St. Petersblog

Where "Ex-Jocks and Ex-Loafers Can All Compete on an Equal Footing"

2010-06-13T09:01:00.001-07:00

Wandering inside the St. Petersburg Lawn Bowling Club (the post title is lifted from the club's homepage), through the entrance way that was open during last weekend's Tampa Bay Living Green Expo at the Coliseum in St. Pete. The Lawn Bowling Clubhouse is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places:

The New Dali Museum

2010-06-06T13:46:00.000-07:00

Construction for the new Dali Museum is scheduled to be completed around seven months from now. The museum's homepage has a countdown clock, and has a page of links devoted to the new building, including a web cam of the construction site, a Flickr page, FAQs, and more.

Although the construction site is fenced in, you can still get a good look at the new construction at its soon-to-be home, next to the Mahaffey Theater in St. Pete.

Channelside

2010-05-30T12:49:00.001-07:00

SkyPoint

2010-04-18T13:01:00.000-07:00

The SkyPoint condominium building, in view between the W.F. Poe Garage (left) and the Tampa Museum of Art (right).

Exit

2010-04-07T17:55:00.001-07:00

Exit door, Tampa Museum of Art

Perfs

2010-04-04T11:33:00.000-07:00

The Hillsborough River, the Cass Street Bridge, and a playground on Tampa's new waterfront park are all visible through the perforated aluminum at the new Tampa Museum of Art building.

North Beach

2010-03-26T19:16:00.000-07:00

Looking north on North Clearwater Beach from one of the suites at the Hilton Clearwater Beach Resort. In the background is the Sandperl.

At the Pier

2010-03-14T13:24:00.001-07:00

Scooters and old GTOs:

Standing O

2010-03-07T15:04:00.000-08:00

Mirrored panels reflect a variety of surrounding details on the O-shaped sculpture in front of the Ovation tower on Beach Drive.

2010-02-28T15:44:00.000-08:00

2010-02-28T15:38:00.000-08:00

Grand Central at Kennedy

Fish House

2009-12-07T21:25:00.000-08:00

Messages posted on the walls of this fish house in Cortez testify that it is not as abandoned as it looks.

Tampa, Port City

2009-11-26T17:24:00.001-08:00

Ship anchor and the downtown Tampa skyline in the background.

2009-11-26T17:24:00.000-08:00

Real Estate 2007

2009-11-22T08:33:00.000-08:00

The Citi Penthouse in the Victory Lofts at Channelside, 2585 sq. ft., was listed at $1.145 million in July 2007.

El Toro Negro

2009-11-14T16:03:00.000-08:00

El Toro Negro - one of my go-to faves for authentic Mexican.
5780 54th Ave., in Kenneth City.

Port View

2009-11-01T18:41:00.000-08:00

Channelside, from the parking garage.

Port Authority

2009-10-25T12:08:00.000-07:00

The Florida Aquarium with a Carnival cruise liner docked behind.

2009-10-05T21:02:00.000-07:00

Detective agency ad card found at the Gas Plant Arcade in St. Pete.

2009-09-27T18:51:00.000-07:00

Plant Park, Tampa

2009-09-20T12:34:00.000-07:00

Perch

2009-08-08T11:11:00.000-07:00

Two egrets perched on the boardwalk rail at Weedon Island.

Found Photo, No. 12

2009-07-25T05:34:00.000-07:00

A postcard of Sam Leto, atop "Thunder." Leto, who died in July 2001, was described by the St. Petersburg Times as "one of the Italian patriarchs of Ybor City." Leto, one of Ybor's alcaldes (Spanish for "mayor" -- in Ybor's case, think of a goodwill ambassador), was an unceasing promoter of the historic Latin quarter.

A former stuntman on locally filmed movies during the 1950s, Leto moved to Citrus Park when it was populated by citrus groves and raised palaminos. The postcard was produced for Ybor's Centennial in 1986.

Also:

Found Photo, No. 11

Found Photo, No. 10

Found Photo, No. 9

Found Photo, No. 8

UT

2009-07-22T17:21:00.001-07:00

University of Tampa, color-saturated.

Also, more UT-related posts:

Holga Four

2009-07-18T18:16:00.000-07:00

A saxman keeps in the shade in Ybor during a Sunday afternoon performance.

More Holgas:

X Styles

2009-07-18T18:09:00.000-07:00

Gulfport storefront along Beach Boulevard.

More Gulfport:

It's The Heat

2009-07-13T20:47:00.000-07:00

Screenshot, St. Pete Times web site, July 13, 2009.

