St. Pete: classic beaches and classy attractions lure vacationers to Florida's west-central coast - City Of The Month - Cover Story

Travel America, Nov-Dec, 2001 by Deborah Williams

It might make a good quiz show question. What city made it into the Guinness Book of World Records because of its weather and boasts a museum with the world's most comprehensive collection of works by artist Salvador Dali?

Need a hint? Spanish explorer Ponce De Leon came here in his quest for the Fountain of Youth and later the city was founded by a Russian immigrant and named for his hometown.

If you guessed St. Petersburg, Florida, you answered correctly.

The sun shines upon the area just about every day. The Guinness Book credits St. Petersburg with the longest run of consecutive sunny days--768 days from February 9, 1967, to March 17, 1969.

From 1910 to 1986 when it ceased operations, the St. Petersburg Evening Independent was given away free on the rare occasions when the sun did not shine. In 76 years the newspaper was given away free 295 times--less than four times a year.

The Salvador Dali Museum, opened in 1982 in a converted marine warehouse, showcases the collection of the late A. Reynolds Morse and his wife Eleanor R. of Cleveland, Ohio. They chose St. Petersburg after a nationwide search for a home to their collection of more than 200 works by the renowned Spanish artist.

The Dali museum is one of the city's prime attractions in the downtown waterfront area, where a green ribbon of park land seven miles long winds along the shores of Tampa Bay. Baseball's Tampa Bay Devil Rays play downtown at Tropicana Field.

Jutting out from the shore is The Pier, a building in the shape of an inverted pyramid. It's the waterfront's signature attraction with five stories of shops, the Pier Aquarium, Great Explorations Hands On Museum, a food court, fine restaurants, miniature golf, water sport rentals, excursion boats, fishing, and free trolley rides.

On the approach to The Pier is the St. Petersburg Museum of History, which tells the story of the area since its earliest days. A replica of the airplane that made the country's first commercial flight on New Year's Day, 1915, hangs from the ceiling. It was a short flight--just across Tampa Bay--but it heralded a new era in aviation.

Kennedy enthusiasts and history lovers should not miss a visit to the Florida International Museum with its Kennedy Collection--hundreds of personal items of the late president and his family. Visitors are invited to stroll through full-size recreations of the White House Rose Garden, Oval Office, and other famous scenes of the Kennedy presidency. Another permanent exhibit spotlights the 1962 Cuban missile crisis.

The downtown waterfront's newest attraction is the $40-million Bay Walk, a lively Mediterranean Revival-themed complex with restaurants, bars, shops, and a 20-screen movie theater.

What draws most visitors to St. Petersburg and Pineallas County is their Gulf of Mexico beaches--some 35 miles of powdered white sand on barrier islands and hundreds of smaller islets. The St. Petersburg/Clearwater area won the first national beach award in the country. The Blue Wave program, conducted by the Clean Beaches Council, selected eight of the area's beaches based on superlative ratings for water quality and clean conditions. Two beaches--Caladesi Island State Park and Fort DeSoto Park--are ranked in the top 10 of the nation's beaches by Dr. Stephen Leatherman, professor at Florida International University. He's better known 2.s "Dr. Beach." These are beaches that evoke an age before high-rises and condos came to Florida.

Getting to Caladesi Island at the northern end of the island chain is an adventure in itself. Ferries depart hourly from Honeymoon Island State Park. When the ferry lands, follow the 1.5-mile nature trail instead of going straight to the beach. Caladesi is an important stopover for migratory birds in the spring and fall. With five miles of beach, there's plenty of room to have some sand all to yourself.

Fort De Soto Park, at the southern end of the island chain at the mouth of Tampa Bay, is a county park with a large campground, the remains of an old fort, nature trails, two fishing piers, and two outstanding barrier beaches. The park is immaculate, and bathhouses and picnic tables abound.

The park's East Beach faces into Tampa Bay and is one of the best beaches for shell collecting. North Beach is a true barrier beach---changeable with the tides and season. Even at high tide the water remains fairly shallow. Sandy shoals just off shore break the wave action and make this the perfect choice for small children.

Fort De Soto was built in 1898 to guard Tampa during the Spanish-American War, although the fort never fired a shot. Right next to the fort is the 1,000-foot Gulf Pier, where the tackle shop rents poles and sells bait and licenses. Drop a line for snapper, snook, and king mackerel.

Seabirds abound on the Gulf Coast, and visitors are invited to see them up close at the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary, the nation's largest bird hospital and home to more than 500 birds. It is tucked in a small plot of land on the beach between condos in Indian Shores. A modest attraction by Florida standards, it has gained worldwide fame in conservation circles. An average of 25-30 new birds arrive every day. Admission is free.