The sunny side of St. Pete

Jennifer K Mahal

Little gray-haired ladies walking pet poodles, driving pink Cadillacs

and playing canasta. Old men lawn bowling and betting on the greyhounds

at the track. A town so slow you would be able to see the paint dry if it

weren’t for the fact it’s so humid.

That’s what the words “St. Petersburg, Fla.” used to conjure for me.

That is until I moved my mother there and started to visit every other

month. Spending so much of my vacation time in St. Petersburg has taught

me something about the town -- mainly that it is younger, hipper and more

interesting than I would have ever suspected it to be.

Though the white sugar sand and warm waters of St. Pete Beach beckon

tourists, it is the city’s reviving downtown that I enjoy most. Downtown

St. Petersburg is absent the shops selling plastic alligators and

five-for-$10 beer logo T-shirts found near every tourist trap in the

state. Instead, what it offers is culture and laid-back class.

St. Petersburg was founded in 1888 by Gen. John C. Williams of Detroit

and a Russian tycoon named Peter Demens, who wanted to extend the Orange

Belt Railroad to the Gulf of Mexico. Demens made an arrangement with

Williams to use 500 acres of land. The plan was to create a railroad

town.

It is said that Demens and Williams could not agree on who would get

to name the new city. So, like adults, they drew straws. Demens won and

called the town St. Petersburg after the town in Russia. Most people call

it St. Pete. Williams got to name the first commercial building -- the

Detroit Hotel.

The hustle of big-city life is mainly missing from St. Pete’s streets.

Oh, it has skyscrapers -- like the 26-floor Bank of America building, the

tallest in the city -- and the requisite crew of suits, but there’s a

distinct lack of rush. Maybe it’s the humidity or the bright, beautiful

73-degree days or the proximity to the water -- just walk a few blocks,

and you’re at Tampa Bay -- that gives St. Pete a Southern sense of

languor.

Whatever the reason, it can fool you into thinking there’s nothing

going on in this town. Not so. Think of it as being slow like jazz rather

than slow like molasses. There are some achingly beautiful notes, with a

rhythm underneath.

CENTRAL AVENUE

Walk down Central Avenue between 2nd and 3rd streets, on the block

known as Jannus Landing, and you might hear a few tones drifting on the

breeze. On Friday and Saturday nights, the music could be coming from a

jazz band at the Garden (217 Central Ave, [727] 896-3800). The

neighborhood bistro serves tasty Mediterranean cuisine in a casually chic

atmosphere.

Next door is proof that St. Pete is closer in culture to New York than

Los Angeles. The Lobby (217 Central Ave., [727] 896-3800) is a martini

bar open only on weekends. Its decor and variety of ways to get sloshed,

plus its clientele, all whisper “Sex in the City.” Down a block further,

at 300 Central Ave., the Rare Olive ([727] 822-7273) lets you know that

this is not a one-martini town.

If you have A Taste for Wine, go to the wine bar of the same name (241

Central Ave., [727] 895-1623). Its balcony is a nice place to watch the

locals -- men sweating it out in business garb, women in skirts and

strappy sandals -- stroll by.

There is another “a” word associated with Central Avenue besides

“alcohol” -- art. Between 4th and 7th streets, Central Avenue becomes an

avenue of the arts, with about 10 galleries, anchored by the Florida

Craftsmen Gallery (501 Central Ave., [727] 821-7391).

Housed in a building that used to be a department store, the nonprofit

Florida Craftsmen Gallery has kept the buying and selling of art alive in

downtown St. Pete for 15 years. The gallery, run by a mostly volunteer

staff, only deals in Florida artists. Works by painters and textile

artists hang next to pieces by glassblowers and sculptors. If you’ve ever

wanted a table with a base shaped like the roots of a mangrove, this is

your spot.

Internationally recognized and new artists can be found at 531 Central

Fine Arts (531 Central Ave., [727] 822-2787). If the funny metal

sculptures near the window don’t grab your attention, the variety of work

on the walls will. From photography to oils, the gallery has its eye on

style.

Down the street, the Arts Center (719 Central Ave., [727] 822-7872)

offers a rotating selection of exhibits without a price tag attached.

When hunger strikes, and it will, stop by No. 9 Bangkok (571 Central

Ave., [727] 894-9936). The restaurant offers both Thai and Japanese

cuisine. It may sound like a strange combination, but don’t be put off.

This place has the best rainbow roll I’ve ever had, and its red curry

with chicken has kept me and scores of St. Pete natives coming back.

BY THE WATER

When I think of art museums, I think of landlocked buildings in ugly

locations filled with beautiful objects. St. Pete is the only place I

know where there are two nonnautical museums taking up space on the

waterfront.

Start by going to the Museum of Fine Arts (255 Beach Drive East, [727]

896-2667). Designed by architect John Volk, the museum is a stately queen

reigning over a waterfront park. Inside exists a collection that includes

works by Georgia O’Keefe, Claude Monet, Robert Henri and photographer

Aaron Siskind. While not as large as the Metropolitan Museum of Art or

the Getty, the size of this museum is part of its charm. You can get a

full afternoon of quality art without feeling like you’ve been

overwhelmed.

While you’re on Beach Drive, skip the over-touristy Pier in favor of

lunch or dessert at Marchand’s Bar and Grill inside the Renaissance Vinoy

Resort and Golf Club (501 5th Ave. Northeast, [727] 898-4264). The

pink-towered Vinoy was built in 1925, became an Army Air Corps training

facility in the ‘40s and reopened as a hotel in 1945. In 1992, it went

through a renovation that did nothing but improve its classic Florida

architecture.

The quietly elegant Marchand’s is a little pricey, but it’s a great

place to sit and imagine you’re in a time gone by as you sip your syrah.

Sit by the window and watch the yachts in the municipal marina bob with

the currents.

By another marina, a little outside the downtown area, is St. Pete’s

premier attraction -- the Salvador Dali Museum (1000 3rd St. South, [727]

823-3767). The Dali, as it is known, was started 20 years ago from the

collection of A. Reynolds and Eleanor R. Morse. It houses some of the

surrealist painter’s most complex masterpieces, including “The

Hallucinogenic Toreador” and “Discovery of America.”

Through June 8, it will also house both “The Persistence of Memory,”

on loan from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and “The Disintegration of

the Persistence of Memory” from its permanent collection. It is the first

time these two works have ever been shown side by side. Clocks will never

look the same again.

If you’re willing to travel a few blocks farther, I highly recommend

Fish Tales Seafood House (1500 2nd St. South, [727] 821-3474). Located at

a boatyard and a little hard to find, Fish Tales has some of the yummiest

seafood around. It’s not fancy -- you won’t find truffle sauce on the

menu -- but the food is just wow. Even thinking of the salmon skillet

makes my mouth water.

Every time I go to St. Pete, I find something new to be enthusiastic

about. And I haven’t even started to branch out to Tampa, which is about

25 minutes away, or Orlando, which takes about an hour and a half of

freeway time. It may not be as exciting as Miami or as young as Fort

Lauderdale, but there’s something about St. Pete that restores the soul.