St. Pete

We had a fabulous weekend in St. Pete. On Friday Bill and I started our search for where we will stay this summer. We visited two marinas - St. Pete Municipal Marina and the Harborage Marina. Both had advantages and disadvantages. On Saturday we visited seven more marinas in Tierra Verde, Gulfport, Snell Island, Treasure Island -- all places within 1/2 an hour from Mary Alice. Most of the places either didn't have room for us or weren't exactly what we are looking for. We want a marina that has a pumpout at the slip, a secure gate, laundry, parking, close to 'things', etc. It looks like we will end up at St. Pete Municipal -- which is right downtown and within walking distance of everything - including Mary Alice! It is fairly cheap and has everything that we are looking for. The only 'minuses' are that we would have to pay for a 65 foot slip since there is a 50 (yes 5-0!!) month wait for slips for our size boat and we have heard that when there is any sort of a NE wind the boats rock and roll in the slip. We might look at other marinas in Tampa when we go back although St. Pete is really where we want to be. St. Pete is great because there is always something going on. It is a city but not too big. There are amazing cafes and restaurants. Lots of beautiful parks. Museums. Culture. We both really look forward to living there!

(Our potential "new home" at the Muncipal Marina in St. Pete)

Friday the three of us went to the movies and saw Milk, which was great. We got takeout and played Skip-Bo.

In the morning Mary Alice and I went to the Saturday Market. If we live at the Municipal marina I will definitely be doing some grocery shopping there! There were fresh farm grown vegetables of every kind, local bakeries selling breads and pastries, artisans, etc. Mary Alice and I bought fresh strawberries and flavored pasta. There was a stand that sold at least 50 different types of pasta and orzo. We bought lemon garlic, tomato herb, and garlic and herb flavors. Each comes with a recipe. We stayed on the conservative side to try things out but they did sell some outrageous flavors such as lime, chocolate, and berry.

Saturday night we were invited to Fred and Monika's beach house in St. Pete beach. What a beautiful place! After the five of us went to dinner.

Bill and I drove home on Sunday afternoon. It wasn't a bad ride; it took about 4 1/2 hours.

Today, Monday, we are going to try to go to another Red Sox game here in Ft. Lauderdale. Baltimore has Spring Training here in the city and they are playing Boston today! A cold front moved through last night so it is chilly.