Staring Match

2009-07-08T15:29:00.001-07:00

Development and Old Florida:

Condos and a marina's rusty boat shelter, on opposite sides of Gandy Boulevard.

St. Pete Commemorative Menu #2

2009-07-01T18:38:00.001-07:00

Another commemorative menu, this time from the Wild Shrimp Company.
One time, too eager to haul away some shrimp po' boys, gumbo, and cornbread, I left my Blackberry at the order window. The good folks there found it, and called my father from my address book, not realizing they were calling all the way to Pennsylvania. Anyway, I got my phone back, and Dad got an unexpected chuckle. It's sad about the closing.

Also:

Memorial Menu for The Kitchen
Gumbo Republic

Eyes

2009-06-20T19:08:00.001-07:00

(Garage door, Gulfport)

View Larger Map

Saw Palmetto

2009-06-15T19:13:00.000-07:00

A saw palmetto tree along one of the walking trails at Weedon Island Preserve.

Retro Buccaneer Advertisement

2009-06-07T18:34:00.000-07:00

Here's the last of the mid-fifties ads I've been running. It's a pre-Football Bucs image of the Buccaneer. Has the appearance of the buccaneer image dropped off in local advertising since the arrival of the Bucs? And "Sleepy Lagoon Yacht Harbor"? What a name!

Grove Stand

2009-06-01T19:55:00.000-07:00

Continuing with the series of mid-1950s ads, is this ad for a citrus grove. I am guessing that this gentleman, who owns a residential citrus tree care business, belongs to the family mentioned in the ad above. The link contains some early photos and is worth a click.

Resorts on the Gulf

2009-05-22T17:02:00.000-07:00

Mid-1950s advertisement for beach resorts in Sarasota
and Longboat Key.

Holga Three

2009-05-20T18:22:00.000-07:00

A Holga image of the Gizella Kopsick Palm Arboretum in St. Petersburg.

Also:

Holga Two

Holga One

Florida Real Estate Past

2009-05-17T16:43:00.001-07:00

This ad for Bayshore Gardens, located on the Tamiami Trail, is scanned from a playbill, circa 1956. The community appears to still be going strong and remains comparatively affordable.

Damn...

2009-05-10T13:20:00.000-07:00

...I sure miss being above the middle of Tampa Bay with a soft sunset light like this bouncing off the Gandy/Friendship Trail Bridges.

Font Circus

2009-04-28T20:00:00.000-07:00

Wall poster, Ybor City

Pastry Goodness

2009-04-26T20:07:00.000-07:00

Counter-clockwise, from top:
Raspberry Chocolate Ganache Truffle, Apple Turnover, Peach Cherry Cobbler.

Cafe Mozart, on 4th Street in St. Pete

2009-04-04T19:46:00.000-07:00

Looking skyward by way of the Robert L. Timberlake, Jr. Federal Building in downtown Tampa.

View Larger Map

Trash Bin

2009-03-29T10:24:00.000-07:00

At one of those furtive, illicit-looking meeting spots in between the shoreline trees, next to the Shrimp Docks

2009-03-24T18:27:00.000-07:00

(Shuffleboard Court, Pass-a-Grille)

Not the Harbour Island Side of the Channel

2009-03-16T17:54:00.000-07:00

Near Sparkman Channel, next to the CSX tracks, by the dislodged crossing sign.

View Larger Map

2009-03-11T18:24:00.001-07:00

Another one for the Stick Figures in Peril photo pool, this one in downtown Tampa.

Previously:

Spanish Point SFiP (last in post).

Dunedin Causeway

2009-03-06T18:23:00.000-08:00

Friday

2009-03-06T18:05:00.000-08:00

But, not good when the bottle opener almost drops into the garbage disposal!

On the Streets of Downtown Tampa

2009-02-25T20:03:00.001-08:00

Street art around downtown...

Demo & the Gleaming Skytowers

2009-02-21T16:46:00.000-08:00

Downtown Tampa (behind Hattricks)

Craft

2009-02-15T07:15:00.000-08:00

The Craftsman House in St. Pete (not pictured: gazpacho, hummus wrap, and strawberry spinach salad).

Main Street

2009-02-14T16:46:00.000-08:00

At the intersection of Main Street and the Pinellas Trail in Dunedin.

AmSouth West

2009-01-30T21:22:00.000-08:00

Looking west toward the AmSouth building in downtown Tampa at sunset.

Some From 2008 That Didn't Make It

2009-01-24T10:31:00.000-08:00

A no-flash shot of the old MFA in St. Pete, before the museum's new wing debuted.

Stairway to Foreclosure at Baywalk.

Someone in downtown Tampa evidently didn't like the fact that they were ticketed, and made their displeasure known by depositing the offending item in this planter.

