Florida - Part One

We have been in Florida since January 31^st and it has been a real study in contrasts. Our first stop was Carrabelle, in the Panhandle area. This is a sleepy little beach town where there isn’t much really going on. It seems to be mostly centered around tourists based on the number of beach houses and condos that are for rent. 

Carrabelle Beach, FL

The RV Park we stayed at was across the road from a nice long beach so we made almost daily treks to walk the soft, white sand and let Abby stretch her legs. Many of the beaches in Florida do not allow dogs on them so this was a nice treat. The weather was chilly during the week we were there but occasionally it would warm up enough to brave the walk in shorts. 

"Home" in St. Petersburg

From Carrabelle, we headed south to St. Petersburg where the weather was finally warm enough to make shorts the order of the day rather than wishful thinking. St. Petersburg is a lovely place and I decided that if I ever wanted to permanently spend winters in Florida this would likely be my choice. Although, it wouldn’t be in that Mobile Home/RV Park. It was a nicely laid out park with plenty of amenities, lots of planned events and friendly people, but it is right next door to a shooting range and I often felt like I was in a war zone. Not a very comforting environment.

Buildings on Central Avenue

Park on the waterfront

We did a lot of exploring in St. Petersburg and barely scratched the surface of what there is to see and do. The downtown area of St. Petersburg is lovely and everywhere you go there is another beautiful park. I especially loved Central Avenue. It is an eclectic mix of boutique shops, restaurants & business all housed in a collection of buildings that combine original 1800’s style with modern architectural and art deco looks.

Playing ball with Abby at the dog park.

The city is extremely dog friendly and has a good number of dog parks (and a couple of dog beaches) where dogs can romp off leash without worry. We took the Abster to a couple to chase balls, socialize with other canines and work off a little energy. Both parks we went to had large shade trees, benches for the two-leggers to sit on and water fountains for dogs and humans alike. Most of the downtown restaurants allow dogs so one day after a dog park stop, we went to Fresco’s for lunch. The food was delicious and it was nice just sitting on the deck enjoying the sun and watching the boats in the harbor. We were so proud of Abby as she just sat quietly at our feet while we ate.

Dali Museum

St. Petersburg is home to a number of art museums but, due to time constraints, the only one we were able to visit was the Salvador Dali Museum. Chris has always been an admirer of Dali and, while I readily admit that some leave me shaking my head, I like much of his work. The museum had quite a number of pieces and was very well done. The gift shop, however, was pretty disappointing with all the cheap Chinese trinkets. We both love to “shop” for little remembrances but usually pass when they are Made in China.

One of the big draws for us was a wonderful bookshop called Haslaam’s. The building takes up about half a block and once inside it is a gem for bibliophiles like us. It is like set up in rooms that lead to other rooms like warrens in a rabbit den. In addition to new and used books, they have quite a few rare editions and autographed books available. We spent a number of hours (and not a few dollars) browsing and perusing the shelves. It was somewhat reminiscent of Powell’s in Portland where we go in different directions and have to use our cell phones to locate one another.

There are numerous beaches in and near St. Petersburg and, since we are on a quest for the “perfect” beach in the U.S., we visited several.

Madeira Beach boardwalk (photo from internet)

Madeira Beach is nice but, for goodness sake, go on a weekday. We first went on a Sunday and discovered our error pretty quickly. The main (2 lane) street is lined cheek by jowl with high rise hotels & condos so it is not possible to glimpse the Gulf until you are able to secure one of the minimal parking spots (not available on weekends) and actually walk out to it. We actually made it to the sand on our second trip during the week. A short walk on the sand, dodging the hundreds of tourists who have staked out their space and we were ready to move on. The big draw to Madeira is, quite clearly, the shopping. There is an entire village of shops, restaurants and entertainments across the street from the beach. We did a bit of shopping and were pleasantly surprised at the quality in most of the stores. In addition to shopping, as in most beach towns, you can buy any kind of refreshments from fudge to Margaritas and Burgers to Sushi. If you need something to while away a few hours, you can take a ride on a “pirate ship”, rent a paddleboard, go on a Segway tour or sign up for deep sea fishing to name a few. One of the upstairs stores also has an alligator on display for those who are dying to see one in the flesh.

