Check out this new website from Beach Vacation World!
Add links to your favorite Beach Vacation Destinations around the world.
Beach Vacation Rental Owners - Post your property under the appropriate beach!
Its all there at www.beachvacationworld.com
Showing posts with label beach vacation rental. Show all posts
Showing posts with label beach vacation rental. Show all posts
Monday, June 22, 2009
New Vacation Directory Website Launched
Check out this new website from Beach Vacation World!
Add links to your favorite Beach Vacation Destinations around the world.
Beach Vacation Rental Owners - Post your property under the appropriate beach!
Its all there at www.beachvacationworld.com
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Getting Ready for the Newest Reef off the Keys
KEY WEST, Florida Keys – Final work has begun to sink the ex-military missile tracking ship Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenber as an artificial reef off Key West.
The Vandenberg arrived in Key West April 22, after an 1,100-mile voyage from Norfolk, Va., and is docked behind the USS Mohawk, a historic Coast Guard ship open as a floating museum, at the East Quay Wall in Truman Annex Harbor.
“We’re all pretty excited here in Key West and particularly in view of the fact this is going to be the second largest artificial reef in the world,” said Key West City Commissioner Bill Verge, who is serving as a project liaison between the city and various state and federal agencies.
Project organizers said the scuttling should take place sometime between May 20 and June 1, about six miles south of Key West in 140 feet of water in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
That work primarily involves the cutting of hundreds of large holes on the ship’s decks and sides to help ensure the vessel sinks in an upright position.
Seventy percent of the $8.6 million project’s funding resources and some 75,000 man-hours were required to rid the vessel of contaminants with that work executed in two Norfolk, Va., shipyards.
Pollutants removed include 71 cubic yards of asbestos, 193 tons of materials that contained potentially carcinogenic substances, 46 tons of refuse, 300 pounds of mercury-containing materials and 185 55-gallon drums of paint chips, officials said.
The ship first saw duty as a U.S. Army troop transport named the General Harry Taylor. It became the Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg in 1963 and tracked the U.S. space program’s launches off Cape Canaveral. It also served in the Pacific monitoring U.S. defense missile test launches and eavesdropped on Russian missile launches during the Cold War. Port Canaveral, Fla., was the Vandenberg’s last active duty home port beginning in 1976.
The Vandenberg was formally retired in 1983 and was transferred to the James River Naval Reserve Fleet. But, according to Patrick J. Utecht, who managed the ship’s electronic systems, a team of six technicians would visit Vandenberg every six months to power up all shipboard electronics and make any necessary repairs. Despite the state of readiness, moreCheck here for great beach rentals in the Florida Keys
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Find the perfect Florida Vacation Rental By Owner
Find Florida Gulf Vacation Rentals on the Gulf Coast
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Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Florida Gulf Vacation Launches new Website
Florida Gulf Vacation - the premier niche marketing site for Vacation Rental Owners and Florida Family Vacation Travelers - has announced the introduction of their 5th anniversary version of the website Florida Gulf Vacation.
What's New for Travelers?
Travelers looking for the best deal in vacation rentals on the Florida Gulf Coast now have expanded options. The site previously focused on the Tampa Bay Beaches but now has expanded coverage north and south along the coast. Properties listed now include St George Island, Perdido Key, Key West, Panama City Beach, Crystal River, Anna Maria Island, Fort Myers Beach, Bradenton / Cortez Beach, Indian Shores, Indian Rocks, Treasure Island, St Pete Beach and Clearwater Beach.
In addition, Travelers can now see up to 15 owner photos per property, can search by beds, baths, availability and location! Registered users can also save properties and forward them to far away family if planning a group trip.
Whats New for Vacation Rental Owners?
Owners along the west coast of Florida can list their properties for a FREE TRIAL or lock in their position on their beach by purchasing a one year or lifetime listing. The prices are extremely reasonable given that the lifetime membership is cheaper than some other sites one year rate.Owners can add up to 15 photos, link to their own website and virtual tour and receive inquiries directly from customers all at no additional cost beyond the member fee.
About Florida Gulf Vacation
Florida Gulf Vacation has been marketing Vacation Rentals along the Florida Gulf Coast since 2004. The site's Alexa Ranking places it within the top 2% of all websites in terms of daily pageviews and traffic. Florida Gulf Vacation does not list ski resorts, foreign destinations, mountain cabins or rentals in Texas, Alabama or Connecticut on its site. All properties listed must be on or close to a Florida Gulf Coast Beach.
