Nov. 16-17, St Petersburg, FL

We moved 30 miles south in the GIWW from Clearwater to the St Petersburg Yacht Club located at the foot of downtown St Petersburg.

The home of fellow 'loopers' Fred and Sharon Clarkson (red tile roof at center). Their boat PERFECT REMEDY is on the lift. THE RIGHT COMBO with 'loopers' Norm and Jody Powell is at the dock in front of the house.

The bridge at
Treasure Island opens for us.

Porpoise come to visit in Tampa Bay.

Downtown St Petersburg as we approach.

We have not been this close to the tall buildings since we left Chicago.

The St Petersburg Aquarium is a landmark on the waterfront.
Vinoy Hotel in the background (left).

SPYC

St Petersburg Yacht Club in downtown St Petersburg is a private club and we arranged to stay here through a reciprocal arrangement with Marg Schwaderer's club (Royal Palm) in Boca. Very nice club. Thanks Mom!!!!!

We are seeing the local sights. Started the day at the 'Sunken Gardens', an old Florida type attraction started in the 1920's.

Amazonian Parrot

Chilean Flamingo

Next is John's Pass, a collection of shops and restaurants built around a 'old wharf' theme. It is located just inside the inlet to the Gulf of Mexico at Maderia Beach.





Our last spot to visit is rated a GEM by AAA, the Salvadore Dali Museum, in downtown St Petersburg. Most paintings were a gift to the State of Florida from the Morse family from Cleveland , Ohio. The museum is in the process of constructing a new building to house the collection and the architecture is very interesting. Should be finished in 2010. Nice addition to the art community in Florida.

Photo's inside the museum were not allowed.

We took a tour of the museum and had a docent who was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic. She gave good insight into why he painted as he did and what he was trying to convey. Even so, our take on Salvadore Dali is that he was 'very strange'.