St. Petersburg Travel Guide: Where To Stay and Where to Play

A couple of weeks ago, I went to visit my mom in St. Petersburg, Florida for a long weekend. I was planning to write a travel guide myself, but I quickly realized that because she was staying for the entire month, she had far more knowledge on the best finds than I did after 5 days. So, she’s back to guest post today – a St. Petersburg Travel Guide. And, y’all, it’s a masssssive travel guide! Enough to keep you busy for a week at least. Enjoy!

As Claire mentioned, I just got back home from spending the month in an adorable little bungalow in Old Northeast which is blocks away from Downtown St. Petersburg where everything seems to be happening. St. Pete has something for everyone and for all ages. It’s a great town for foodies, wine aficionados, museum goers, outdoor activities, and more.

St. Petersburg Travel Guide: Orienting the City

First a bit of orientation. St. Pete activity revolves around a couple streets and a park along Tampa Bay. Most tourists are familiar with Beach Drive where you will find lots of restaurants with sidewalk seating. Lots of shops as well. Then, perpendicular to Beach is Central. The beginning of Central has a lot of businesses, restaurants, and nightlife.

The further west you go on Central you get to the area they call the Edge. It has more trendy restaurants and it becomes more residential with a wonderful mix of restaurants and shops and plenty of locals. Once you get to where I-275 crosses Central it becomes an area they call Grand Central. Very residential, trendy places to dine, fabulous new museum, great wine bars. This is the area that is probably where fewer tourists are familiar with. Be sure to look out for the murals painted on almost every wall – an Instagrammers heaven!

St. Petersburg Travel Guide: Where To Stay

Airbnb

I always love staying in Airbnbs as I find it’s a great way to explore a city as a local would. As I mentioned, the Old Northeast neighborhood has some darling houses and is close to where things are happening. Unfortunately, the spot I stayed in last month was sold, so it’s now off the market for visitors.

The Vinoy

The Vinoy is a classic Marriott hotel located at the harbor, but is a bit pricier. If you’re looking for a splurge, head there for gorgeous rooms and a beautiful outdoor pool. Even if you don’t stay there they have a huge porch just perfect for people and boat watching with a glass of frosé.

The Birchwood

Another hotel right in the middle of downtown is The Birchwood. It, too, is on the pricey side, but is a trendy – and beautiful – boutique hotel. On top of that – one of my favorite bars in the city is located on the 5^th floor rooftop, but more on that in a bit.

A Traditional Bed and Breakfast

There are a few B and B’s. This one I passed daily on my walk in to town – it’s charming. And this one is in a good location for walking everywhere.

St. Petersburg Travel Guide: Where to Eat (and Drink!)

The Canopy

As I said – whether you stay at The Birchwood or not, The Canopy – their rooftop bar on the 5^th floor – is a stop I always make for the beautiful views and sunshine. Stunning views of the harbor, The Vinoy, and sidewalk activity along Beach Drive. Drinks are great and it’s a super popular place. Try the Canopy Jewel – gin among other wonderful things.

The Library

For breakfast I love The Library near the Johns Hopkins Medical complex. The people at Johns Hopkins asked the owners of one of Tampa’s favorite restaurants, The Oxford Exchange, to open a restaurant in St. Pete with their Peabody Library in mind. It is a gorgeous place with bookshelves loaded with books – all blue! And they have amazing breakfasts in addition to an Instagram-worthy setting.

Brick and Mortar

Far and away my favorite place for dinner is Brick and Mortar. It probably has the trendiest menu in the whole area. Everything is perfectly executed, imaginative, and delicious. The place is very small, though, and they don’t take reservations. So as long as you’re prepared to wait, you won’t be disappointed. They have a nice lounge area to wait, so it’s not torturous.

The Mill

A wonderful place for lunch, weekend brunch, and dinner – and one of the most popular in St. Pete – is The Mill. The chef prepares a new dish for both lunch and dinner every single day, so what you have for lunch one day may never be served again – ever. The other day for lunch it was pork that had been cooked in peanut butter and then shredded with grape jelly served with onion rings and garlic pickles on grilled toast – so a peanut butter and jelly pork sandwich. Who would even think of such a thing, but it was amazing. The don’t-miss item, though, is their watermelon bruschetta. The owner claims he received death threats when he took it briefly off the menu!