What's New for Travelers?
Travelers looking for the best deal in vacation rentals on the Florida Gulf Coast now have expanded options. The site previously focused on the Tampa Bay Beaches but now has expanded coverage north and south along the coast. Properties listed now include St George Island, Perdido Key, Key West, Panama City Beach, Crystal River, Anna Maria Island, Fort Myers Beach, Bradenton / Cortez Beach, Indian Shores, Indian Rocks, Treasure Island, St Pete Beach and Clearwater Beach.
In addition, Travelers can now see up to 15 owner photos per property, can search by beds, baths, availability and location! Registered users can also save properties and forward them to far away family if planning a group trip.
Whats New for Vacation Rental Owners?
Owners along the west coast of Florida can list their properties for a FREE TRIAL or lock in their position on their beach by purchasing a one year or lifetime listing. The prices are extremely reasonable given that the lifetime membership is cheaper than some other sites one year rate.Owners can add up to 15 photos, link to their own website and virtual tour and receive inquiries directly from customers all at no additional cost beyond the member fee.
About Florida Gulf Vacation
Florida Gulf Vacation has been marketing Vacation Rentals along the Florida Gulf Coast since 2004. The site's Alexa Ranking places it within the top 2% of all websites in terms of daily pageviews and traffic. Florida Gulf Vacation does not list ski resorts, foreign destinations, mountain cabins or rentals in Texas, Alabama or Connecticut on its site. All properties listed must be on or close to a Florida Gulf Coast Beach.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Best of Tampa Bay Restaurants
Vacation travelers are always asking about the great restaurants in our area. We found a fantastic source of information for anyone visiting the beaches!
Tampa Bay Chefs is a restaurant TV cooking show airing every Sunday at 4:30pm on the My TV Tampa Bay Networks.
For channel information, check your local Tampa Bay Listings in your TV Guide.
Check them out for all your dining decisions
Tampa Bay Chefs is a restaurant TV cooking show airing every Sunday at 4:30pm on the My TV Tampa Bay Networks.
For channel information, check your local Tampa Bay Listings in your TV Guide.
Check them out for all your dining decisions
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Great Things to Do in St Pete Beach
ATTRACTIONS PEER OVER THE PIER: It's the city's landmark, that inverted pyramid that juts a half mile into Tampa Bay from downtown's shores. The Pier, attracting two million visitors a year, is a five-story marketplace with shops and restaurants, The Pier Aquarium, an observation deck, a bait shop and more (727-821-6443).
STROLL THROUGH THE GARDENS: Everything is in bloom at Sunken Gardens, an exotic collection of more than 50,000 tropical plants and flowers. The four-acre botanical attraction features a butterfly garden, wedding lawn, a walk-through aviary with exotic species of birds, and an orchid arbor. This garden is open seven days a week. (727-551-3100).
TAKE THE HIGH WAY: The Sunshine Skyway, the Interstate-275 bridge that connects the southern tip of St. Petersburg with Manatee County and Sarasota to the south, is one of the largest suspension bridges in the Western Hemisphere, measuring 4.1 miles long and 19 stories high (more than 160 feet above the shipping channel leading into Tampa Bay). The toll is $1, each way.
SWING ON THE BOULEVARD: Baseball Boulevard, a series of home-plate plaques, tells an interesting 90-year history of St. Petersburg's love affair with baseball's spring training. The sidewalk plaques lead from Progress Energy Park/Al Lang Field to Tropicana Field, mostly along the south side of Central Avenue.
TAKE A WALK OF FAME: Visit the Tampa Bay Walk of Fame, located at the west side entrance to Tropicana Field. Here, dozens of sports legends who hail from the 11-county Tampa Bay metro are recognized - including Tampa Bay Bucs great Lee Roy Selmon, baseball all-star Wade Boggs, Babe Zaharias, the greatest woman athlete of all time, and Olympic and world champion swimmer Nicole Haislett. Free.
TAKE A RIDE: Wheel Fun Rentals offers Two, four and six-seater surrey bikes can be rented across fromt the Peir Bait House.
MUSEUMS FASTEN YOUR SEAT BELT: St. Petersburg is the birthplace of scheduled aviation. In 1914, pilot Tony Jannus flew the Benoist Airboat from St. Petersburg to Tampa on the world's first scheduled airline flight, transporting St. Petersburg Mayor Abe Pheil and a bag of mail. View a full-scale, operational replica of the historic airboat at the St. Petersburg Museum of History's Flight #1 Pavilion (727-894-1052).
