St. Pete

Pinellas County occupies the peninsula separating Tampa Bay from the Gulf of Mexico. It stretches from Tarpon Springs in the north to St. Pete Beach at the south end.  There are 24 incorporated cities in Pinellas, which can get confusing.  For simplicity, the largest city, St. Petersburg is sometimes used to describe this area.  To reduce syllables, the city is called St. Pete, and thus the title of this post.






Dunedin

Sunset from the Dunedin City Marina, Looking across the Bay

A reasonable rate at the city marina attracts cruisers to this small community just south of Tarpon Springs.  It is a town that rewards visitors with great restaurants and an interesting downtown.  There are two restaurants and a fresh fish market in the marina and two blocks toward town is Sea Sea Ryder, which has unique and award-winning recipes.  Neat town.


Treasure Island

Bonnie interacts with new friend, Claire, at the dock behind Jeff and Suzanne's home.  These gracious friends provided their home dock for Last Dance while a needed road trip was made across the state.

The flora in Treasure Island indicated that winter is nonexistent here in January.













Gulfport

This community has many large marinas which, of course, are full of boats - many for sale.  A visit was made to view Lady Savannah, a DeFever 53.  Although she is a grand and spacious boat, with some outstanding features and quality upgrades, she will not be replacing Last Dance.

S.S. Sophie, a beautiful 1947 80' Trumpy shares the boathouse with Lady Savannah.  She has been described as having an acre of varnish.  Sadly, she is not for sale.  Sophie spends her winters in Gulfport and summers in the Chesapeake Bay and Potomac River.






Belleair Beach

Viewing the St. Pete area from the water gives the impression that most new construction consists of high-rise condos, creating walls next to the water.  While placing a maximum number of people in a given space, these buildings do not produce the most beautiful view from the waterways.  The exact city in which this building is located may be in error as the cities of Belleair, Belleair Beach, Belleair Shore, and Belleair Bluffs are contiguous.  Sights like above, make the sights like below, even more amazing.


St. Pete Beach

The Don Cesar, known as the Pink Lady, a magnificent hotel built in 1928, has been restored to her original beauty.  The Don Cesar was once "The Destination" in Tampa/St. Pete, visited by the rich and famous, including FDR.  In World War II, she housed a military hospital, then the Veterans' Administration, and in the late 60's was abandoned.  Fortunately, the hotel was saved and brought back to her original beauty.