(Lassing Park in south St. Pete).

Christmas at the Vinoy

For out-of-town and international readers, the Vinoy hotel in downtown St. Petersburg is one of the area's stately pink hotels -- the other being the Don CeSar on St. Pete Beach. The Vinoy, built in 1925, is on the National Register of Historic Places. From 1974, when it closed, to the early '90s, when it was re-habed, the once-luxury hotel became a shelter for vagrants. After regaining its luxurious cred, it is now the home to one of the priciest Sunday brunches in town, and according to this Boston Herald blog, is where former Red Sox pitcher Scott Williamson saw a ghost (near bottom of post).















































And those St. Pete city elves: where DOES that attitude come from?

St. Pete Clay Co.

The St. Pete Clay Company, housed in the historic Seaboard Train Station, is home to all things clay: studios, galleries, education, and retail. Until Jan. 13 of next year, they're hosting a collection of art created on sections of the Berlin Wall...




...three Russian artists were invited to take part in the project to create art from sections of the wall on the East German side. Originally created to provide funding to build a Checkpoint Charley museum...




...the 114 sections were eventually sold to a U.S. businessman who had them shipped to Maine, before changing hands to a second owner, but one without means to market and promote the collection which languished for the next 15 years, before the Outdoor Arts Foundation acquired it in 2004.



The plaque behind this piece is a quote from Walter Ulbricht, leader of the GDR, from June 15, 1961, two months before the Berlin Wall construction began: "Nobody intends to put up a wall".

A workspace adjacent to one of the galleries.

One of the kilns.

Pieces from the company's annual holiday sale, where some real bargains for some quality work can be snapped up.

Sunset Attest

(Clearwater Beach)