St. Petersburg: the one in Florida, not Russia

When people hear Florida, they think Miami, Orlando. When I hear Florida, I reminisce St. Petersburg. Don't confuse it with the St. Petersburg in Russia, although it was named after the original city because it was co-founded by a man named Peter Demens who had spent much of his youth in the St. Petersburg of Russia.

I am not a fan of Miami, although I've been many times and enjoyed myself there. It's full of very pretentious, superficial and fake people. Everyone is showing off their new nose jobs and new cars, and you have to look rich to feel accepted. There's so much pressure to look the best. Like, who the heck cares? I'm here to tan my butt cheeks and see some friends, but I don't care about going to LIV (the popular for celebrities and overrated night club) or about going to posh restaurants like Roberto Cavalli to order a 40$ (and up) slab of steak (that restaurant is closed now anyway; I wonder why). Miami is also way too big and spread out with horrible public transportation (like the rest of Florida), so you need a car to get everywhere and it takes too much time.

I'm not so hostile towards Orlando, which is more laid back and the home to many people's source of happiness: Disneyworld and Universal Studios. However, there is unfortunately not much else around there to do. It's just a big highway with a magical oasis. You also need a car in Orlando to get from one place to another.

St. Petersburg is totally different. It has the beach scene, and the laid back scene, and a beautiful, yet simple, city center all in one. It's not nearly as big as Miami or Orlando, so you don't have to waste so much time going from one place to another. It's definitely more convenient to have your own car, but it's not that necessary if you're already in the city center. In downtown St. Pete, you can walk everywhere. The one main disadvantage to St. Petersburg is that the downtown and the beach are on opposite sides of the city, so probably the only time you'll really need a car is if you want to go from the downtown to the main beach area. Fortunately they're only about 20 minutes apart from each other, so you can just Uber there.

Beaches

St. Pete Beach is the whole strip of beach with lined with hotels. It's beautiful, but usually there are too many people, so I like to move down to Pass-A-Grille beach, which is on the same strip but closer to the Don Cesar hotel (the huge pink fancy building). The sand at Pass-A-Grille isn't as soft as the sand further up on St. Pete Beach, but I like the area and ambiance better. You can also walk in the Don Cesar to use their nice bathrooms.

This photo of the sunset at Pass-a-Grille beach is unique because it shows this famous guy on his parachute chair-propeller who always comes out and flies around the beach. I wish I could try it!

The Working Cow

This ice cream place near the Pass-A-Grille beach is one of my favourites to go to.

Tropicana Field

Good news for baseball fans, Tropicana stadium is right in St. Pete, so you can watch the Tampa Bay Rays games there. I'm a Boston Red Sox fan, so I got to see the Red Sox when they played at Tropicana.

This photo was actually taken at the Gasparilla parade in Tampa, but it shows the support of the Rays where ever you go!

The Pier

Right at the center of downtown on the coast you'll find the long pier, which is nice for walking around, get some views of the city and some fresh ocean air. Many people also hang out there to go fishing. I believe the pier building at the end of the strip is still being renovated, but usually when it's open, you can go inside, see a mini aquarium, and eat at the casual restaurant at the top. Even if you don't want to eat there, the view of the city from the top of the pier building is nice to see.

Nightlife

I don't recommend St. Pete for the club scene; although there are a few clubs which I'll mention below, I think Tampa (30-40 minute drive away) is better for clubbing. I personally believe that St. Pete is definitely more of a bar scene city. The typical "bar block" as I like to call it is located right at the center, and it's basically a square block of just bars and clubs, so you can walk around the block, bar hop, and choose what you like the best.

On Ocean Drive, which is the main street downtown facing the water and pier, there are some more nice bars and rooftop bars. On the other side of St. Pete, which is the beach side, you'll find plenty of bars and restaurants as well.

Jannus Live

This outdoor venue has a bar and often holds concerts and sometimes private events (the Eckerd Spring ball was held here, for example). You can see what performances they have either online or on the billboard outside of the venue. I've been there a few times, for the Spring Balls but also to see the reggae group Pacifire, which was cool.

Nightclubs and Bars

The main nightclubs and bars in downtown St. Petersburg are almost all on the same block, which makes it easy and convenient to go from one to the other. 260 First, Enigma and LUX Bar and Lounge are some examples of nightclubs or bars for dancing. Some other bars include Mandarin Hide, Ruby's Elixir, Tryst Gastro Lounge and The Canopy, which is a nice rooftop bar with views of the bay.

If you're hanging around the beach area of St. Petersburg, some beach bars to try are Swigwam Beach Bar, Jimmy B's Beach Bar, Bongo Beach Bar and Grille, The Drunken Clam, Undertow Beach Bar and 360 Rooftop (another bar with nice views).

Hookah

There are a few hookah places that I've tried in St. Pete:

Habibi's, The Kitchen, Acropolis (Greek restaurant that offers shisha outside), iHookah, and Hookah Cafe.

Since I personally enjoy the hookah/shisha that have an oriental dimly lit ambience, my favourite place of all of them is the Hookah Cafe. This one is located right downtown, and it is a good place to chill.

The Kitchen is more of an outdoor bar modern-style ambience and it's located right at the center of the St. Pete bar nightlife (also downtown). I recommend it for those who want to go to bars as well.

iHookah is alright, but it's located outside of the city center so you'd need a car to get there. Habibi's is also a bit out of the way of downtown.

