Location: St. Petersburg, Fl
Known For: Having the world record in most consecutive days of sunshine (768 days), vibrant arts scene, Tropicana Field, The Vinoy (on the national register of historic places) and having a younger demographic than Sarasota.
Getting there: 45 Minute drive from Sarasota.
Stay: I booked my first AirBnB for $77/night. It was eight minutes outside of downtown – quaint, but next time I would stay in a hotel like the Hollander, which I heard also offers a decent hotel bar scene and would have been $115/night. If you factor in my $22 for Uber, I only saved $16+tax by AirBnBing it.
When To Visit: September. The St. Petersburg Saturday Morning Market closes for the summer but it re-opens in September. Plus the snowbirds haven’t all made it back down yet, so it’s still the good kind of pre-season (as opposed to the bad kind, the one with senseless injuries to incredible football players during games that don’t count. Jordy is a rock star and I’m still shaking it off).
Evening: Snag a booth in the bar for happy hour at Stillwaters on beach drive. There’s wine on tap and the small plates favorite was the confit chicken wings (house-made gochujang, lemongrass yogurt). There were many people out – not many 20-somethings, but groups of people in their 30s, 40s, and 50s were all accounted for. The generation gaps that I often see in Sarasota have filled in a bit in St. Pete.
From there we went to the Canopy at The Birchwood – the beautiful rooftop view lures me every visit. Highly recommend. (I have been 3 times and stopped here each time). We ordered apps and split the grouper sandwich. My last stop for the evening was Tryst, a posh gastro lounge with vintage décor. I was having fun meeting new people but suddenly exhaustion hit me like a ton of bricks so I made like Cinderella, was home by midnight.
Cassis
Morning: Brunch at Cassis American Brasserie. I learned at brunch that the party crowd went on from Tryst to get a table and dance until the wee hours of the morning (3am) at Push. Good thing the coffee was delicious at Cassis. My friend ordered what anyone who was out clubbing the night before must order: their croissant breakfast sandwich. I had the Egg White Omelet (grilled asparagus, smoked salmon, goat cheese), but requested it with real eggs because I like that egg yolks have essential vitamins and minerals. Caffeinated and satiated, I headed back over to our side of the bridge.
See you in the fall, St. Pete.