I’ve driven past this little apartment unit on 8th Street North hundreds of times, and it never fails to catch my eye. What could be a very unremarkable 1939 four-plex is, instead, a little gem in an area of otherwise ordinary buildings. It reminds me of a little story that we read in elementary school called, “Clothes Make the Man”. It was about a down and out bum who found some sort of crisp uniform in the garbage. He put on the uniform, and suddenly everyone was smiling at him, giving him respect, treating him differently. In response, he went out of his way to be nice to people, he cleaned up his act, and he was a transformed person.
I guess it’s also like taking a small gift for someone and giving it a fantastic, shiny, happy gift wrap. Suddenly, it’s intriguing and exciting and it can’t wait to be opened!
I have no idea what the inside of this building looks like, but that’s really not the point. I just want to salute the owners of this building for this unique, art-deco esque paint job, the great sign for the Glory Apartments, and for generally going out of their way to let this building shine! If you want to see this building for yourself, it’s at 340 8th Street North. And, by the way, there’s a sign out front that says that there’s an apartment for rent! [Please click on the photo to see a full sized image.]
I’ve lived in St. Petersburg since I was four years old. The Vinoy was a cool old building when I was a kid, but it was on its way downhill. Eventually, it shut down and was scheduled to be demolished. After a few failed attempts, the beautiful Vinoy was finally saved, preserved, renovated, and is now back to her grand and stately self. For me, that corner of land on the edge of the Vinoy Basin has always been the Vinoy Hotel.
But recently, I was doing some research into a bit of St. Pete history, and, quite accidentally, I came upon a reference to the Braaf family and their beautiful property at 609 Beach Drive. (In those early days, Beach Drive was the name given to the waterfront road that we now call Bay Shore Drive.) What? That’s where the Vinoy is! A little more digging, and I learned what should have been obvious – that there actually was earlier development on the grounds where the Vinoy was destined to be built. And why wouldn’t there have been? This is one of the most beautiful pieces of property in the city!
As it turns out, there was a beautiful house and a large piece of property that was planted with all sorts of tropical plants, owned by Mr. and Mrs. Charles Braaf, prominent St. Petersburg residents in the early 1900′s. Mr. Braaf owned a good deal of land in St. Petersburg in those days, and he was on the St. Petersburg City Council in 1912. In the early 1920′s, this property was purchased by Mr. Aymer Vinoy Laughner, who then moved ahead and built the Vinoy Park Hotel, the finest lodging in the city. Interestingly, many of the old trees on the west end of the Vinoy property today are trees that were planted by Mr. Braaf while he and his wife lived in their house there.
Although there’s not a great deal of detail visible, I found this post card online and purchased it so that I could give you a glimpse of what this Vinoy precursor looked like. I wouldn’t have minded living there one bit! The next time you’re downtown and you look over and see the Vinoy Hotel, just imagine this peaceful scene and the couple who lived here for many years before the Vinoy was born…
I was working with some friends recently to find a house for them. We found a great place in the Euclid Park neighborhood – an old bungalow in a peaceful neighborhood with a nice detached garage apartment. Their friend, a contractor, is updating it now, and they’ll be moving in soon. My friends are actually co-owners of the home, along with her dad. Her dad moved to Moscow sixteen years ago, after the fall of the USSR and the end of the Cold War, to operate the first Caterpillar Construction Equipment operation in Russia. Interesting man, and fun to talk to. After the closing, I arrived home to find a present on my front porch – it was from, as the card put it, “The Russians”. It was a bottle of vodka, but not just any vodka. It’s from St. Petersburg, Russia! Just so cool! Click on the photo below and you’ll get a larger image and then you can see “St. Petersburg”, both on the main label and the small upper label. I know we’ll start sipping it soon, but I just have to wait a little longer so that I can enjoy the wonderful bottle! I have to say that any transaction that ends with me receiving a bottle of vodka from my clients is a great transaction!
So, we keep hearing about poor attendance at the Rays home games. We like the Rays and we support them, but I”m afraid we’re part of that big mass of people who just don’t get around to going to the games. Well, we decided that it was time to change that, so last Friday, a group of 14 of us went to Tropicana Field to watch the Rays play the Kansas City Royals. After having won so many games and being on top of the world with their record for so long, we just happened to choose to attend the game where they lost! Of course, we were unhappy about that, and we felt bad for them, but the interesting thing was that we still had a great time! The energy and enthusiasm of the team and the crowd was great. Management at Tropicana does a great job. There were people to direct you to your seats, there were people who made sure that if anybody was standing up and blocking the view, they would either move on or sit back down. All of the usual ball game food was there, plus more. And they even had a little fireworks show after the game, inside of Tropicana – very cool! If you have thought at all about going to see a game, but you just haven’t gotten around to it, I encourage you to buy your tickets and go down and support St. Petersburg’s team! Tropicana Field and the Tampa Bay Rays are just one more of the huge variety of entertainment and activities that we have here to fill up our lives…
The photo below was taken when the Royals had several players on base, and the Rays were doing their best to figure out how to stop them in their tracks…
There are a lot of things to like about downtown St. Petersburg these days. New energy, new attitude, new restaurants, new art museums and galleries…
And a new bakery! For me, this is one of those areas where my response today is pretty much the same as it would have been when I was a child. I am ecstatic! I remember the days of bakeries scattered all over St. Pete when I was a kid. Even the Publix grocery store bakeries were separate entities in the ‘old days’, branded as ‘The Danish Bakery’ and situated in separate shops next to Publix. But most stand alone bakeries have become a thing of the past. I know of only a handful in all of St. Petersburg. And none downtown. While I love The Cupcake Spot on Central Avenue, it’s not a full bakery – as good as Cuppy is at making cupcakes, sometimes I long for more.