I prefer to go to Acropolis when I want to eat and then smoke right after, but if I want to just smoke, then I prefer to go to the other places listed above.

Saturday morning market

Every Saturday from 9am to 2pm, there's the outdoor farmers and crafts market place in the downtown, not too far from the pier. It's location is at the Al Lang Field parking lot (the corner of 1st Street and 1st Avene S). Just follow the sound of the live music and you'll find it. There are tents and stands selling fresh fruits and vegetables, but also many more things such as arts and crafts and sometimes there are activities for kids. As I mentioned, there's live music, which is usually accompanied by dancing. There is also a nearby playground. This market is opened from October to late May each year. The Summer Market changes venues for shade. It is located in Williams Park from June to August, 9am to 1pm.

Dali Museum

St. Petersburg is known for housing the Salvador Dali art museum. It's not a huge building, but it's not disappointing either. It holds his greatest works and I have enjoyed going there twice. Two of my favourite paintings of Dalí are The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus and The Hallucinogenic Toreador. The building's interesting and modern architecture is both eye-catching and impressive.

Of course, the Dalí's famous mustache is a prime feature in the museum's garden!

Downtown ice cream - Paciugo

There are a lot of ice cream places in St. Pete, but one of my favourites downtown is called Paciugo Gelato & Caffe. It's located right near the Vinoy hotel (another big beautiful fancy pink building). Since it's right downtown and walking distance from most of the popular restaurants in the area, it's te perfect place to go for ice cream after eating lunch or dinner (or breakfast). Paciugo is located on Ocean Drive.

Restaurants

The Moon Under Water

This restaurant has a diverse and unique menu, which is why I really like it. It has something for everyone, ranging from Indian food (curry dishes), British food (fish and chips), Vegetarian Friendly, Vegan Options, Gluten Free Options, etc. It's also quite a good UK pub. I think it has a wide enough selection to be able to fulfill and please many people's food desires. This restaurant is located on Ocean Drive, very close to the ice cream place Paciugo.

Acropolis Greek Taverna

I love the gyros here. Besides offering the option to smoke shisha on it's outdoor terrace or on the balcony, what I like most about Acropolis is that the food is decent enough for a nice dinner and it's well priced for students. Acropolis is a perfect mix between a casual and nice restaurant. I've been there with friends but also on dates.

Acropolis is unique because they have live entertainment every Friday and Saturday nights with Belly Dancers & Live Bouzouki, and every night they have Plate Breaking, Zorba Dancing & Napkin Throwing.

This restaurant is located downtown on 515 Central Avenue North.

The Hurricane

Right at Pass-A-Grille beach is one of my favourite beach restaurants there called The Hurricane. I recommend going there right before sunset and sitting upstairs where you can get a beautiful view of the beach and sunset while you eat.

This was taken in the spring of 2015, one of the best dates I've ever had!

You should make a reservation first, just in case. It's not a fancy restaurant, but they don't let you in if you're wearing your swimsuit, so make sure you put clothes on.

The following four eateries/restaurants are not located in downtown St. Pete so you'll need a car to get to them. If you are able to, I recommend them!

Mazzaro's

This is a 100% authentic Italian café and market place. It's a little on the pricey side but if you buy your freshly made pasta here, you won't regret it. They also make really good cappuccinos and other drinks.

Skyway Jack's

Your local mom's and pop's breakfast place. I even prefer it to iHops (which is located on the same street not too far away). Skyway Jack's is the best diner to go to for your morning eggs and bacon and hash browns. They have a large variety of delicious, heavy, high cholesterol breakfast food. They have some healthy things too, but that's not what I go there for. I have really good memories of going to Skyway Jack's for Saturday or Sunday morning brunch with my best friends to recover ourselves and discuss what happened the night before.

I am a huge fan of buffets, but only if they're really good. Two of my favourite buffets are at a Persian restaurant and at an Indian restaurant, and both are very reasonably priced with good quality food.

Mirage Restaurant

This is my favourite Persian and Mediterranean style restaurant. The prices are good, with the cheapest option for lunch during the week:

• Monday thru Friday lunch buffet goes from 11am to 2:30pm and it is $13. 99.
• Saturday and Sunday lunch buffet is from 11:30am to 3pm and it is $15. 99.
• Friday and Saturday dinner buffet is from 6:30pm to 10pm and it is $20. 99.

The location of Mirage is the furthest from any of the other places that I've recommended because it's right when you enter Clearwater (the neighboring city), but it's only about a 25 minute drive from downtown St. Petersburg. If you have a car and you're craving unlimited Persian and Mediterranean food for a good price, it's worth it. It's located on 2284 Gulf to Bay Boulevard, Clearwater.

Gateway to India

One of my favourite places to go for an Indian all you can eat lunch buffet. The lunch buffet time goes from 11:30am to 2:30pm and it's every day of the week (with Sundays having a larger food selection). I don't remember the exact prices, but I think they're under $16. It's located on 8300 Bay Pines Blvd.

Special events

Firestone Grand Prix

In the springtime, St. Petersburg holds the annual Firestone car races, taking place directly downtown. The next one will be held March 9-11, 2018. It is a three day weekend long event, hosting 13 different races. There is entertainment for everyone, even if you're not necessarily a racing fan. Tickets are as low as $20 for one day.