While visiting my parents in Florida last week Mr. Rosemary Lane, myself and the kids took a day trip down to St. Petersburg, also known as the Sunshine City for its reported average of 361 days of sunshine each year. That's a lot of sunshine aye!
(LOL...no I am not Canadian...just like the word "aye"!)
The first place I wanted to see with the kids was the St. Petersburg Pier. I was there several years ago and loved the entire experience. The St. Petersburg pier also known as "The Pier" was constructed in 1973 and it features a 5 story inverted pyramid shape building.
Pretty cool right?
It was extremely disappointing to find that the pier had closed. From 1973 to May 31, 2013 the pier offered activities including shopping, dining, nightlife, fishing boat rentals and The Pier Aquarium.
The plan was to demolish the existing pier and replace it with a newly designed pier, however in August of 2013 the residents of St. Petersburg voted to cancel the contract with the architectural firm which was to construct the new pier.
So there she sits...empty...
Loved this St. Petersburg landmark...Loews don Cesar Hotel or the "Pink Lady".
Ooops scratch that...the hotel is actually the Vinoy Renaissance Hotel as pointed out by one of my readers who lived in the area for many years. Thank you Shari!!!
Ooops scratch that...the hotel is actually the Vinoy Renaissance Hotel as pointed out by one of my readers who lived in the area for many years. Thank you Shari!!!
Downtown St. Petersburg is the home of dozens of galleries and cultural venues.
Michael even found a new friend!
There are also a multitude of places to dine in the downtown district as well. I had a fabulous fish taco for lunch at 400 Beach Seafood and Tap House.
We then took a little drive over to Snell Isle to take a gander at some of it's luxury homes.
I love Banyan trees and there were two huge ones located in North Straub Park.
Now I ask you what kid can say "no" to climbing a Banyan tree???
Not mine that's for sure!!!
We even carved out a little bit of time to spend exploring the beach.
It was a wonderful day in St. Pete!
XO
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St. Pete is our old stomping grounds! My in-laws lived in Largo which is just north of Clearwater for over 40 years and we visited them every year so were at St. Pete several times. I wish we had a place down there and hope to RENT a place next winter. Your pictures are beautiful, as is your family!!! Where do your parents live?
ReplyDeleteLooks beautiful...I would love it.
ReplyDeleteSo sad to hear about the pier, we used to go there in the late 80's to watch fireworks. I hope they decide to keep it and reopen to allow businesses to come back in. Thank you for sharing! I miss Fl my family and I moved away 17 years ago from the Tampa area!
ReplyDeleteAhhhhh, St. Pete, my beloved home town! Lived there my whole life (just minutes from Snell Isle) until we moved away several years ago to a little rural town just east of Tampa. I still miss living there a lot and actually still make the drive back every six weeks to get my hair cut. St. Petersburg will always be "home" to me.
ReplyDeleteI just heard on the news tonight that the new mayor of St. Pete has decided to let the residents have a say in deciding whether the Pier should be renovated since the former mayor's previous agenda to demolish it and rebuild something else did not go over so well with many residents.
Oh, and I meant to mention, I'm pretty sure the pink hotel you have pictured is actually the Vinoy Renaissance Hotel which overlooks North Straub Park (and is in sight of The Pier). The Don Cesar Hotel is located about 10 miles to the west, out on St. Pete Beach.
ReplyDeleteThe Vinoy has a very long rich and colorful history. It was built in 1925 and was popular destination with presidents and celebrities during its heyday. It was used as a US Army training school during WWII. Sadly, in 1974 the Vinoy closed and subsequently fell into a bad state of disrepair. It sat empty for many, many years and was frequently vandalized. In the 1990s, it underwent a 2 year, 93 million dollar renovation which returned it to an almost perfect replica of what it had been before. Interestingly, the Vinoy also has a history of guests and staff members reporting seeing ghost/supernatural events at the hotel.
Now I AM homesick. I remember when The Pier opened and I loved going there. I did not know it was closed now. I haven't been there in several years. I also know that beautiful pink hotel-didyhou know it is haunted?..Oh- I miss Florida-.--I think I might need to go cry a little bit now. lol xo Diana
ReplyDeleteFound you on thoughts from Alice, and was so happy to see your blog on St Pete! We live in Tarpon Springs, and just love taking our visitors to the Beaches there and watching the sun set at Hurricanes! I blog about my travels and hope you will stop by for a visit!
ReplyDeletehttp://karanandmichael.blogspot.com/2014/04/giggly-girls-on-cruise.html