We spent a week downtown in St. Petersburg and were equally “wowed” by the city as we were by the beach. One of the fastest growing cities in the US with an average age of the downtown resident being 35. Only 7 original homes left here, as the land is too valuable for just a single family dwelling. Most of the waterfront are million dollar plus condos. The waterfront itself is beautifully done with parks and a fantastic pier, bar none the best pier I’ve ever been on with three restaurants, a discovery center, nature walks and lots of Christmas lights and decorations. Still having a hard time with all the Christmas without snow and cold but we will get that soon enough.
Tinsel wrapped Palm trees line the St. Pete Pier.View out our cockpit facing Tampa Bay. Ron had to buy lights to get in the Christmas spirit and join in with all the other boats in the marina that were decorated. The Marina is right in the heart of the city and you can walk to most everything, the 8 city museums, restaurants, shopping, the Pier and Parks that line the waterfront.Our view of the city from our Bridge, with a touch of Christmas thrown in by Ron. So what do you get when you have a plumber with a passion for gardening emptying a lake in the middle of St. Petersburg, it’s not a riddle, the answer is the Sunken Gardens. This was a highlight for us. It took a city bus ride to get there, but not a problem for me to figure out, you know what they say you can take the girl out of the city, but you can’t take the city of out the girl. A 10 minute bus ride brought us to the most lush tropical paradise with trees, shrubs and plants from all around the world. Overlooking the koi pond in the garden, we also found flamingos, exotic birds and turtles. Much of the landscape are imported plants, shrubs and palms brought in from other tropical climates from around the world, as well as native vegetation. . Acres of walking paths make it the best walk in FL. The gardens are now managed by the city and are beautifully maintained. Every opportunity to bring Christmas to the area is taken as there were several trees decorated and an insane amount of poinsettias throughout the garden. I actually love seeing the bright red poinsettias among the back drop of the lush tropical plantsWent to the Arts district and took int the Chihuly Museum. Well worth the cost of the admission, This actually shows the blown glass that was on exhibit in the Garfield Park Conservatory in Chicago, which I remember happened when we lived there but never saw it. It was pretty spectacular in this museum setting but I am sure not as much as what Dale Chihuly created it for, the gardens. This was only one of his larger scale works displayed, they also had several of his chandeliers, bowls and his sketches and drawings. There’s an actual glass blowing demo that you can watch and when you see what it takes to make just a small vase, you have much more appreciation for these large scale pieces.Unlike other Loopers we “dine in” more than out, although St. Petersburg has some awesome restaurant options. We love the bridge for its views. Tonight we had fresh caught blackened Grouper from the fish market, with MN wild rice, roasted broccoli and a Casesar salad. It doesn’t get much better than this at a restaurant and you certainly can’t beat the view.Enjoyed our dinner at Doc Fords on the St. Pete Pier, loved the vibe, the catch of the day was Snapper, beautifully prepared and the music added a great ambiance to the outdoor dining experience. The Pier had this Winter Beach theme going, with Christmas lights and trees everywhere, vendors and food.. Santa came and they sprinkled some kind of fake snow, fortunately we missed that, not a substitute for the real thing.View of the Ice skating rink, part of winter beach, just feet away from the Spa Beach.Project by Ron, added the SCYC Burgee to our bow, as it was too hard on the antenna. They will be flying tomorrow as we head to a new destination where we will give Flying Colors a rest and return home for the Christmas Holiday with family. Merry Christmas to All!
I’m glad I found Ron’s card with the slateblue.com website! Great meeting you guys at the Plaza Beach Resort. It’s a bit chilly here in Minnesota this week. We’re ready to go back to the Florida sunshine.
Reimanns 'round the loop in 2022 
I’m glad I found Ron’s card with the slateblue.com website! Great meeting you guys at the Plaza Beach Resort. It’s a bit chilly here in Minnesota this week. We’re ready to go back to the Florida sunshine.
Looking forward to posts from your journey!
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