GET SURREAL: The world's most comprehensive collection of Salvador Dali's surrealistic art works is housed at St. Petersburg's world-class Salvador Dali Museum, downtown on Bayboro Harbor (727-823-3767).
MAKE A LASTING FRENCH IMPRESSION: Six original Monets, along with other works by Fragonard, Vigee-Lebrun, Morisot, Renoir, Cezanne and Gauguin, comprise an impressive body of French Impressionism at the St. Petersburg Museum of Fine Arts. One of the best museums in the Southeast, the collection also includes a wealth of European, American, pre-Columbian and Far Eastern art, and an exquisite Steuben crystal gallery (727-896-2667).
REMEMBER THE HOLOCAUST: St. Petersburg's newest museum leaves a most memorable impression. The fourth largest Holocaust museum in the country, the Florida Holocaust Museum is housed in downtown St. Petersburg. The centerpiece of the museum is a Polish Boxcar used to transport victims to the death camps during World War II. The museum features an art exhibit including an acclaimed outdoor sculpture entitled "Endless Column" (727-820-0100).
KEEP IN TOUCH: At Great Explorations Museum, you don't just look at the exhibits. You touch them. Move them. Explore them. And, in some cases, you actually become part of them (727-821-8992).
JEWELED OBJECTS OF DESIRE: Florida International Museum -- From the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. This exhibit opens up visions of delight with exquisite, unique and whimsical decorative arts formed out of jade, ivory, semi-precious stones, gold and silver, embellished with such stars of the natural world as diamonds, sapphires, emeralds and rubies. This exhibit is created especially for FIM's salute to the Smithsonian.
EXPERIMENT WITH SCIENCE: The Science Center of Pinellas County offers a nature trail, static electricity exhibit, antique microscopes, minerals and ores, corals, an African-American exhibit, a replica of a mid-16th Century Indian village, and an observatory (727-384-0027).
VISIT OUTER SPACE: From September to May, special presentations and viewings are held at the St. Petersburg College Planetarium, a sky theater under a 7.3-meter domed ceiling projection screen (727-341-4320).
ARTS, EVENTS & CULTURE GET FESTIVE: The Festival of States is St. Petersburg's premier festival, celebrating for more than 80 years of springtime events, parades, music, arts, food and entertainment. All year long, St. Petersburg hosts 1,000 events in its downtown facilities and waterfront parks, ranging from food fests to jazz concerts and sports events to Shakespeare festivals (727-893-7039).
BROWSE WITH THE HIGH BROWS: In addition to St. Petersburg's world class museums, the visual arts are vibrant in the Sunshine City. More than two dozen galleries comprise the Downtown Art Association, and open their doors on the second Saturday evening each month for a downtown gallery hop. Three galleries of note: Headquarters of American artist P. Buckley Moss, the Florida Craftsmen guild's statewide gallery, and the Arts Center of St. Petersburg (727-821-7391 or 822-7872).
GET IN THE ACT: Theater comes to St. Petersburg at a number of venues. The Mahaffey Theater for the Performing Arts at the Bayfront Center raises the curtain on a season of national artists and Broadway musicals (727-892-5767). And, Florida's top-ranked resident professional theater, American Stage, performs highly acclaimed works from its intimate theater downtown and each spring during its outdoor Shakespeare festival, American Stage in the Park (727-823-PLAY). The Palladium, originally a church sanctuary renovated into a community venue for performing arts, presents orchestra and opera, drama and dance, concerts and more (727-822-3590).
WALK THROUGH HISTORY: St. Petersburg's downtown streets are lined with hexagon block sidewalks, some of Florida's best Mediterranean-Revival style architecture, and two dozen properties located on the National Historic Register. Pick up a list of historic sites from the city's Planning Department (One Fourth Street N.), or a historic walking tour brochure from the St. Petersburg Museum of History (335 Second Avenue NE). Guided walking tours are offered by St. Petersburg Preservation (727-824-7802).
DATELINE: ST. PETERSBURG. Reminisce with early citrus growers or recall the Pass-a-Grille hurricane of 1921. Remember the Amazing Mets who wintered here or read of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge collapse as The St. Petersburg Times presents A WALK THROUGH TIME. The free display of 20 replica front pages from the St. Petersburg Times depicts significant events from our city's past. It is located in the first floor promenade of the BayWalk Parking Garage, between the Millennium Gateway sculpture and First Avenue N. (near Second Street).
