We woke to bright sunshine, warm temperatures and a desire to see St Petersburg. We have never been to this city before so we were anxious to see as much as we could today. Since we were anchored in the Vinoy Yacht Basin it was necessary for us to use the dinghy to get to shore. We just did not know what to do with the dinghy once we got there…it seems that while the dinghy itself is of some value, the motor is what most thieves want. So they remove the motor any way that they can, then slash the dinghy and let it sink. We were in luck in that we found a dinghy dock (which allowed us to tie up for a fee of $5 all day) knowing that our dinghy would be carefully watched.
Ashore we headed to The Pier with its up-side-down pyramid building. Here we found several very good restaurants, many fun shops, an aquarium and a winery. We had lunch at the restaurant at the top of the pyramid building which is really the bottom if the building were right side up. It was great to be up so high and to see the local sites as well as the Lolligag bobbing away in the Basin.
Following lunch, we had to go to the winery shop which specialized in all Florida wines for a tasting. Of course, I left with several bottles of wine in hand – after all, who knew they made such great wines in Florida and it is my civic responsibility as a tourist to support the local economy…
The city of St Petersburg very much encourages tourism and has a wonderful “Looper Trolley” that one can take all over the downtown area for a quarter. Mark and I got off and on several times as we came to sights that we wanted to see. Most impressive for me was the Vinoy Hotel. I absolutely love vintage hotels especially ones that have been either well maintained or restored. We walked all through this wonderful hotel and admired the restoration that so lovingly has taken place. I did not even want to ask the cost of a room because this is the kind of hotel that if you have to ask the room rate, you have no business staying there…but I could dream just the same.
Following the Vinoy tour, we walked back to the boat via Vinoy Park. It is so great to see all the flowers in bloom and feel the warm Florida sunshine.
Most fun of all was the Floating Wedding Chapel that is docked in the Vinoy Yacht Basin not far from our anchorage. Having first heard of it from fellow Loopers, I could not wait to see it for myself and there it was in full splendor. It was just as cute and charming as described. What a great idea for a non-traditional wedding…
As the sun went down, the winds picked up to 15-20 mph. The gusts were up to 30-35 mph and we rocked, bobbed and rolled all night. We both love the movement of the boat in the water but we did have some concerns about our anchor holding. The sailboat next to us became unanchored and he began to drag. They were able to get secured rather quickly and stayed put the rest of the night. Mark and I fell asleep awaiting the sound of our anchor alarm which luckily did not sound during the night.
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