Clearwater and St Petersburg, Florida...

January 9, 2023

We talked with our fellow loopers before we left to pick up words of wisdom before we were off to St Petersburg.  I would have liked to go on "the inside" or intercoastal waterway but we went on "the outside" or the Gulf of Mexico.  There were a few shallow areas that concerned Danny on the intercostal.  I'm sure I would have seen more birds and wildlife on the inside but we did see this couple checking their stone crab pots in the Gulf.

      This beautiful pink structure is the Don Cesar Resort where I had gone to a conference years ago.
Just prior to turning into Tampa Bay, we came across a HUGE cargo ship,  we stayed back until it passed.  I got pictures as it came between our boat and Egmont Key.  I will talk about this Key later.

 Our view from our slip at the St Petersburg Municipal Marina.  On our arrival into our slip, we met 2 young guys to the left of us.  When we asked if they were "Loopers" they said no, but they were getting looped and invited us over to share their medicinals they had on the boat.  We passed...

                                   

History of St Petersburg...

 The Armed Occupation Act of 1842 was passed by Congress to help populate Florida.  This act provided 160 acres of land to a male "head of a family" or single man over 18 years of age who bore arms, cultivated at least 5 acres and lived on the land in a fit habitation (not sure what that means).  This occurred after the end of the Second Seminole War in 1842.  While some ventured down to Florida, not much happened in St Petersburg.  The area was very much undeveloped and primitive conditions existed.  When the 1848 hurricane occurred, there was so much devastation, many settlers that were here left this area.  Much like the panhandle area of Florida, cutting timber, building turpentine stills, and working the water were the primary industries.  Growing oranges was also an additional business opportunity.  There are several old buildings still standing from the development of the town in the early 1880's.  The developers of St Pete were John C. Williams and Peter Demens.  Demens(In Russia, his name was Dementyed) owned a sawmill and construction company in Longwood, Florida.  Providing railroad ties to a new railroad being built, Demens was not paid and then took over the railroad expansion.   He extended the railroad from Sanford, Florida down to St Petersburg which was named after the Imperial Russian capital.  These 2 men developed what was known as the Orange Belt Railway.  The first hotel, Detroit Hotel built in 1888, was developed to encourage growth to St Pete and named after John Williams' hometown(left).  The James Hotel built in 1909 still exist with bars and restaurants on the lower level and hotel rooms on the 2nd floor(right).  While businesses are there, it appears the upstairs are probably apartments now. In 1910, W.C. VanBiber, MD wrote in a medical journal that St Petersburg was the healthiest place to live in the United States.  Visitors started to come to the area.  After World War I, tourists had little money and not many opportunities for overnight accomodations and therefore, stayed in tents.  They were called "tin can tourists" because they would cook their meals over campfires in tin cans. 


           

Another beautiful building I saw was Crislip Arcade built in the 1920's with multiple small business similar to its use today.  It also has a Cuban tile floor.  

 Ultimately,  numerous buildings were built 1919-1926.  Apparently, St Petersburg was marketed with pictures of green benches and people sitting on them.  There are many businesses today incorporating Green Bench in their name.  On of Danny's favorite- Green Bench Brewing!  As you might expect these benches were only for white residents and visitors.  In 1961, an ordinance was passed that all green benches be removed.



The development of the first airline company, St Petersburg-Tampa Airport Line occurred here in 1913.  Below you can see and read the long travel time to get to Tampa by car or train due to the geography of the area even though it is 21 miles over Tampa Bay.  The people starting the company had freak accidents which led to their death but the business continued.  National Airlines was started and began operating from St Petersburg in 1934.


                                                                       The Benoist Airplane


Another important part of St Pete is baseball spring training.  Spring training started here in 1914 with a number of different teams having called St Petersburg home since.  Currently, the Tampa Bay Rays play at Tropicana Field.  There has been talk of this team playing here and Montreal versus moving to Montreal full time.  In the St Petersburg history museum are what Guiness Book claims to be the largest collection of autographed baseballs in the world.  They have all the greats back to Ruth, Gehrig, and Cobb.  I did not look for Honus Wagner.

A comic once had a famous saying for St Petersburg which has been modified to include the entire state of Florida..."this is God's waiting room..."


Our stay...