DUST OFF SOME ANTIQUES: A thriving antique district lines both sides of Central Avenue in downtown St. Petersburg. Collectors will find more than a hundred antique shops in the city - and many within this eclectic five-block stretch of Central between Sixth and Eighth Streets.
DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY: The Coliseumin downtown St. Petersburg was featured in the motion picture "Cocoon." Now restored, it boasts one of America's largest dance floors - 13,000 square feet of polished maple - and vintage 1924 architecture. Its event calendar includes regularly scheduled ballroom dancing, a Big Band series, swing dances, sock hops, country-western dancing, gala events and more (727-892-5202).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: From sports bars by Tropicana Field, jazz bars on Central Avenue and nonstop entertainment at BayWalk, St. Petersburg comes alive after dark. Enjoy dinner in one of many fine downtown restaurants, followed by live music and entertainment at a number of venues. The newest entertainment spot, BayWalk/ Muvico 20, offers a 20-screen cinema with stadium seating, designer retail shops and theme dining establishments, along with martini and daiquiri bars (Baywalk, 727-895-9277 or Muvico, 727-502-9573).
GET A LECTURE: Outstanding educational institutions in St. Petersburg offer enriching lecture series all year long, including the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, Eckerd College, St. Petersburg College, and the Poynter Institute for Media Studies (727-821-9494). PARKS PARK IT: Pop a picnic basket under bright sunshine and palm trees in one of St. Petersburg's 125 city parks covering 2,500 acres. Along the downtown waterfront, there are seven miles of lushly landscaped waterfront parks (727-893-7335).
GO WILD: Visit Boyd Hill Nature Preserve,a city-owned 245-acre preserve along the shores of Lake Maggiore. This award-winning park features nature trails, an environmental studies area, an outdoor classroom, a conference center, a pioneer settlement/living history park, and the newly expanded Lake Maggiore Environmental Education Center. (727-893-7326).
LIE UNDER A PALM TREE: A wide variety of native palm trees grow at the Gizella Kopsick Palm Arboretum, part of downtown's North Shore Park. The unique arboretum features a variety of more than 200 palms, benches and brick walkways. Free (727-893-7335).
SUN & FUN BEACH IT: Three of the Top 20 beaches in the United States are in Pinellas County. From St. Petersburg, the closest and most pristine is Fort DeSoto, a 900-acre county preserve consisting of five islands, seven miles of undeveloped beaches, a camp ground, boat ramps, fishing piers, paved fitness trails and a historic fort. The sugary-white sands of St. Petersburg's 500-foot Gulf-front municipal beach on Treasure Island is certified annually by the National Clean Beaches Council as an outstanding environmentally-friendly "Blue Wave" beach.
DIVE IN: Swimming enthusiasts will enjoy all of St. Petersburg's nine public pools, and especially the North Shore Pool downtown. This Olympic-sized swimming pool is heated and open year round, and is the training home of Olympic champions and one of the largest Masters Swim Clubs in the United States (727-893-7727).
GO FISH: St. Petersburg's 244-mile shoreline is abundant with great fishing haunts that yield delicious catches of grouper, mullet and sheepshead. In addition to deep sea fishing charters, popular fishing piers are located at the St. Petersburg Pier, old Sunshine Skyway Bridge and Fort DeSoto Park.
FLOAT YOUR BOAT: No better place for recreational boating than St. Petersburg. More recreational boaters call Tampa Bay home than any other port in Florida. Within an easy stroll of downtown museums, shops and restaurants is St. Petersburg's Municipal Marina - the largest in Florida - with 610 boat slips and dockage for visiting vessels. Downtown, there are 22 boater-based businesses and a total of 1,500 dockages, and daily rentals of everything from a pontoon boat to a luxury yacht with crew. There are also sightseeing excursions along the St. Petersburg coast (727-821-6443).
HOIST A SAIL: The calm waters of Tampa Bay are ideal for learning to sail. The St. Petersburg Sailing Center at downtown's municipal marina offers sailing lessons. Several private companies can also teach you the tacks of sailing. (727-822-3113).
FEED A PELICAN: St. Petersburg's proud symbol is the endangered brown pelican. This marine bird normally feeds on bait fish that swim near the surface of the water. During cooler months, though, the fish swim deeper than the birds can dive, threatening the pelicans' food supply. The Pelican Fund, a volunteer organization, feeds St. Petersburg's brown pelicans at Spa Beach on The Pier daily at 4 p.m. whenever the water temperature drops below 65-68 degrees.
