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 The temperature is 86 degrees with a balmy off-shore breeze. The water is azure blue. The lodging is at low season and there is hardly anyone on the beach. It's one great little find outside of Tampa, Florida... St. Pete Beach, just 2 1/2 hours and $49.00 away on Southwest airlines.
Invited by friends who have been summering there for 40 years, we stayed at a condo hotel ($800.00 / week) in a magnificent 2 bedroom beachside suite. Our rental car was a new Mustang convertible, which was listed at $250.00 / week but ended up costing over $700.00 with insurance, extra driver charges and taxes (over 30%). The car was pricey, but we found it was well worth the price.
St. Pete Beach is embellished by the landmark Don Cesar hotel. Now a Loew's property, it's a must see for anyone. The impressive pink edifice houses a great bar and wonderful restaurants. Within a short drive, there are numerous fine dining restaurants. One of our favorites is the Salt Rock Grill in Indian Shores. Our friends recommended the Clams Casino. They're not normally on the menu, but after an advance call to manager Jonny Godfrey and Chef Tom Pritchard, we found they were glad to accommodate us. The restaurant specializes in both seafood and "wood fired" steaks and do both delightfully. For a great breakfast, take a short ride to Pass-a-Grille and visit The Sea Horse.
For a true dining adventure, you must visit Bern's Steak House (1200 S. Howard Ave.) in the SOHO section of Tampa. Serving over 25,000 pounds of prime mid-west steak every week, their staff of in-house butchers cut each piece of meat to your order. The oversized portions are prepared to perfection and served with aplomb. The 100+ page wine list is impressive, but the best is yet to come! Be sure to reserve your private pod on their upstairs dessert floor. And take the kitchen tour. Our tour with Dining Room Manager Joseph Donoian left us with a new appreciation of how a restaurant should be run. Bern's stands unique as a fine dining establishment.
We love to shop on our travels and we discovered a wonderful little shop in nearby Tampa's Ybor City. The area has been redeveloped and has a charming Latin history. It's like an upscale South Street in Philly with a Spanish flavor. La France (1612 7th Street) is a vintage clothing store that carries a wide variety of classic and new retro clothing and accessories. After an hour with the friendly staff, we left with a retro bowling shirt, a unique caftan, beautiful Turquoise earrings, a '30s handbag and a vintage hat for our collection.
All in all, it was a great week in St. Pete Beach. We didn't miss the crowds, the lines or the high prices. It was a wonderful vacation at about half the cost. |