The town is very friendly for those visiting town.  There are numerous trolley systems.  While each day, I walked 20,000 steps, we utilized the "Looper" that runs in and around downtown.  Danny and I were able to see the USF campus for the Education and Marine Science departments,  John Hopkins pediatrics hospital, and the Al Lang Stadium for the Rowdies soccer team in addition to downtown of St Pete which we knew from visiting when we are at Siesta Key.  The city has a very strong artistic base.  The museums are the Dali Museum, American Craft Museum, and the Western Art Museum which we have gone to previously.  The Central Avenue Trolley goes from our marina all the way across town to St Pete's Beach.  We utilized this route to see the Chihuly Glass Collection, eclectic shops, art galleries, and food shops all along Central Avenue and a few blocks north and south of Central Avenue.  The city finances the cost as there is no charge for using the trolleys.  Just down from the marina is the St Pete Pier which opened a couple years ago and is a great area for walking, looking out over Tampa Bay in addition to live performances, food, and drink. Bob and Hedy Marshall came up from Sarasota to visit and to have dinner and we enjoyed our time with them.  I went to 2 different wine bars.  MUST: a wine loft had unusual wines.  I went when they had just opened.  The sommelier was speaking to someone there about chocolate in the shop doing taste tasting with red wine.  Even though I did not partake in red wine, they did invite me to taste the chocolates.  I had a great time!  The other wine bar, Book and Bottle was a small bookstore  serving drinks and small plates.  I sat at a communal table with mother and daughter planning a trip to London and another woman where we talked about our kids, jobs, and wine! This was after Danny and I went to the Farmer's Market Saturday just around the corner from the marina finding some good food.   We also had the opportunity Mazzaro Market- an unbelievable LARGE Italian market.   While Danny  returned to the boat as it was being washed and waxed, I walked north to go to Sunken Gardens.  The Gardens have been opened to the public since 1935 after George Turner purchased the property in 1903.  Even though he was a plumber by trade, his passion was gardening.  He drained a lake which was a filled sinkhole which dropped the gardens down 15 feet.  He grew fruit and plants from all over the world.  It is said many visitors to St Pete before 1935, would stop by the Gardens to see what Turner was growing.  The city of St Petersburg now owns and runs the Sunken Gardens.


Enjoying the produce stand at the Market

The Chilean flamingos in a pond.  And me on the "growing stone." In the early 1900's there were Flamingos from Florida but they became extinct as their feathers were used for hats and clothing.

Beautiful trees, the Banyan (I saw 3 extensive ones) and Bombay ceiba(3 foot planting planted in 1965 in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Museum of Fine Art) were all down at the waterfront.  Like one of our previous stops, Fairhope, Alabama, the founding fathers wanted the residents to be able to enjoy the waterfront with parks which are maintained to this day.  One of the brochures at the visitor center mentioned these Banyan trees were offspring of the Banyan trees in Ft Myers at Thomas Edison's property where he planted is tree.  The sightseeing document mentioned that birds transferred seed from that tree here to St Pete.  That is hard for me to believe, it could be true but I don't know how you can prove it.

I also saw a number of palm warblers, yellow rump warblers, and red bellied woodpeckers.  I was able to get pretty close to the red bellied as seen below.








These were 2 different woodpeckers within the city while we were walking.
One of the more famous hotels in the US was the Vinoy Hotel built in 1926.  It is currently undergoing renovations so its entrance is less than ideal to take a picture so was able to find this one.  This hotel like the rest in town was able to accommodate soldiers while training during World War II.  It is absolutely beautiful inside and out.  It is in the Marriott group now.




During World War II there were over 100,000 soldiers trained in St Pete.  Those soldiers resided during their training in the hotels in and around town which economically helped the city.  After World War II, many of those same soldiers would return to St Petersburg to settle in the area permanently.  The War department named St Petersburg to be the training base for the Army Air Corps during World War II.


Other interesting facts about St Petersburg
 1.  It has the first open air Post Office in the United States built in 1916.



2.  It has the oldest and largest shuffleboard club in the world.

3. It started the world's first airline December 17, 1913 which was 10 years to the day of the Wright Brothers flight in Kitty Hawk,  North Carolina discussed above.  We have certainly enjoyed our stay here and having a week allowed us to really see the city!  The plan is to leave in the morning for Bradenton, Florida which is another week stay! 


TOTAL MILES TRAVELLED  1035.3 miles
TOTAL DAYS  59

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