On this day last summer, I only had a phone camera available to shoot the three-story Hurricane Restaurant draped under this yellow-and-blue-striped termite tent.

Lights on Tampa 2009

2009-01-11T08:05:00.000-08:00

The Fort Brooke Garage.

http://www.lightsontampa.org/

Cargo Load

2009-01-10T06:14:00.000-08:00

Luggage loading on a cruise ship, docked at Channelside.

And a good illustration of why that purple luggage set was purchased in the first place.

Sunday Afternoon

2008-12-16T21:04:00.000-08:00

Sand...cooler...plastic cup...geek lit.

Moon Under Water

2008-12-05T19:30:00.000-08:00

...at Clearwater Beach, before sunrise.

Architectural Features

2008-11-29T07:48:00.000-08:00

Detail from the Snell Arcade building in St. Pete.

A view of the building from Central Avenue.

O

2008-10-25T16:25:00.001-07:00

ZOMG! Someone's carved an O into this downtown fountain!
Where are my animated gif sirens? Developing...

NYT Screenshot

2008-10-19T21:38:00.000-07:00

NFW!

2008-10-19T20:46:00.000-07:00

Way!

Allendale Terrace

2008-10-15T05:20:00.001-07:00

These adobe-style structures are on 38th Avenue N, between Haines Road and MLK Street. The avenue runs through the Allendale Terrace neighborhood, a high-ground section of St. Petersburg with large estate homes built in the 1920s and 1930s.

Bonus Fun Fact: the link above to the city's website reveals that before the currently-named Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street N was Ninth Street, it was known as "Euclid Boulevard".

Kitch-end.

2008-10-12T08:05:00.001-07:00

It's no longer news that the Kitchen on Central Avenue closed down. So, for documentary purposes, here's a Kitchen menu. As with the other photos here, click to enlarge.

grrrr-fiti

2008-10-01T09:49:00.000-07:00

(Downtown St. Pete)

Stained Glass on 3

2008-09-28T13:56:00.000-07:00

Stained glass pieces for sale on the third floor of the
Glass Plant Arcade, antiques sellers in St. Pete.

Toppled

2008-09-07T07:02:00.001-07:00

The stencil reads:
"It's a planet not an empire"
(Downtown St. Pete)

Tom Klong Flavour

2008-08-24T15:31:00.000-07:00

At Cho-Lon Market, on US 19 south of 62nd Avenue in St. Petersburg.

P.O. Box Plein Air

2008-08-22T18:26:00.000-07:00

The Open Air Post Office, downtown St. Petersburg.

Two-Day-Away Fay

2008-08-17T18:43:00.000-07:00

Sunday, around noon, at the Gateway Mall Publix.

The Gumbo Republic

2008-08-17T18:19:00.000-07:00

In front of the Wild Shrimp Company, next to Haslam's on Central Avenue.

Palm Berries

2008-08-13T18:31:00.000-07:00

At the Gizella Kopsick Palm Arboretum in St. Pete.

Morocco on Central

2008-08-06T20:05:00.000-07:00

A metal lantern and more adorn the storefront at Treasures of Morocco.

Worm Vents

2008-08-06T19:53:00.000-07:00

(Dry Cleaner Roof,
Central Avenue, St. Pete)

Spanish Point, Set Two

2008-08-01T19:54:00.000-07:00

A second set of photos taken in March at
Historic Spanish Point in Osprey

First set of posts here.

The Guptill House, a Florida pioneer-era home built in 1901. The house is built on a prehistoric archaic midden, the oldest one at Spanish Point. The midden, which is composed of shellfish, shell tools, pottery, and early artifacts, dates back to 3000 BC.

The boat yard.

Interior boat yard.

An replica of the sharpie sailboat, a flat-bottomed boat, built to navigate shallow bays. The boats were used during Florida's pioneer era to transport people and goods along the coast. It's worth pointing out from the Spanish Point brochure that the sharpie replica (foreground) was built by volunteers there using traditional tools, techniques, and materials.

Ferns on an aqueduct.

Sporty

2008-07-27T12:38:00.000-07:00

This shirt with a delightful automobile grill motif
was spotted at the Gandy Goodwill.
I daresay, had it not been an XXL, I would have snapped this one up.

In the Coliseum

2008-07-27T12:19:00.000-07:00

"The South's Finest Climate Controlled Ballroom"

(The Coliseum, St. Pete)

Condo Lifestyle Is Watching U

2008-07-20T12:27:00.000-07:00

No one in St. Pete can escape the comparative gaze
of Big Condo Lifestyle.

