to go via Philadelphia, however due to a winter storm we were able to reroute through Miami. We now leave Tampa around 3:00 PM and are scheduled to arrive in Paris around two hours after our original flight.
Growing up in Florida, St. Petersburg had quite a reputation back in the day. The demographics were such that it was often referred to as "heaven's waiting room". The average age of the residents of St. Pete were close to, if not the oldest in the US. Funeral homes were as common as Baptist churches in Texas. The city has undergone a slow but impressive transition over the past decade or so. It is now a really impressive destination made up of a diverse population of residents and visitors. There is still a large number of seasoned, well experienced folks. Now they are mixed in with an equal number of younger people to create a very vibrant city. We've spent a little time here over the past few years but not enough to really appreciate all it has to offer.
Before getting to the hotel we checked out Pass-a-Grille Beach which is located at the south end of St. Pete Beach. There are a few shops, restaurants and a nice beach that only has one down side, there isn't much shade. What we really liked was the fact that so far most of the small homes that were built decades ago remain. Along much of the west coast of Florida these quaint homes have been torn down and replaced by larger homes.
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| Pass-a Grille Beach |
After strolling around and enjoying a late breakfast at the Paradise Grill, which is a small beachfront restaurant, we were off to the winery. Sarah, Joey and James had given us a certificate for a tour, tasting and bottle of wine at the Florida Orange Grove Winery. The groves that once surrounded this building are gone and the fruit stand has turned into a winery. The uniqueness of this winery is that all the wines produced there are with fruits other than grapes. There were strawberry, mango, tangelo, pineapple, blueberry, kiwi and banana wines just to name a few. The tour was interesting, the tasting fun and we settled on a bottle of Key Lime wine which is a little tart and very tasty.
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| Paradise Grill |
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| Fruit wine smoothies...….so delicious and healthy you'll want to have two! |
We are staying at a small boutique hotel, Hollander House which is just a few blocks from the bay. If you're looking to visit St. Pete, I would highly recommend checking out this hotel. The original building is an old cigar/cigarette factory that was built in the 1930's. Like the city itself, the hotel has undergone a transformation. The staff have all be super friendly and helpful, there is a nice restaurant in the hotel and free parking. The location of the hotel exemplifies the diversity of the city. If you go out the front door and turn right in one block there is a huge shuffleboard complex. Right now every court is being used by seniors battling it out. If you turn left and walk a few blocks you'll be on Beach Street. Here you'll find tons of restaurants, shops and art galleries. This is also where you will find Vinoy Park which has a really great trail along the bay.
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| The Hollander Hotel...…….and a one way sign as a bonus |
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| Serious shuffleboarding! |
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| 400 Beach Like any good restaurant in Florida, they have a nice "early bird special" |
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| Waterfront area in St. Pete |
We're trending a little towards the shuffleboard demographic but we're not quite there yet. We'll keep turning left out of the hotel for now and are already looking forward to coming back.
