Relatively than take one huge trip this summer season, we opted as an alternative for just a few brief journeys so we may expertise extra new locations. We kicked issues off with a 3-night journey to Charleston, SC, we met up my dad and mom within the Georgia mountains in July, after which capped off the summer season with a getaway to St. Petersburg, Florida. Sherry and I had solely been there very briefly throughout this 2008 seaside trip, so we had been excited to spend extra time there and discover it with our youngsters.

So right here’s a fast recap of what we did, the place we ate, and why we’re excited to return.

The place Did We Keep In St. Petersburg?

St. Petersburg is situated on Florida’s Gulf Coast, throughout the Tampa Bay from the town of Tampa. The world has plenty of nice seashores, however we particularly selected St. Pete for the town and cultural points of it (since we now have loads of nice seashores the place we stay). It appeared to vow among the identical issues we beloved about our former hometown of Richmond, Virginia (we love a mid-size metropolis with an artsy really feel and many good meals).

For these causes, we selected to remain nearer to Downtown St. Petersburg (fairly than close to the seashores). We stayed in an Airbnb simply exterior of the Grand Central District, which promised to be a enjoyable industrial district. The home itself was good (clear, well-stocked, and dog-friendly!) but it surely turned out to be much less walkable to the place we spent most of our time than we’d hoped so I’m not linking it right here.

We’d most likely select one thing slightly additional East subsequent time we go. I additionally assume if we had been to return for an extended journey, we’d select a home nearer to the seaside – since there gave the impression to be extra choices on the market – then we’d simply drive downtown. It’s actually not a really huge metropolis and we solely skilled very delicate site visitors whereas we had been there.

What We Did In St. Petersburg: The Pier

The massive attraction in downtown St. Petersburg is The St. Pete Pier, so we naturally headed there on our first morning. For those who’re picturing some rinky-dink picket fishing pier (like I used to be at one level) you couldn’t be extra unsuitable. It’s MASSIVE and has tons to do. Had it been rather less scorching out and we weren’t interrupted by a rainstorm, we virtually may’ve spent an entire day on the market.

That’s the view from the top of the pier, wanting again towards downtown. It’s full of inexperienced areas, eating choices, artwork items, and extra. That is the 3-story construction (every with a unique restaurant) from which I took the above picture. See? Completely not rinky-dink.

Our two favourite spots on the pier had been the playground and the Tampa Bay Watch Discovery Middle. The latter is a small however enjoyable nature middle towards the center of the pier. It was surprisingly reasonably priced ($18 complete for all 4 of us to get in) and so they’re even dog-friendly! Actually, we principally stopped in for the A/C, however ended up staying about 45 minutes wanting on the varied animals and interactive shows.

The playground was one other shock hit, since our youngsters are starting to age out of them. However this one was huge, trendy, and creatively performed, so that they had a good time. We adults even acquired to take a seat within the shade!

The very last thing we did close to the Pier (earlier than some shock rain drove us inside) was to take a look at this large tree exterior of the St. Petersburg Museum of Historical past. If yow will discover our youngsters within the image, you’ll get a way of the dimensions.

Once more, we may’ve spent much more time at The Pier. We’d love to return on a weekend when the seller Market is happening, or at night time when the Bending Arc artwork set up is all lit up.

What We Did In St. Pete: The Salvador Dalí Museum

The next day, we ventured again downtown to go to The Salvador Dalí Museum. An artwork museum might not be each household’s thought of a kid-friendly exercise, however each of our youngsters love artwork so this was a must-see for us. The museum does a extremely good job of catering to younger guests too. There are just a few interactive displays (together with a VR expertise) and even some AI-generated movies of Dalí  “himself” speaking with you.

It was additionally simply spectacular to see so a lot of his works up shut. His items are sometimes so intricate and, effectively, surreal that the children discovered them actually fascinating to have a look at. Sherry additionally had enjoyable breaking out a few of her faculty artwork historical past information.

The one bummer about our go to is that, as soon as once more, we acquired a shock rain storm so we couldn’t go to the “avant-garden” (har har). In addition they simply added an enormous dome that hosts the immersive Dalí  Alive 360° expertise, however we visited in the future – actually in the future! – earlier than it opened to the general public.

Talking of immersive artwork, we wished The Fairgrounds had been open whereas we had been there too. It’s solely open on weekends and our journey fell on a Monday night time – Thursday morning.

What We Did In St. Petersburg: Discover & Store

Other than the 2 locations above, we spent most of our journey simply sort of exploring. There are many outlets and eating places alongside (and proper off of) Central Avenue within the Grand Central District, so it was additionally enjoyable simply strolling round.

There typically gave the impression to be extra eating places than there have been shops to buy in, however we did discover this actually cute bookstore: Tombolo Books. We love an indie bookstore, and every time we go to a brand new metropolis we all the time look one up.

It additionally bears mentioning that St Pete was tremendous welcoming to everybody! It undoubtedly has an inclusive metropolis vibe that made us so completely happy – from the rainbow crosswalk within the Grand Central district to indicators displayed in store home windows and flags hanging exterior.

For those who couldn’t inform from these photos: there are TONS of murals and colourful storefronts. So there’s loads of eye sweet, simply strolling round. This explicit mural was on the facet of Pete’s Bagels, which was additionally our favourite breakfast of the journey.

I’m undecided if this graffitied bench counts as “public artwork,” however we undoubtedly loved the picture op. You might have my permission to make use of this picture at my funeral.

If murals aren’t the one sort of eye sweet you crave: we additionally discovered among the actual property selection. We did slightly little bit of driving round every afternoon simply to get our bearings in St. Pete. First, we stumbled upon some lovely neighborhoods between downtown and Snell Isle. Simply tons of cool homes (some huge, some small) that felt like a cool mixture of tropical and historic. It virtually felt like a Florida model of Richmond to us. This home made Sherry scream and gasp a number of occasions.

We additionally heard of this different neighborhood referred to as Driftwood (due to @ilovetheburg on Instagram, which had tons of native suggestions). It was inconceivable to seize it on digital camera, but it surely was extremely jungly and funky. Simply put “Driftwood Street” in Google Maps to search out it. Critically. Go drive by means of. It felt like we entered Jurrasic Park.

Sherry and I may most likely drive round exploring neighborhoods all day, so we’d undoubtedly love to do this once more in St Pete.

The place We Ate In St. Petersburg

As I stated in our Charleston put up, we’re in no way foodies, and with youngsters and a canine in tow, our priorities are sometimes simple, enjoyable, informal, and a menu that pleases everybody. So right here’s a fast run-down of the locations we loved most.

Pacific Counter was like a sushi & poke model of Chipotle. It’s undoubtedly a “quick informal” type place, so I really feel bizarre saying it was my favourite meal of the journey, however constructing our personal sushi burritos and poke bowls was superior and it was scrumptious. I acquired a Hawaiian scorching canine too. The children acquired free pineapple whip (I suppose that’s a factor on Wednesdays?) and everybody left completely happy and full. It seems to be like Pacific Counter is a sequence within the Tampa Bay space, however may somebody fairly please open one close to us on the panhandle?

Ceviche was the restaurant we hunkered down in throughout our post-Pier rainstorm, and it was most likely Sherry’s favourite of the journey. This undoubtedly stretched the children’ palettes slightly bit (the meatballs, croquetas, and pesto rooster had been the largest hits with them) however that was the fantastic thing about sharing a bunch of small plates.

As a lot as this subsequent place seems to be prefer it’s referred to as “Beer Tacos,” it’s truly Casita Taqueria. Tacos and quesadillas are all the time crowd-pleasers within the Petersik family, and this place had a superbly chill, dog-friendly environment, together with nice meals.

One other fool-proof crowd-pleaser with us is dessert. Essentially the most memorable one on this journey was at La Diperie. You begin with a base like a soft-serve cone, a donut, cookie dough balls, and even an ice cream sandwich. Then you definately select from dozens of flavored dips that your base will get dunked in, after which toss on a topping or two. YUM.

And though we didn’t truly eat right here (they had been by some means out of bread?) we had been glad we stopped into the 2D Cafe. The ’80s child in me felt like I had stepped into the Take On Me video!

And since Sherry and I’ve been on a espresso kick this yr, we loved trying out a few native espresso spots in St. Pete. Bandit was tremendous cool. I’m nonetheless interested by the summer-special Bouquet Latte I acquired and I remorse not getting a full breakfast there. We additionally checked this tremendous art-deco spot referred to as Paradeco, which was actually cool inside.

I solely want my mind would learn Paradeco as “Para-Deco” (a reference to paradise + artwork deco) as an alternative of “Parade-Co,” which appears like a enterprise that places on parades.

One Final Cease: The Seaside!

Okay, okay, so I stated we didn’t come to St. Petersburg for the seashores. However after we checked out of our Airbnb, we couldn’t resist a detour out to one of many seashores: particularly, an space referred to as Passe-A-Grille, which a buddy had really useful to us. The drive there was brief (perhaps 15-20 minutes?) and we acquired to absorb the well-known pink Don CeSar resort on the way in which.

We additionally grabbed breakfast on the way in which out at Paradise Grille. It’s a completely unfussy, however fantastically beachfront restaurant within the middle of Passe-A-Grill. We beloved it!

Though we stay close to the seaside, this was an unfamiliar expertise to us as a result of our seashores are surrounded (protected? blocked?) by very tall 3-story dunes. So most “Gulf entrance” eating choices supply nice views (wanting down on them from above), however you’re fairly removed from touching precise sand and water. Not right here! You’re just about straight on the seaside.

So it was an ideal enjoyable strategy to finish the journey earlier than heading house. We left eager to expertise extra of the realm – each downtown and by the seashores – so we’re excited to return!

Different Household Journeys We’ve Taken

For those who’re enthusiastic about our tackle different locations or are seeking family-friendly journeys, you would possibly take pleasure in a few of these posts too:

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