Surreal Parade

Posted on January 11, 2011 by Bob Horn

Yesterday morning, I took a break from the ‘work’ part of my job and opted to check out the Surreal Parade that was taking place to celebrate the official move from the original Dali Museum in its old warehouse building to the shiny, beautiful new $36 million dollar masterpiece on the waterfront next to Mahaffey Theater. I thought that I might catch an interesting photo or two for this blog, and I did. And, although some of my other photos are certainly more surreal by design, this shot was my favorite of the parade. As this formerly calm and peaceful horse walked down Third Street with Spanish Royalty riding in the carriage behind, it was suddenly spooked by some movement in the parade ahead, and it opted to register its concern with a couple of unplanned moves! After the jumping, there was a momentary, very sudden burst of forward speed, and then the driver was able to calm the horse down and resume a normal pace. But for a few seconds, it was pretty exciting to see!  The small size of the photo here doesn’t do it justice, but if you click on it, you’ll get a larger image.

Anyway, there were hundreds of people who came out to watch the parade of Dali-esque beings who made the journey from old home to new.  I’m not going to write about the details of the new museum – much better for you to get your information straight from the source, at the Dali Museum website.  Rather, I’ve chosen to show you another parade image or two, as well as a shot of the front of the new Dali.  It looks absolutely spectacular – I’m very excited to make my first visit!

 

Posted in Architecture, Art, Events, New and Exciting!, Photo Opportunity, St. Petersburg | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Pops in the Park Saturday Night

Posted on October 15, 2010 by Bob Horn

 PA175711_2_3_4_5-2

The Florida Orchestra’s Annual Free Pops in the Park concert takes place tomorrow, October 16th, at 7:00 PM in Vinoy Park in downtown St. Petersburg.  Once again this year, it looks as though the concert timing coincides perfectly with our new cool front that arrived just last night, so it should be a glorious evening to throw down a blanket, eat a picnic dinner (or maybe just dessert), and enjoy the wonderful music that the Florida Orchestra always delivers.  The park setting is just a very fun way to listen to the Orchestra, and the musicians always seem to thrive on this outdoor setting – I guess it’s a nice change of pace for them.  If you want to get a good spot for your blanket, go early – this is a very popular happening!  And, as always, the concert finishes off with the 1812 Overture, played at the same time as a nice little fireworks display is set off over the Vinoy Basin – it’s a perfect pairing!  If you’d like to go, and you’re not familiar with Vinoy Park, it’s at the far east end of 5th Avenue North, where 5th Avenue dead-ends at Tampa Bay.  Parking will be available at lots around the downtown area, or along Beach Drive or along NorthShore Park…

This concert has been presented for free, outdoors, each year for the past seventeen years thanks, in large part to local Realtor Helen Torres who seventeen years ago pledged $20,000 per year to the Florida Orchestra for the next twenty years in exchange for this annual outdoor concert/gift to St. Petersburg.  Three more years in her pledge – I hope that, at the end of the twenty years, someone else steps up and takes over for Helen.  In the meanwhile, we’ll continue to attend each year and to enjoy the music.  In the words of Joni Mitchell, they’ll be ”playin’ real good, for free”.  Just another one of the many reasons that St. Petersburg is a fantastic place to live and play!

Posted in Art, Events, Just For Fun, Simple Pleasures, St. Petersburg | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

St. Petersburg’s Fresh Market is Open!

Posted on October 13, 2010 by Bob Horn

I first posted about The Fresh Market coming to St. Petersburg back on November 4th of 2009.  The southwest corner of 4th Street North and 30th Avenue, which was, many years ago, the Cocoanut Grove Motel, then the Cocoanut Grove Shops, was about to have a new raison d’etre as the 100th store in The Fresh Market family.  And this morning, The Fresh Market opened its doors.  With free shopping bags and coffee samples to the first 1,000 visitors, lots of samples, and plans for outdoor grilling today at lunchtime, the store is fully stocked and ready to go.  When I stopped in early this morning to get a few pictures, there was even a chef cooking bacon, French Toast, and other breakfast goodies for anyone who happened to smell the wonderful aroma and see his table (they even served little cups of pure Maple syrup to complement the French Toast!)  The store is airy and open and big and it’s filled with fresh produce, meats, fish, fresh baked pies, pastries, breads, wines, candy, coffees (including my favorite, fresh from San Francisco, Peet’s Coffee), flowers and lots more.  Stop by and check it out – you won’t be disappointed!

