St. Pete

What I did:
Central Ave-
Central Avenue in downtown St. Petersburg has a variety of shops and restuarants.  While the restaurants along picturesque Bayshore Drive can get fairly expensive, the restuarants and shops along Central Avenue tend to be well priced.

Dalí Museum-
The Dalí Musuem in St. Pete has the largest collection of works by Salvador Dalí outside of Europe.  In addition to the famous Catalonian's work, there arealso a seasonal displays from other rotating artists.

Rays Game-
The Tampa Bay Rays Major League Baseball team play at Tropicana Field in St. Pete.  The stadium itself is not in great shape, but tickets can be purchased relatively cheaply.  "The Trop" also hosts other events such as concerts and football games.

Beach Volleyball-
Just east of downtown St. Pete are some nice parks along the water.  North Shore Park is a nice place to play beach volleyball, and Vinoy Park hosts a variety of events including 5K races and professional beach volleyball tournaments.

Chihuly Collection-
​The Chihuly Collection is a variety of glass artwork by artist Dale Chihuly.  The works are impressive and worth a look.

Graffiti-
​Downtown St. Pete has a variety of excellent works of graffiti.  Many of them are along or just off of Central Avenue.

Where I ate and drank:
​Bandit Coffee-
Bandit Coffee Company is an excellent coffee shop on Central Avenue in St. Pete.  The nitro cold brew they serve (sourced from Tampa company Commune & Co.) is the best cup of coffee I have had in St. Pete.  It is especially good on a warm Florida day.  They also serve a variety of other high quality drinks.

3 Daughters Brewing Company-
3 Daughters Brewing Company is not only my favorite brewing company in St. Pete, it is one of my favorite brewing companies in the world.  Their nitro stouts and their belgian quadruples are excellent.  They also have a cool environment and a variety of games to play on site.

Bodega Comida Cantina Cafe-
​Bodega is an excellent, well priced Cuban restaurant.  They also serve a variety of juices next door to their cantina.

Casita Taqueria-
Casita Taqueria is a great place to get high quality, low priced food.  They have a variety of excellent tacos.

Urban Brew and BBQ-
The Urban Restaurant group runs four restuarants in the St. Pete area.  They make their food from scratch at each of the four restaurants.  Urban Brew and BBQ is my favorite of the four.  The brews and the barbecue they serve are both very good.

The Cider Press Cafe-
The Cider Press Cafe serves a menu full of raw, vegan, plant-based food.  It is tasty and healthy.

Pipo's Cuban Cafe-
Pipo's Cuban Cafe serves authentic, tasty Cuban food.  It is also very well priced.

Mazzaro's Italian Market-
Mazzaro's Italian Market sells a variety of specialty, hard to find goods to cook at home.  They also sell coffee, sandwiches, and gelato to eat on site.

Intermezzo-
Intermezzo is a great place on Central Avenue in St. Pete.  By day they are an excellent craft coffee shop, and by night they are an excellent craft cocktail bar.  They also serve amazingly delicious oysters on select nights.

Where I stayed and how I got around:
I lived about 30 minutes by car from St. Petersburg for a large chunk of my life, so I was able to visit this wonderful city while staying at home. The public transportation in the entire Tampa Bay area is some of the worst for a major metro area, so you need to use a car to reach most places. They have instituted a downtown bike share program and a water taxi that connects Tampa to St. Petersburg, hopefully signally a positive change in the public transportation in the area.
​
My favorite thing:
The weather in St. Petersburg is amazing and sunny, and the town has a nice, laid back vibe. The food is also fairly well priced and offers a variety of options.

My least favorite thing:
As mentioned above, the public transportation in St. Petersburg and in the surrounding area is horrendous.

For next time:
Next time I visit St. Pete I would like to check out their Saturday morning market.