#87 St. Petersburg, FL

Friday, November 22, 2019

Gateway to St. Petersburg!

Long fishing piers extend from each side of land and parallel the bridge.  Each one has access routes from the bridge, and each one looked well used.

Most light posts across the bridge provided perches for the sea birds.  Interestingly several Anhinga could occupy the same light post, but only one Osprey.  The Osprey sat alone on the lamp.

We chose to stay at the KOA and got these great sites backed up to the bay.

The Ibis again live in the park.

 November 24, 2019

Madera and St. Petersburg beaches sit just west of the St. Pete’s peninsula.  St. John’s Pass provides a tourist mecca for Florida visitors.  Shop after shop beckoned you to stop by. The day we visited the palm trees were getting ready for Christmas.

The boardwalk extended east and west from this entry point.

Pelicans hung out with one of the jet ski concession.

Shops and restaurants fill the boardwalk. Some restaurants included floating docks to enhance you dining and drinking experience.  The large yellow and blue riverboat sports a casino sign.

Several kinds of sweet shops sit on the boardwalk.  This was the most colorful!  You could watch the taffy machine pulling the sweet sticky candy.

You want to get out on the water?  From this boardwalk you can sign up for a jet ski ride, parasailing, fishing, boat tours, kayaks, etc.

People filled the boardwalk partaking of the sights, sounds and smells that create the boardwalk experience.  Birds were bountiful. Dogs, however, were absent. Often people ignore signs like this one, but not at St. John’s Boardwalk.

The bridge opening required tourists to stand at the boardwalk rail and watch the process. While hanging out on the boardwalk a personal boat motored in.  They asked a worker on the boardwalk where they could tie up to explore John's Pass.  The answer was "NO you can not dock here".  That told us the entire was area allowed only the commercial businesses.
The yellow and blue boat here is a casino.

We watched this young lady expertly filet this Rooster Snapper. Notice she wasn’t even wearing gloves. Just zip, zip, zip and the fish was ready for the customers.  She had a very attentive audience with the pelicans and heron. The heron didn’t get anything, but she threw the skin to the pelicans who then fought over ownership.

This concession hoped the pirate theme could lure you to their tour, food, or gifts.

At the westerly end of the boardwalk the Bubba Gump restaurant sat above the other shops, upstairs from the boardwalk.

This bridge connects Madera Island to St. Petersburg Island. Our drive down the island looked just like our drives down other beach towns. Restaurants, shops, hotels.

Pass-a-Grill (makes you wonder how that name stuck)  is a community at the southern tip of St. Pete’s Island.  The homes and condos on the eastern side of the tip look new and pricey.  Fancy homes can be viewed across the bay.  Homes on the west side that face the Gulf of Mexico looked older.

The house shows the roll down shutters that many homes use. Of course, nothing says “not at home” like roll down shutters.  However, given the tropical storms and hurricane winds, this is the way to go!

We drove back up the island to Crabby Bill’s restaurant. After dinner we checked out the white sand beach. That unique hotel caught our attention.

I of course, waded in the surf.  It always feels so good!

Several fishing net buoys floated near the shore. No one seemed to want them. We thought that they are usually picked up on Washington beaches.

These beach shelters did not belong to any hotels.  They are set up by a private concessionaire, and you can occupy one for $25 per day.  If you  wanted a lounger too, that was more $$$.

Hello downtown St. Petersburg!  On this late Sunday afternoon nearly all the angled parking spaces were taken.  People crowded into restaurants who open air design had the people spilling out onto the sidewalk.

Surprise!  The street closed at one point for a street fair!  Derrille found a place to park and excitedly started to peruse their wares.

This upscale craft fair showed a variety of media in interesting designs.

This artist created people out of railroad spikes.

Fortunately I live in a motor home and have become a minimalist, or I may have left some money at the street fair.

Night fell at the campground after another busy day.

On to Tallahassee.