Posted in New and Exciting!, Places | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Arts Alive: Free Museum Day for All in St. Petersburg!

Posted on September 17, 2010 by Bob Horn

One week from tomorrow, on Saturday, September 25th, St. Petersburg residents will get the chance to experience Arts Alive Free Museum Day!  St. Petersburg’s major museums will throw open their doors and welcome everyone in, free of charge! This will be the sixth annual event, done in coordination with the Smithsonian Institute and Smithsonian Magazine. The event is taking place in many major cities around the country, so if you’re not near St. Petersburg, be sure to check your local media for details in your area.  But for St. Petersburg, I can tell you that you will be welcomed, at no cost, at the following great museums:

  • The Dali Museum
  • Dr. Carter G. Woodson Museum
  • Florida Holocaust Museum
  • Great Explorations Children’s Museum
  • Morean Arts Center and Hot Shop
  • Museum of Fine Arts
  • Pier Aquarium
  • St. Petersburg Museum of History

For more details, such as addresses, museum hours, description of current exhibitions, etc,  you can check out this link  on the City of St. Petersburg’s website.

And if you’d like a larger version of any of the photos shown here, just click on the individual image.

Posted in Art, Events, History, St. Petersburg | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Cassis Bakery on Beach Drive

Posted on September 16, 2010 by Bob Horn

I love it when, during a trip to some other city, either in Florida or out, we accidentally come upon a bakery while we’re walking around in the city’s downtown or other shopping district.  I admit it; I’m a fanatic for delicious bakery treats.  And I have wished, for so long, that someone would open a bakery in downtown St. Pete.  Don’t get me wrong – there are some great places downtown with treats, including the Cupcake Spot, on Central Avenue, next to Shakolad.

But a full bakery, with lots of amazing choices!  That’s what I’ve been waiting for!  And it happened, early yesterday morning, at the new Cassis Bakery on Beach Drive. French pastries, croissants, eclairs, artisan breads, even homemade sorbets and ice cream.  If you’re a sweet lover and a downtown St. Pete lover, now’s your chance – you definitely have an excuse to indulge!  Take a sneak peek by checking out the photos below – for a better look at any of them, click on the photo for a full-size version.

Posted in Food/Drink, Simple Pleasures, St. Petersburg | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Mound Park Hospital

Posted on September 11, 2010 by Bob Horn

My younger sister was born at Mound Park Hospital in St. Petersburg in the 1950′s. My two children were born at Bayfront Medical Center in the 1980′s. Yet all of them were born in the very same hospital. Yes, it expanded (and expanded some more) and got a name change, but the very hospital that you see in the scan of an old postcard, below, still exists as the ‘old’ wing of today’s Bayfront Medical Center. In fact, if you walk around to the rear of the hospital today, you can still see some of the portions of the original building. Compare the architectural style of the postcard with the style of the photo (just below the postcard) that I took of the rear of BMC — you can see that it is the same! Then, check out the photo at the very bottom, showing the main entrance of Bayfront today, and you’ll see virtually no sign at all of the old Mound Park building that is still there!

Something else that disappeared, over the years, to make room for expansion, was the enormous Indan Shell Mound that was on the hospital grounds and for which Mound Park was named. At some point, the need to grow the hospital became so great that the city leveled the mound – something that I am very sure would not be allowed to happen today!

For a larger view of any of the photos, just click on the photo itself.

Posted in Architecture, Historic Buildings, St Petersburg Fixtures, St. Petersburg | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Pelican Enjoying the Sunrise

Posted on September 9, 2010 by Bob Horn

I know, pictures of pelicans in St. Petersburg are a dime a dozen…  And you certainly can’t hang out near the Pier or the Marina downtown without seeing plenty of them.  But when I was downtown last Saturday, trying to catch a perfect sunrise, this particular pelican stood out – or, rather, stood still.  He was completely unperturbed by my presence, and even as I stepped to within two feet of him he just continued to watch me.  Maybe a bit warily, but he did not budge.  For that, he gets to be published! (For a larger image, please click on the picture.)