(Building site fence screen, downtown St. Pete)

A Little East German Flava...

2008-07-09T17:44:00.001-07:00

...for this, our Glorious Day of FISA.

Inflatable Shark w/ Beach

2008-07-05T18:16:00.000-07:00

(Pier 60, Clearwater Beach)

Ybor Tracks

2008-06-28T20:13:00.001-07:00

Tracks are a half-block in front of busy Seventh Avenue, but the photo looks anywhere remote -- it could use a tumbleweed or two.

North Shore Park

2008-06-28T20:04:00.000-07:00

(North Shore Park, St. Pete)

Ephemera No. 2

2008-05-31T17:46:00.000-07:00

Previously:

Ephemera

Ybor Image

2008-05-22T20:19:00.000-07:00

A discarded sign from 2007's Festival of the Moving Image, an annual Ybor film festival.

El Puerto Restaurant

2008-05-03T20:15:00.000-07:00

(Nightclub courtyard, Ybor City)

Mama Said

2008-05-03T20:00:00.000-07:00

T-Shirt, at Urban Outfitters in Ybor.

Note to Wingnuts: Shirt refers to an L.L. Cool J song, not scaaaaary Black people.

Stop a Sec

2008-04-25T21:03:00.000-07:00

Tampa City Center. Where?

Ybor City Street Art

2008-04-19T06:54:00.001-07:00

The County Guard

2008-03-23T07:10:00.001-07:00

(Lifeguard stand, Sarasota County)

Spanish Point, Set One

2008-03-16T17:03:00.000-07:00

Historic Spanish Point in Osprey, an outdoor museum combining archeology, pioneer history, and nature walk along Little Sarasota Bay...

...small ferns grow from the trunk of a tree leaning in front of one the pioneer cottages...

...a view looking up at the pergola in the Sunken Garden...

...and at the foot of the Sunken Garden...

...a storage area? -- concrete built into a hillside that looked like a bunker...

...fishing on Little Sarasota Bay...

...and the first entry for Osprey/Spanish Point on Flickr's "Stick Figures in Peril" photo pool.

Garden Gate

2008-03-04T04:54:00.001-08:00

(Ringling Boulevard on St. Armand's Key, Sarasota)

Where Is The Chalck?

2008-03-02T16:32:00.001-08:00

Metaphysical Tampa Bay

Answers the Big Questions

(Cafe Bohemia, St. Pete)

North Lido Beach

2008-02-25T18:54:00.000-08:00

In Sarasota, near St. Armand's.

Spa Beach

2008-02-23T05:34:00.000-08:00

In St. Pete, on the approach to the Pier (between the trees, on the right). An old postcard here, depicting the beach in front of the old Million Dollar Pier, before the upside-down pyramid was introduced.

Pure Pop for Greek People

2008-02-23T05:24:00.000-08:00

Greek artists on CD for sale in Tarpon Springs.

Tarpon Springs Banners

2008-02-18T18:27:00.001-08:00

More Pier

2008-02-12T04:41:00.000-08:00

Good sailing conditions, as evidenced by the sails in the backgrounds behind these pelicans.

There is a "Feed the Pelicans" cart for tourists, behind the wall that this one is standing on, which makes them willing photo subjects.

Weather Washout

2008-02-10T16:31:00.000-08:00

A windy, overcast Saturday at the Pier in St. Pete...

...had the Pelicans burying their heads.

Harbor View

2008-02-04T05:03:00.001-08:00

A morning shot from north Clearwater Beach, looking at Clearwater Harbor with the beach roundabout in the foreground.

Grapevine Entry

2008-01-27T08:13:00.000-08:00

(1st Avenue South, St. Pete)

Kerouac on a Paper Towel Dispenser

2008-01-27T07:53:00.001-08:00

(The Men's Room at Haslam's Bookstore, St. Pete).

Background:

Kerouac's years in St. Petersburg.

Kerouac's house here.

Gallery Walk

2008-01-24T20:05:00.000-08:00

Highly Recommended: Emerging Artist Invitational, exhibiting until February 24, at the Florida Craftsmen Gallery. The exhibit includes Florida artists with no prior solo exhibitions.
At right, incense sticks and paper make up Burn Book (Gabriel) Volume 3, by Martin Casuso of Miami...

...Liliana Crespi's ethereal Sanctuary...

...down the street at the Arts Center, Robert Stackhouse & Carol Mickett exhibit with Waves of Meaning until February 23...

The exhibit includes large sculpture, an example of which is perfectly captured by my shitty camera phone. In the Blue is created from painted cypress. Walking through is wonder, and disconcertion all at the same time, as the wood out of the periphery reminds one of storm debris.