So, when I saw these signs in the window of the shop space next to the new Cassis American Brasserie on Beach Drive, my heart skipped a beat and I felt a serious adrenalin rush! Bakeries rule! I am very excited and can’t wait for this bakery to open it’s doors!
Sometimes, I’m very up to date on what’s happening in our city. But on occasion, I miss something big. I recently stumbled across this new Pinellas County Job Corps complex in St. Petersburg, at the corner of 5th Avenue South and 22nd Street. The 166,000 square foot Center fills an entire block across the street from the St. Petersburg Clay Company. Construction on the center is complete, and the process to procure an Operator for the Center is currently underway.
The Job Corps is, in their own words, ”the nation’s largest and most comprehensive residential education and job training program for at-risk youth, ages 16 through 24. Job Corps combines classroom, practical, and work-based learning experiences to prepare youth for stable, long-term, high-paying jobs.”
Job Corps programs have had huge economic impacts in communities where they’ve been established, and when this Center opens, there will be new jobs created at the facility, as well as new skilled workers graduating from the facility, likely for many years to come. For more details, as well as a number of photographs of the Center’s buildings, check out this document.
This weekend, downtown St Petersburg was the focal point for the 27th annual St. Anthony’s Triathlon. Saturday, it was the Meek and Mighty event, geared for children. And Sunday was the main event, with a 1.5K swim, followed by a 40K bicycle ride and a 10K run. Four thousand athletes were expected to participate!
The St. Anthony’s Triathlon is considered to be one of the fastest such events in the United States, and it is, for many, the first one of the season. As we watched for awhile from Bayshore Drive this morning, the energy was palpable and the enthusiasm was contagious. I found myself thinking, “if I were a few years younger…”. (Funny thing is, that’s the same thing I said when I met my wife! So maybe there is hope for a triathlon in my future!)
Anyway, I couldn’t resist photographing the two cuties in the first photo, there to offer encouragement to their dad. And the second photo was just a random shot of a group of riders who were just beginning the second leg of the event. According to news reports, the winner of today’s race was 26 year old Cameron Dye, a relative unknown. But not for long! (For full size views of either photo, please click on the photograph…)
If you need a little motivational boost to get outside and do some spring sprucing up of your yard, head to Walter Fuller Park to the 24th Annual Green Thumb Festival. The festival runs Saturday and Sunday from 9AM to 4PM. This festival is our combination Earth Day/Arbor Day celebration, free for all to enter, look, and, if you like, buy. There are educational sessions, auctions, $3 tree sales from the city (including turkey oak, live oak, maple, elm, southern red cedar, and more). There are over 100 vendors selling all kinds of plants and trees imaginable, plus music, food, and fresh air. Location of the park is 7891 26th Ave N, off 22nd Avenue N a little west of Tyrone Square Mall. This is a great way to greet Springtime in St. Petersburg!
This morning, at about 10 AM off the east end of The Pier, something like 30 beautiful sailboats set sail for Mexico! It was the start of the “Regata del Sol al Sol”, which translates, approximately, to ’Boat Race from the Sun to the Sun”.
As I keep on saying, St. Petersburg is full of fun things to do and fun things to see! This is a great example. Hosted here by the St. Petersburg Yacht Club, the regatta will be sailing from Tampa Bay to Isla Mujeres, Mexico, an island about eight miles from Cancun. The race has happened every April for the past 41 years.
If you’d like to take a shot at it, there is a $100 first prize and $50 second prize for the people that guess the closest to the actual amount of time it takes to complete the race. For more information, visit this link.
To see the pictures below as full size images, please click on each photo.
Nobility Crew Ready for the Race to Mexico
The Regatta Begins...
Signs of improvement in the world of St. Petersburg Real Estate continue to surface, sometimes without much fanfare, and sometimes with a bang! This empty corner lot on Snell Isle, directly across from Coffee Pot Bayou, is one such sign. The lot was apparently deemed to be more valuable than the old house that used to occupy it, so the old house has been torn down and something new and probably very grand is likely to be taking shape soon. The two lions on the corner seem undaunted by the disruption, readily accepting the change around them as they stand unaffected. I’ll keep an eye on this spot and will post again as things take shape!