Posted in Photo Opportunity | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Greenpeace Ship Docked in St. Petersburg

Posted on September 5, 2010 by Bob Horn

I was prowling along the waterfront south of downtown today, checking out the progress on the new Dali museum.  As I drove a bit further, I saw something that caught my eye. So, I did a U turn and drove into the parking lot in the marine science area of USF Bayboro campus.  Sure enough, there sat a Greenpeace ship, an icebreaker, complete with a helicopter on deck! Very unusual and intriguing to see this vessel docked in our city, but it turns out that we have no ice to break nearby and no whaling interventions. Rather, I learned, the ship is going to be used in the Gulf of Mexico for a protracted period, studying the long-term impact of the oil spill from the disastrous Deepwater Horizon incident. Seems like a mission that we can all embrace – I was happy to see them there! If you’d like to follow their progress firsthand, check out this link, which provides information and updates about this specific mission.  (For a larger, higher resolution image, please click on the photo.)

Posted in St. Petersburg, Unexpected | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

September Dawn

Posted on September 4, 2010 by Bob Horn

So, I got up early this morning with the specific purpose of heading downtown to try to catch a gorgeous sunrise over Tampa Bay.  By the time our beautiful sun actually rose, the sky was surprisingly boring, so I am opting to skip it.  Instead, I give you an HDR composition of five photographs taken just a few minutes before the sun came up.  The five shots were snapped within a two second period, capturing the low lights and the mid tones and the high lights and presenting colors that I saw with my eyes but that aren’t so easy to capture with a camera.  This was our September dawn this morning, as seen from Vinoy Park, looking out across Tampa Bay.  It was stunning to see!  (Please click on the photograph for a larger, higher resolution image.)

Posted in Photo Opportunity, Simple Pleasures, St. Petersburg | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Try Bowled Restaurant For A Treat!

Posted on August 21, 2010 by Bob Horn

Those of you who have been reading this blog for awhile know that I don’t often post about restaurants or shops – I tend to focus more on places and events.  It’s not that I’m against doing such posts; it’s just that I have no basis for considering myself to be a worthy critic, either of food or of goods and services.  That said, on those rare occasions that I do highlight a restaurant, you can be sure that it’s because I really, really love the place and I don’t care if I’m not a properly qualified critic!

So, with that prelude out of the way, I want to tell you today about Bowled Restaurant, at 3451 4th Street North in St. Petersburg. If you don’t know about Bowled, and if you enjoy eating out, you really owe it to yourself to try them.  After driving past the place for a year and a half, always meaning to stop by ‘someday’, my wife and I finally went into Bowled for the first time just a couple of months ago. We were incorrectly sort of expecting Bowled to be one of those Asian ‘noodle’ restaurants that have become so popular in recent years.  I guess it was because of the ‘Bowled’ name.  To be sure, they do offer Pad Thai as one of their entrees, so if that’s what you want, they can take care of you just fine.  But there is so much more!

Bowled is casual, but with a touch of class.   Their menu could be described, in the very best sense possible, as eclectic.  The offerings range from light to rich to downright decadent!  There are options, fantastic ones, for meat lovers, for vegetarians, and for vegans. In addition to being absolutely delicious, the food is also a feast for the eyes, always.  In the photo below, which was dinner for my wife and I a couple of nights ago, I ordered chicken picatta; my wife, a filet.  She ordered it without the Gorgonzola and caramelized onion topping and with the Barolo demi-glaze on the side, and still it came out looking elegant! (Please click on the photo for a larger version/better view.)

Something else that attracts patrons to Bowled is the attitude of the owner and staff and the feeling that they are truly happy that you’re there.  If he can possibly find time, owner Michael Cecere will step out from the kitchen to greet you, to ask you how things are, and to thank you for coming.  And he strongly encourages feedback and input.  On the Bowled Facebook page, which just topped the 1,000 mark for Fans, Michael often mentions the specials of the day and asks patrons whether they think that a particular item should be added to their menu. 

I could go on and on, but I’ll stop.  If you know me and you trust me, you should try Bowled.  If you don’t know me (or you don’t trust me), try Bowled anyway!  You won’t be sorry!

 

Posted in Food/Drink, St. Petersburg | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment