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The other day when we had popped into the Visitors Center, Bob had picked up a brochure for a self-guided tour of downtown St. Pete (DTSP) and the waterfront. I identified the buildings that seemed the most interesting of the 71 listed in the brochure, and Bob led the almost 2 hour walkabout today. We didn’t get to the waterfront sites yet, but hope to see one tonight and one tomorrow.

The brochure provided information on year of construction, architects and architectural style, and changes over the years. We learned a little bit about St. Petersburg history in the process and saw more of the downtown area — both historic and modern.

The first few photos are taken along the very happening Central Avenue North, a couple of blocks from the condo.

Moving off of Central, most of the rest of the walk took us north until the very end when we headed back towards the condo.

The next photo was one of the most interesting things we learned about St. Pete. It is the St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club, and it is housed next to the historic lawn bowling club. More impressively, the club was formed in 1924 and is the oldest and largest shuffleboard club in the world. The rules of the sport were codified here. The club reached 5,000 members by 1944, and is enjoying a resurgence of interest with 2,000 current members.

It was a great day for a walk, and Bob and I are excited about a rare night out for us. A couple of months ago, we learned that Phil Rosenthal of “Everybody Loves Raymond” and “Somebody Feed Phil” fames was going to be doing a show in St. Pete while we were here. We love “Somebody Feed Phil,” basically a travel show but based around food. We got tickets, and the theater is a 10 minute walk from the condo. We’ll share our review tomorrow.

Our first full day in downtown St Petersburg, and we are smitten. The lovely weather does not hurt — highs in the low 70s F and low humidity. We love being in shorts in November.

St. Pete, to locals, is located about midway down the state of Florida on the Gulf of Mexico side. It is known as the “Sunshine City” and is part of the Tampa Bay Area. It is recognized as the birthplace of scheduled aviation as well as for Major League Baseball spring training. It has a population of approximately 250,000.

We can see the St. Pete pier from the condo, so we decided to check it out up close this morning. The St. Pete Pier is 26 acres that merges the waters of Tampa Bay with the parks of downtown St. Petersburg. It is a great place to walk, bike, hop on a trolley, dine along the waterfront, attend an outdoor festival, or pop into a museum.

Bob and I have ended our gadding about for quite awhile. We have enjoyed seeing a bit of Florida, and will get to now explore St. Petersburg (just an hour’s drive north of Sarasota) until the end of the month while we care for Lulu on the 15th floor of a high rise (30+ floors total) in downtown St. Pete.

We drove up from Sarasota yesterday and spent the night in an AC Hotel very close to here to be nearby for today’s walk through with the homeowner.

Some views from the unit.

The Ringling, collectively the State Art Museum of Florida, a circus museum, the former home of John and Mabel Ringling, the historic Asolo Theater, and Bayfront Gardens on the former site of John and Mabel Ringling’s waterfront winter home in Sarasota. John Ringling was one of 5 Ringling brothers who took their first circus show on the road in 1884. John (born Johan Nicholas Rungeling in McGregor, Iowa) became the most financially successful of the brothers, diversifying his investments in ventures such as railroads, ranching, and real estate.

John and Mabel collected over 600 pieces of art during their marriage, and they decided to leave it to the people of Florida as their legacy. This collection was the start of the State Art Museum of Florida.

Last night, Bob and I were debating about whether to go to the Ringling today or not as tickets begin at $30 per person and increase to $45 if you want to see the both museums and the part of the home that is open to the public. This seemed a bit steep for us, but then Bob discovered that today the art museum, glass pavilion, and grounds would be open to the public for free, so that made the decision to go today very easy.

It was a little over a 3.5 mile walk there along a major city street, so it wasn’t the calmest walk, but we did find a few sites along the way.

There were a lot of cars already at The Ringling today take advantage of the free day as well as ticketed access to the circus museum and the Ringling home. We thought it was going to be super crowded walking through the art museum and grounds, but we were pleasantly surprised. It was obviously busy but not too crowded.

The first stop we made once we checked in was to visit the Glass Pavilion. This pavilion houses the museum’s collection of contemporary studio glass, provides rehearsal and dressing rooms for the historic Asolo Theater, and serves as the reception lobby for the theater.

From the Glass Pavilion, we moved to the State Art Museum of Florida. The art museum has a wide collection of European art across the ages, Asian art, as well as contemporary art.

We enjoyed the art museum and really loved walking around the beautiful grounds of the former Ringling estate.

After a free breakfast in the lovely hotel restaurant this morning, Bob and I headed out to explore more of downtown Sarasota.

Sarasota (current population of about 55,000) was settled by Spanish explorers in the 16th century and officially established as a town in the late 19th century. One of the first historical markers we came across today taught us a bit about the founding.

We found this sign on our short walk to Bayfront Park, which we can see from our room and which is on a small piece of land that juts out into the bay. It has a walking path, small beach, marina, tiki bar, and a children’s play area and splash pad. It also has this impressive sculpture.

One of the taller buildings we can see from our hotel room is the Art Ovation Hotel, another (much pricier) Marriott property. We decided to stop in to check it out. It is filled with art, and Bob found an opportunity right outside the hotel for a big head(s) photo.

This afternoon, we did something we never do which is go to the hotel pool. The weather is so great, and the pool is on the roof, so we couldn’t resist. We lasted for about an hour.