RECREATION HIT THE TRAIL: The Pinellas Trail is a 47-mile fitness trail built on abandoned railways. One of the longest linear parks in the United States, it runs from Tarpon Springs to the north to its terminus in south St. Petersburg (727-549-6099).
MAKE A RACQUET: St. Petersburg Tennis Center is the site where Chris Evert won her first professional tennis match. Opened in 1928, the historic center offers public play on 15 Har-Tru Clay Courts, day or night. Elsewhere in St. Petersburg, there are 66 public tennis courts (727-823-2225).
LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL: Hop on a pair of in-line skates and explore the downtown waterfront and Mediterranean-Revival style neighborhoods of Snell Isle and Granada Terrace.
DRIVE YOURSELF CRAZY: St. Petersburg is home to three acclaimed municipal golf courses, Mangrove Bay, Cypress Links, and Twin Brooks. In addition, there are numerous privately-operated championship golf courses in St. Petersburg and the Tampa Bay area (727-893-7800).
WALK INTO WEEDON: Take a walk along three miles of boardwalk and paved trails at Weedon Island, a pristine and natural resource once home to Seminole Indians. The park features a 50-foot-high look out site over Tampa Bay waters that shows a panoramic view of downtown St. Petersburg, Tropicana Field, and Tampa. An ideal park for biking, blading, canoeing, and birdwatching.
SPORTS & FITNESS SPEED THROUGH THE STREETS: The Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, an Indy Racing Series street race, takes to a demanding 1.7 mile race course through downtown St. Petersburg each April (727-824-7223).
GET INTO THE SWING OF THINGS: St. Petersburg has been crazy for baseball since hosting Florida's first spring training in 1914 with the St. Louis Browns. Currently, more than half of the 18 teams that train each spring in Florida play in the Tampa Bay area. The Tampa Bay Rays call the city home for both spring training (Progress Energy Park/Al Lang Field) and during the regular season at Tropicana Field (727-825-3250).
SEE THE PROS: In addition to Major League Baseball with the Rays, the St. Petersburg area is home to many professional franchises, including three world champion franchises - NHL Tampa Bay Lightning, NFL Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Tampa Bay Storm arena football team.
TRI SOMETHING NEW: St. Anthony's Triathlon is a season opener on the professional triathlon circuit, attracting some of the sport's biggest names and 3,000 competitors with a purse of $30,000. Athletes converge on the downtown waterfront each April for the Olympic-distance event - a 1.5K swim, 40K bike and 10K run.
RUN LIKE CRAZY! Amateur and professional runners take advantage of year-round sunshine and unparalleled beauty to compete in running events, such as the annual Race for the Cure and the Jingle Bell Run.
GAMBLE ON IT: Several day cruises offer casino-style gambling and depart from local area ports. And, Derby Lane, the oldest continuously operated greyhound racing facility in the U.S., offers parimutuel wagering and live racing action ten months of the year.
STROLL THROUGH THE GARDENS: Everything is in bloom at Sunken Gardens, an exotic collection of more than 50,000 tropical plants and flowers. The four-acre botanical attraction features a butterfly garden, wedding lawn, a walk-through aviary with exotic species of birds, and an orchid arbor. This garden is open seven days a week. (727-551-3100).
TAKE THE HIGH WAY: The Sunshine Skyway, the Interstate-275 bridge that connects the southern tip of St. Petersburg with Manatee County and Sarasota to the south, is one of the largest suspension bridges in the Western Hemisphere, measuring 4.1 miles long and 19 stories high (more than 160 feet above the shipping channel leading into Tampa Bay). The toll is $1, each way.
SWING ON THE BOULEVARD: Baseball Boulevard, a series of home-plate plaques, tells an interesting 90-year history of St. Petersburg's love affair with baseball's spring training. The sidewalk plaques lead from Progress Energy Park/Al Lang Field to Tropicana Field, mostly along the south side of Central Avenue.
TAKE A WALK OF FAME: Visit the Tampa Bay Walk of Fame, located at the west side entrance to Tropicana Field. Here, dozens of sports legends who hail from the 11-county Tampa Bay metro are recognized - including Tampa Bay Bucs great Lee Roy Selmon, baseball all-star Wade Boggs, Babe Zaharias, the greatest woman athlete of all time, and Olympic and world champion swimmer Nicole Haislett. Free.
TAKE A RIDE: Wheel Fun Rentals offers Two, four and six-seater surrey bikes can be rented across fromt the Peir Bait House.
