St. Petersburg: A New Year, a New City

We rang in the New Year with our good friends Michele and Craig. We lived across the street from them for 30 years, and our kids all grew up together. So it was especially nice to be together again in their lovely and familiar house. We stuffed ourselves on delicious Indian dishes delivered from Flame, and caught up on all their news. It was chilly on New Year’s Eve, and their fire pit was the perfect place to be!

New Year’s Day was Moving Day! We rented a car and loaded it up for the short drive across Tampa Bay to downtown St. Petersburg. We had visited St. Pete many times over the years - for its great museums, restaurants, shows, and the farmers market - but we had never lived there. Now was our chance to find out what it was like, with a three-week stay.

Our home in St. Pete is a bungalow in the Historic Uptown neighborhood. It’s probably of 1920’s vintage, like our house in Tampa, with original hardwood floors and a brick fireplace. It is both cozy and spacious. We moved the dining table into the living room so I can do jigsaw puzzles while watching TV, and Steve can use the empty dining room as a Meta Quest arena.

Our bungalow is a short walk from lakes, trails, and the heart of downtown. It’s an ideal home base for exploring St. Pete.

Fun Facts

• St. Pete averages 361 days of sunshine annually - it is the “Sunshine City” in the “Sunshine State” - and holds the word record for consecutive sunny days (768)

• It was named after the Russian city, which was the home town of one of the city co-founders

• The first ever commercial airline flight was from St. Pete to Tampa in 1914

• Angela Bassett grew up here, Jim Morrison attended college here, Al Capone owned a mansion here, and Jack Kerouac died here