Travel: St. Petersburg, Florida

I couldn't possibly end a weekly theme on nomadism and travel without actually showing you where I have travelled to recently, now could I?  ;)

Here it is, beautiful St. Petersburg, Florida, where I spent the last two weeks over New Years visiting one of my best friends from high-school. As this was the second time I've visited St. Pete, it was more about spending time with my friend than sight-seeing, although there is a lot to do in and around St. Petersburg.

Historic Don Cesar Resort Hotel, St. Petersburg Beach

I've had a lot of time to study photography with a book I purchased here, so while I was in St. Pete I took a lot of experimental photos. No opportunity was better than the breathtaking sunset we saw on New Years Day. It had been warm enough to wear a sundress and we had enjoyed the whole afternoon relaxing day on the beach, so seeing this brilliant sunset was the perfect ending to the day.

Phillip's partner, Dan, had the most talkative, beautiful cat I had ever seen. Her name was Bebe, after drag queen Bebe Zahara Benet. She had the most stunning jade green eyes I've ever seen on a cat. Her breed is Oriental Blue. 

Late night ice-cream at a roadside kiosk. So Florida!

The day after New Years the temperature dropped dramatically, and I enjoyed the first fire I've had on my trip---in Florida!

Photo by Bluelucy

Phillip is a pop-artist with his ex-partner, Chad, and together they own Bluelucy, an art services business. 

They moved down to St. Pete from Boston about 8 years ago and have been loving it since. Besides being a lot warmer, St. Pete does a lot to support its artists. For News Years Eve, the city set up art 'pods' for artists to display their work as part of the fireworks festivities. 

 Photo by Bluelucy

 Bluelucy's pod rocked in black light and neon and was my favorite by far.

A beautiful bungalow we passed on our walk back to Dan's house after the fireworks.

Lifelong friends. I miss him already. :(

Things to do in St. Petersburg, Florida:

• Visit the Salvador Dali Museum

• Stroll down the Pier, which juts into the Tampa Bay and hosts a five-level marketplace with shops and restaurants overlooking the water.

• Enjoy the exotic tropical flora of the Sunken Gardens, a hundred-year old botanical gardens featuring cascading waterfalls and over 50,000 species of plants and flowers.

• Visit the Museum of Fine Arts, which has a fair collection of French Impressionists worth seeing. 

• My favorite thing to do in St. Pete is antique and local arts boutique shopping. Check out Phillip's friend's new shop Art Pool, where a fantastic vintage clothing collection is matched with a fantastic local arts collection. The ArtPool hosts monthly "I Love St. Pete" art exhibition parties.  Wish I could be there!

Has anybody been to St. Petersburg? What did you think?

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