MUSEUMS FASTEN YOUR SEAT BELT: St. Petersburg is the birthplace of scheduled aviation. In 1914, pilot Tony Jannus flew the Benoist Airboat from St. Petersburg to Tampa on the world's first scheduled airline flight, transporting St. Petersburg Mayor Abe Pheil and a bag of mail. View a full-scale, operational replica of the historic airboat at the St. Petersburg Museum of History's Flight #1 Pavilion (727-894-1052).
GET SURREAL: The world's most comprehensive collection of Salvador Dali's surrealistic art works is housed at St. Petersburg's world-class Salvador Dali Museum, downtown on Bayboro Harbor (727-823-3767).
MAKE A LASTING FRENCH IMPRESSION: Six original Monets, along with other works by Fragonard, Vigee-Lebrun, Morisot, Renoir, Cezanne and Gauguin, comprise an impressive body of French Impressionism at the St. Petersburg Museum of Fine Arts. One of the best museums in the Southeast, the collection also includes a wealth of European, American, pre-Columbian and Far Eastern art, and an exquisite Steuben crystal gallery (727-896-2667).
REMEMBER THE HOLOCAUST: St. Petersburg's newest museum leaves a most memorable impression. The fourth largest Holocaust museum in the country, the Florida Holocaust Museum is housed in downtown St. Petersburg. The centerpiece of the museum is a Polish Boxcar used to transport victims to the death camps during World War II. The museum features an art exhibit including an acclaimed outdoor sculpture entitled "Endless Column" (727-820-0100).
KEEP IN TOUCH: At Great Explorations Museum, you don't just look at the exhibits. You touch them. Move them. Explore them. And, in some cases, you actually become part of them (727-821-8992).
JEWELED OBJECTS OF DESIRE: Florida International Museum -- From the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. This exhibit opens up visions of delight with exquisite, unique and whimsical decorative arts formed out of jade, ivory, semi-precious stones, gold and silver, embellished with such stars of the natural world as diamonds, sapphires, emeralds and rubies. This exhibit is created especially for FIM's salute to the Smithsonian.
EXPERIMENT WITH SCIENCE: The Science Center of Pinellas County offers a nature trail, static electricity exhibit, antique microscopes, minerals and ores, corals, an African-American exhibit, a replica of a mid-16th Century Indian village, and an observatory (727-384-0027).
VISIT OUTER SPACE: From September to May, special presentations and viewings are held at the St. Petersburg College Planetarium, a sky theater under a 7.3-meter domed ceiling projection screen (727-341-4320).
ARTS, EVENTS & CULTURE GET FESTIVE: The Festival of States is St. Petersburg's premier festival, celebrating for more than 80 years of springtime events, parades, music, arts, food and entertainment. All year long, St. Petersburg hosts 1,000 events in its downtown facilities and waterfront parks, ranging from food fests to jazz concerts and sports events to Shakespeare festivals (727-893-7039).
BROWSE WITH THE HIGH BROWS: In addition to St. Petersburg's world class museums, the visual arts are vibrant in the Sunshine City. More than two dozen galleries comprise the Downtown Art Association, and open their doors on the second Saturday evening each month for a downtown gallery hop. Three galleries of note: Headquarters of American artist P. Buckley Moss, the Florida Craftsmen guild's statewide gallery, and the Arts Center of St. Petersburg (727-821-7391 or 822-7872).
GET IN THE ACT: Theater comes to St. Petersburg at a number of venues. The Mahaffey Theater for the Performing Arts at the Bayfront Center raises the curtain on a season of national artists and Broadway musicals (727-892-5767). And, Florida's top-ranked resident professional theater, American Stage, performs highly acclaimed works from its intimate theater downtown and each spring during its outdoor Shakespeare festival, American Stage in the Park (727-823-PLAY). The Palladium, originally a church sanctuary renovated into a community venue for performing arts, presents orchestra and opera, drama and dance, concerts and more (727-822-3590).
WALK THROUGH HISTORY: St. Petersburg's downtown streets are lined with hexagon block sidewalks, some of Florida's best Mediterranean-Revival style architecture, and two dozen properties located on the National Historic Register. Pick up a list of historic sites from the city's Planning Department (One Fourth Street N.), or a historic walking tour brochure from the St. Petersburg Museum of History (335 Second Avenue NE). Guided walking tours are offered by St. Petersburg Preservation (727-824-7802).
