Visit to St. Petersburg, Florida

October 2, 2018

This past weekend I visited St. Petersburg, FL with my boyfriend, Jim N, as part of my continuing quest to learn more about Florida.

I picked St. Petersburg because I have never been over the Sunshine Bridge.  Many people have talked about the Sunshine Bridge and how it was destroyed in 1980 when a cargo ship struck the bridge.  35 people lost their lives that day.  The only survivor was the last person to drive over it.  There were cars as well as a Greyhound Bus that plunged into Tampa Bay that day.

https://www.tampabay.com/photos/2018/05/09/the-sunshine-skyway-bridge-plunged-into-tampa-bay-38-years-ago/

People who have a fear of bridges have told me that this bridge is so high.   I thought the bridge was beautifully redone but I did not find I had a fear of it's height.   Here is information on the new bridge.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunshine_Skyway_Bridge

Here is a photo of the bridge I took while in the car.

We stayed in a hotel/motel right at the end of the bridge.  It was the perfect spot.  After unpacking we set out to explore the area.  The first place we stopped at was the Don Cesar Hotel.

If you want to visit this beautiful hotel here is a link with more
information

https://www.doncesar.com/our-history.aspx

We had a great lunch at the outside pool bar so if you do visit this hotel stay for lunch.  It won't break the bank!

We drove up the strand through St. Pete Beach,  Treasure Island, and Indian Rocks Beach before turning around and stopping at St. John's Pass to do a little shopping.

We also visited Fort DeSoto.  It is a county park that has a fort that was built to protect the shoreline during the Spanish revolution.

http://www.pinellascounty.org/park/05_ft_desoto.htm

A view of the Sunshine Skyway from Ft. DeSoto

For dinner we headed into downtown St. Petersburg.   It's a city with city parking problems so we ended up parking in a garage because we couldn't find any street parking.   We decided on eating on the waterfront at the Waterfront Grill instead of  Beach Ave.( where you can eat at the tables on the sidewalk while people stroll by with the companions, including the four legged kind.)   The city is very animal friendly and many people brought their dogs to dinner where there was outside dining.  The city is full of young people and there are bike lanes for cycling at the waterfront in front of the Dali Museum.  We saw many cyclists on Sunday morning when we returned to the city to visit the Dali Museum.

Here is more information on the museum

https://thedali.org/

It was well worth the entry fee.  Right now there is a special exhibit.  Clyde Butcher, who is a naturalist photographer who has taken many photos of the Everglades area of Florida, visited and photographed his own perception of the area where Dahli photographed which is Catalonia, Spain where Dahli spent most of his childhood.

Here is more information on the life of Dali

https://thedali.org/timeline/



There is also a three minute virtual tour.  It's hard to explain but it is so worth the investment in time to stand in line to experience it.


Here are some photos from the museum

 This car is unique.  It rains inside the car.  I saw it happen myself.  Pretty amazing.

The photo of Lincoln uses pixels to change the image on the photo close up.  Again you would have to see the photo to understand.  Closeup Lincoln is one small tile in the photo instead of being the main object in the photo

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This bench is on the grounds outside the museum.  I wouldn't want to sit on this one!

St. Peterburg has a spanish influence and that is one of the reasons the Dali museum is located in this city.

You won't be disappointed if you decide to visit this area of Florida.  Florida is not just beaches.  There is a lot of culture to be discovered.