On Friday, Bob and I left Rosemary Beach to head to The Villages, FL. It was a 5+ hour drive with a time change. We lost an hour moving from the Central Time zone to the Eastern Time zone. We only spent a night at The Villages, where we did a housesit a few years ago.

We arrived about mid afternoon. We got Bob a much needed haircut, picked me up a new book from a free little library (which also happens to be on my To Read list!), and listened to the free concert at the town square near our hotel, so it was a productive and fun stop.

We left the hotel in The Villages late morning to drive the 2.5 hours to Sarasota, where we will spend 3 nights before heading to St. Petersburg to begin our housesit. We were able to check into our room at the Westin Hotel in downtown Sarasota shortly after 1:00 pm this afternoon. Our room is on the 15th floor.

After checking out the hotel, we decided to walk 50+ minutes to City Island to check out St. Armand’s Circle and Lido Beach. The weather was in the 80s F. A cold front is coming through in the next couple of days, so we’re soaking in the warmth while we can.

After a fun happy hour last night, a great run on a trail this morning, and a trip to a couple of state parks today, Bob and I are feeling a stronger affinity for this area, although we just can’t get away from those nasty signs.

When Bob and I were walking around yesterday, we saw a nice looking place called Restaurant Paradis that promoted a happy hour from 5-6:00. We decided to go, and the locals were waiting to get in when we got there at 5 which seemed like a good sign. We each had an $8 martini and a nice chat with the bartender who told us about a recent big wine event that had just been held last weekend.

This morning I ran on a trail along scenic highway 30A. It was fun to see the current beach houses as well as those still being built. After breakfast, Bob and I drove a short 2 miles to Camp Helen State Park. The state park is on a site along Lake Powell and the Gulf that originally had a hotel in the 1920s and then became the site of a recreation camp for employees of Avondale Mills between 1945-1987.

Our Airbnb lies in between two state parks, so after leaving Camp Helen State Park, we drove about 6 miles to Deer Lake State Park. This park basically provides public access to the beach (for a $3.00 entry fee) via a long boardwalk. It had the same Gulf of America sign, but this time right in the parking lot.

Today was our first full day in Rosemary Beach, which is turning 30 this year. It was founded in 1995 along the rolling dunes of Florida’s Northwest coast as a model of New Urbanism— a philosophy centered on sustainable, walkable neighborhoods, human-scaled architecture and vibrant mixed-use spaces. It encompasses 107 acres along the Gulf of Mexico and scenic highway 30A.

It is definitely walkable (and bike friendly) with lots of mixed-use spaces. It is also easy on the eyes — pretty architecture, clean, nicely landscaped with a good bit of public art. We enjoyed our walk in the 70 degree F heat, but we’re not sure we would highly recommend a visit to this particular area.

It is walkable — to high end shops as well as a good selection of cafes and restaurants. There is no large grocery store nearby. The beaches in this area are private, so you can only obtain access through a code, key, etc. for your particular residential area. We also saw a lot of “no” signs — no public restroom, no access except for residents, no golf carts or e-bikes. One area even had a no photographs sign. I’m sure all of that helps to maintain the area, but it’s a little off putting as a visitor.

Bob and I returned to the states last night. We had an easy flight from Jersey in the morning after a great visit to the small airport’s lounge — very nice. Then a few hours to kill in Heathrow before a 3:30 flight, which got us into the Atlanta airport (with a delay and a strong headwind) at 8:30. With Global Entry, the customs process was super easy, but we had a long wait for luggage, a bus ride from the international terminal to the domestic terminal, a short skytrain ride to the hotel area, and finally a short walk to our hotel. We were in our room about 9:45 pm and in bed shortly after that.

This morning we had breakfast in the AC Hotel where we stayed, and Bob walked to the nearby long-term parking lot to pick up our car. We then headed out for a five hour drive to Rosemary Beach, Florida.

A few photos from the drive on a sunny, warm day. Our route took us mostly south, but a little west of Atlanta, through parts of Georgia, Alabama, and then into the narrow panhandle of Florida.

We are seeing a bit of Florida before starting our St. Petersburg, FL, housesit on November 12. We’ll be in Rosemary Beach for 3 nights. Since we travelled west of Atlanta, we are surprisingly back in the central time zone in Rosemary Beach based on how the dividing line for time zones is drawn.

How can it be November?! Time flies, but what a year (so far) it’s been. Bob and I headed west today to see a bit more of the west coast of the island. This time a bit farther north than the Corbiere Lighthouse that we saw on our first day.

We did see a bit more of the west coast, but mostly from the bus ride there, as bright sunshine turned to blowing rain. We ended up spending most of our time at the Jersey Pearl shop — first perusing the lovely store and exhibits and then keeping out of the rain with a stop at their cafe.

We walked downtown to the bus station to catch the number 22 bus to the Jersey Pearl store near the coast. It was about a 50 minute ride out there. Some photos of the ride out —

Bob and I had visited the Guernsey Pearl shop while we were there, but only because we had to go into the shop to get tickets for the shipwreck museum. It was packed with jewelry and a bit kitschy. The Jersey Pearl shop was much more refined in presentation.

After we perused the store, we left to explore a bit more of the coast. We got a few photos before the clouds looked like they were about to open up on us. We headed back inside and had a bite at the cafe. We did not end up buying any jewelry.

It rained and blew quite hard for most of the time we were in the cafe. We left about 2:00 to catch the bus back and stood in the rain (with umbrellas) to await the bus, but luckily, the wind and rain had lightened considerably by then.

A couple of pics from the drive back —