DATELINE: ST. PETERSBURG. Reminisce with early citrus growers or recall the Pass-a-Grille hurricane of 1921. Remember the Amazing Mets who wintered here or read of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge collapse as The St. Petersburg Times presents A WALK THROUGH TIME. The free display of 20 replica front pages from the St. Petersburg Times depicts significant events from our city's past. It is located in the first floor promenade of the BayWalk Parking Garage, between the Millennium Gateway sculpture and First Avenue N. (near Second Street).
DUST OFF SOME ANTIQUES: A thriving antique district lines both sides of Central Avenue in downtown St. Petersburg. Collectors will find more than a hundred antique shops in the city - and many within this eclectic five-block stretch of Central between Sixth and Eighth Streets.
DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY: The Coliseumin downtown St. Petersburg was featured in the motion picture "Cocoon." Now restored, it boasts one of America's largest dance floors - 13,000 square feet of polished maple - and vintage 1924 architecture. Its event calendar includes regularly scheduled ballroom dancing, a Big Band series, swing dances, sock hops, country-western dancing, gala events and more (727-892-5202).
MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: From sports bars by Tropicana Field, jazz bars on Central Avenue and nonstop entertainment at BayWalk, St. Petersburg comes alive after dark. Enjoy dinner in one of many fine downtown restaurants, followed by live music and entertainment at a number of venues. The newest entertainment spot, BayWalk/ Muvico 20, offers a 20-screen cinema with stadium seating, designer retail shops and theme dining establishments, along with martini and daiquiri bars (Baywalk, 727-895-9277 or Muvico, 727-502-9573).
GET A LECTURE: Outstanding educational institutions in St. Petersburg offer enriching lecture series all year long, including the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, Eckerd College, St. Petersburg College, and the Poynter Institute for Media Studies (727-821-9494). PARKS PARK IT: Pop a picnic basket under bright sunshine and palm trees in one of St. Petersburg's 125 city parks covering 2,500 acres. Along the downtown waterfront, there are seven miles of lushly landscaped waterfront parks (727-893-7335).
GO WILD: Visit Boyd Hill Nature Preserve,a city-owned 245-acre preserve along the shores of Lake Maggiore. This award-winning park features nature trails, an environmental studies area, an outdoor classroom, a conference center, a pioneer settlement/living history park, and the newly expanded Lake Maggiore Environmental Education Center. (727-893-7326).
LIE UNDER A PALM TREE: A wide variety of native palm trees grow at the Gizella Kopsick Palm Arboretum, part of downtown's North Shore Park. The unique arboretum features a variety of more than 200 palms, benches and brick walkways. Free (727-893-7335).
SUN & FUN BEACH IT: Three of the Top 20 beaches in the United States are in Pinellas County. From St. Petersburg, the closest and most pristine is Fort DeSoto, a 900-acre county preserve consisting of five islands, seven miles of undeveloped beaches, a camp ground, boat ramps, fishing piers, paved fitness trails and a historic fort. The sugary-white sands of St. Petersburg's 500-foot Gulf-front municipal beach on Treasure Island is certified annually by the National Clean Beaches Council as an outstanding environmentally-friendly "Blue Wave" beach.
DIVE IN: Swimming enthusiasts will enjoy all of St. Petersburg's nine public pools, and especially the North Shore Pool downtown. This Olympic-sized swimming pool is heated and open year round, and is the training home of Olympic champions and one of the largest Masters Swim Clubs in the United States (727-893-7727).
GO FISH: St. Petersburg's 244-mile shoreline is abundant with great fishing haunts that yield delicious catches of grouper, mullet and sheepshead. In addition to deep sea fishing charters, popular fishing piers are located at the St. Petersburg Pier, old Sunshine Skyway Bridge and Fort DeSoto Park.
FLOAT YOUR BOAT: No better place for recreational boating than St. Petersburg. More recreational boaters call Tampa Bay home than any other port in Florida. Within an easy stroll of downtown museums, shops and restaurants is St. Petersburg's Municipal Marina - the largest in Florida - with 610 boat slips and dockage for visiting vessels. Downtown, there are 22 boater-based businesses and a total of 1,500 dockages, and daily rentals of everything from a pontoon boat to a luxury yacht with crew. There are also sightseeing excursions along the St. Petersburg coast (727-821-6443).
HOIST A SAIL: The calm waters of Tampa Bay are ideal for learning to sail. The St. Petersburg Sailing Center at downtown's municipal marina offers sailing lessons. Several private companies can also teach you the tacks of sailing. (727-822-3113).