Our next foray was to check out Ft. De Soto State Park. This park is right on the beach on Mullet Key and they have 238 full hook up RV sites available. We arrived to find NO hotels, restaurants, shopping centers, etc. Just a beautiful beach on the Gulf with a couple of inlets where we understand it isn’t uncommon to see manatees. The RV sites were lovely. All were very long and private and steps from the beach. We were so excited we couldn’t wait to talk to the rangers. Unfortunately, there were no vacancies for the time we wanted. Sigh…

Boardwalk at Clearwater Beach

 Our next beach to check out was Clearwater. This one has been rated by numerous travel magazines and websites ad one of the top beaches in the country. We didn’t even make it to the water. Once again: wall to wall high-rise buildings and tourist attractions, gridlocked traffic along a “gut” and thousands of people. We drove through town, turned around and went to lunch somewhere a bit more user friendly.

I was beginning to realize how very spoiled I have become while cruising in Mexico!

Turtles flirting. Taken from boardwalk.

Honeymoon Island.

Next, I decided that we should check out Honeymoon Island and it paid off! This is another State park and a wildlife preserve. The only buildings we saw by the beach were an information booth and a small restaurant in the parking lot. Upon entering the park a small warned that “Rattlesnakes are common on the island” so I was happy to see a raised boardwalk leading from the parking lot to the beach. Once on the beach I rationalized that the chances of seeing a snake were small. There were people enjoying the sun and water but not hundreds so we set up our chairs and pulled out our Subway sandwiches. Big mistake! We were immediately swarmed by Seagulls wanting our lunch. They would dive right down on top of us trying to grab the sandwiches out of our hands so eating consisted of taking a quick bite and then immediately closing up the wrapper again. Lesson learned!

Miniature Circus Parade

Calliope Wagon

While in St. Petersburg we decided to take a day trip to Sarasota to visit the John & Mabel Ringling Mansion & Museums. We only had time to visit one of the two Circus Museum and it was amazing. Part of it was artifacts and interesting information about how the circuses work, the hierarchy of the performers/workers and the evolution from the beginning to current days. But, the best was yet to come. Step around one corner and you are face to face with an eye popping miniature replica of the circus as well as replicas of the many circus parades Ringling held over the years, each with a different theme. The intricacy of all the tiny figures and settings was just mind boggling.

Front entrance of Ca' Da'Zan

Next, we took a guided tour through the 56 room mansion that John & Mabel had built and lived in. The Ca’ Da’Zan (translation: House of John) was modeled after Venetian palaces and overlooks beautiful Sarasota Bay. 

One section of the ballroom ceiling.

The architecture and detail of the building is quite beautiful and it was interesting to learn that all of the lavish furnishings were purchased second hand at estate and “garage” sales held by the upper crust. 

Gold chest in living room.

Furnishings gleaned from the Astor home.

Gold clock atop beautiful chest in John's bedroom.

For example, the living room is mostly furnished with pieces from one of the Astor homes and the chandelier came from the old Astor Hotel. As the tour guide told us, the Ringlings wanted their furniture to have a “pedigree”. Of course the home is also filled with original art, mostly Italian.

The "patio" overlooking Sarasota Bay. Floor is made of 16 types of marble.

Following the house tour we wandered the beautiful grounds for a bit, had some lunch and then made our way to the art museum. 

Chris hanging out in front of one of the numerous gigantic Banyan Trees.

You know you are really, really rich when you have your own art museum! The museum houses a good number of the Ringlings’ original art as well as collections donated by others. I enjoy art museums, especially those that feature more modern works, but I am pretty quickly bored with the repetitious paintings of religious subjects of which there are quite a few in this museum. 

Courtyard in the middle of the art museum.

My favorite area was the courtyard in the middle. It is just beautiful with its manicured lawns and fountains and bronze casts of original sculptures (including David). Standing there and looking up at the statues on the building reminded me of my trip to Greece in the 80’s.

Statuary on the roof.

While driving through one of the many upscale neighborhoods in Sarasota we pulled into a small parking area with a “Beach Access” sign and walked over the dunes to find a beautiful long, white sand beach that was practically deserted. Now THIS is what I’ve been looking for!

Sandy on the beach in Sarasota.

OK! This is quite long enough so I will end and make another installment soon!