FEED A PELICAN: St. Petersburg's proud symbol is the endangered brown pelican. This marine bird normally feeds on bait fish that swim near the surface of the water. During cooler months, though, the fish swim deeper than the birds can dive, threatening the pelicans' food supply. The Pelican Fund, a volunteer organization, feeds St. Petersburg's brown pelicans at Spa Beach on The Pier daily at 4 p.m. whenever the water temperature drops below 65-68 degrees.
RECREATION HIT THE TRAIL: The Pinellas Trail is a 47-mile fitness trail built on abandoned railways. One of the longest linear parks in the United States, it runs from Tarpon Springs to the north to its terminus in south St. Petersburg (727-549-6099).
MAKE A RACQUET: St. Petersburg Tennis Center is the site where Chris Evert won her first professional tennis match. Opened in 1928, the historic center offers public play on 15 Har-Tru Clay Courts, day or night. Elsewhere in St. Petersburg, there are 66 public tennis courts (727-823-2225).
LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL: Hop on a pair of in-line skates and explore the downtown waterfront and Mediterranean-Revival style neighborhoods of Snell Isle and Granada Terrace.
DRIVE YOURSELF CRAZY: St. Petersburg is home to three acclaimed municipal golf courses, Mangrove Bay, Cypress Links, and Twin Brooks. In addition, there are numerous privately-operated championship golf courses in St. Petersburg and the Tampa Bay area (727-893-7800).
WALK INTO WEEDON: Take a walk along three miles of boardwalk and paved trails at Weedon Island, a pristine and natural resource once home to Seminole Indians. The park features a 50-foot-high look out site over Tampa Bay waters that shows a panoramic view of downtown St. Petersburg, Tropicana Field, and Tampa. An ideal park for biking, blading, canoeing, and birdwatching.
SPORTS & FITNESS SPEED THROUGH THE STREETS: The Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, an Indy Racing Series street race, takes to a demanding 1.7 mile race course through downtown St. Petersburg each April (727-824-7223).
GET INTO THE SWING OF THINGS: St. Petersburg has been crazy for baseball since hosting Florida's first spring training in 1914 with the St. Louis Browns. Currently, more than half of the 18 teams that train each spring in Florida play in the Tampa Bay area. The Tampa Bay Rays call the city home for both spring training (Progress Energy Park/Al Lang Field) and during the regular season at Tropicana Field (727-825-3250).
SEE THE PROS: In addition to Major League Baseball with the Rays, the St. Petersburg area is home to many professional franchises, including three world champion franchises - NHL Tampa Bay Lightning, NFL Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Tampa Bay Storm arena football team.
TRI SOMETHING NEW: St. Anthony's Triathlon is a season opener on the professional triathlon circuit, attracting some of the sport's biggest names and 3,000 competitors with a purse of $30,000. Athletes converge on the downtown waterfront each April for the Olympic-distance event - a 1.5K swim, 40K bike and 10K run.
RUN LIKE CRAZY! Amateur and professional runners take advantage of year-round sunshine and unparalleled beauty to compete in running events, such as the annual Race for the Cure and the Jingle Bell Run.
GAMBLE ON IT: Several day cruises offer casino-style gambling and depart from local area ports. And, Derby Lane, the oldest continuously operated greyhound racing facility in the U.S., offers parimutuel wagering and live racing action ten months of the year.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Top Vacation Rentals for SuperBowl 2009
Consider Beach Vacation Rentals For the Big GameThis Year the road to NFL finale leads directly to the beautiful beaches of Tampa Bay and Super Bowl XLIII. Everyone in the Tampa Bay Beaches community is excited to welcome you and know you'll enjoy our rich history, year-round sunshine, white, sandy beaches and thrilling attractions.
If you are planning to attend the SuperBowl in Tampa at Raymond James Stadium February 1, 2009 at 6:00 p.m. EST then hopefully you know that the Tampa Region also boasts the Top Rated Beaches in the Continental USA.
Why spend Hundreds of dollars a night on hotel rooms in Tampa when the Gulf Coast Beaches, just 20 miles away from the stadium offer Sun, Sand and Convenience for less!
One example at Indian Shores Vacation you can get a 10 day rental, direct beach front, 2 bedrooms/2 bath with almost 1400 sq ft for just under $400 per night. Compare that to what local hotels are charging and you will see the value.
There are literally thousands of beach rentals available in this area. Check them out before you make your final plans for the Big Game
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