Left Bank Bistro

My second favorite spot – and I hate to say second because it is wonderful – is a little French restaurant on MLK Ave. a bit outside of regular tourist area. The Left Bank Bistro is wonderful – I ate there at least 4 times this past month! The décor is definitely Instagrammable and both the food and the service are top notch. They do take reservations and a pro tip: ask for the monkey room as it’s a bit quieter and charming. They have a nice little bar area where they serve coffee and croissants in the morning and of course drinks at night.

Habana Café

Outside of town a little is the pretty much undiscovered community of Gulfport. Artsy and quirky, but they have the best Cuban food around at the Habana Café.

Baum Avenue Market

There are so many nice coffee shops scattered throughout downtown, but Claire really loved the coffee shop that wasn’t – Baum Avenue Market. It has the look and feel of the perfect coffee shop for her to work in, but they only served tea and some light vegan-focused food. Go for pics with the plant wall, stay for the vegan blueberry coffee cake and iced matcha lattes. Located on Central, but far enough away from the more touristy part of St. Pete, so there were lots of locals.

Cassis

Cassis on Beach Drive certainly serves coffee and yummy pastries and is kind of touristy – BUT I loved sitting on their sidewalk watching the activity and enjoying the sunshine. The do have a full-service restaurant as well.

Wine Bars: The Winesmith and Hawthorn Bottle Shoppe

St. Pete has a number of wine bars that offer impressive selections in just about anything you’d want to drink. The Winesmith is one of my favorites. Tod, the owner, has an amazing selection and a wine tasting every Friday night with varying themes. Another favorite is the Hawthorn Bottle Shoppe. They also have a large selection of beers. The owner is very knowledgeable and helpful. It’s the kind of place where you can get a bottle of wine (or a glass?) and sit and chat with a friends for as long as you like. Excellent wines and a very friendly atmosphere.

St. Petersburg Travel Guide: What To Do

The Dali Museum

Everyone can look at the melting clocks, but I highly suggest taking a docent-led tour to find out what in the heck Dali was thinking about melting clocks. They do have free audio guides, but it’s such an extensive collection that a docent helps find the most important works to understand the quirky artist.

St. Pete Museum of History

So, history might not be your thing, but who would ever have guessed the part that St. Petersburg played in aviation history. The Benoist Airboat made the very first commercial flight from St. Petersburg to Tampa in 1914. I believe the fare was $5, but that was a lot in 1914, and there were no bridges across the bay as there are now. You can see the airboat and watch a video about Tom Benoist and Tony Jannus at the St. Petersburg Museum of History. Among other things!

Imagine Museum

Of all the museums in St. Pete my favorite is the spectacular Imagine Museum of art glass. It’s in Grand Central, so not that many tourists even consider it. Unlike The Dali where it is hard to find room to stand, you almost have the museum to yourself. Even people who think they wouldn’t like it – love it. There is an exhibit of Ann LaMonte’s glass clothing which is spectacular. It will be there for a year, so no rush for that one. Super experience.

Note from Claire: My mom admittedly doesn’t love Dale Chihuly, but he’s one of my all-time favorite artists, and if glass if your thing, there is a smaller museum of his work in Downtown St. Pete as well. Imagine IS as incredible as mom says, but Chihuly gets my vote every time.

Saturday Morning Market

One of my favorite things is St. Pete’s Saturday Morning Market. So, you are on vacation and staying in a hotel, why would you need to go to the Farmer’s Market? Because it is more like a fair with a few fruit and veggie stands thrown in. It is the place for locals to gather on Saturday mornings between 9 am and 2 pm. There is also music in a couple places, bakeries, clothing shops, plants, rocks/crystals, and there is so much prepared food that it’s like a food truck rally!

The Riverwalk in Tampa

This blog is about St. Petersburg, but hey, Tampa is just across the Bay and the Cross Bay Ferry will take you there in 50 minutes. The Riverwalk in Tampa is supposed to be one of the 10 best river walks in America and a ferry ride on a nice day wouldn’t be bad either. Kind of odd hours so you would need to check the schedule. It docks at the Florida Aquarium and from there you can just walk along the Hillsborough River and Tampa Bay. I went there during the day, but I’ve heard it’s much more fun after dark.

Haslam’s Book Store

For book lovers, Haslam’s Book Store has one of the most amazing assortments of books to be found. They boast over 300,000 books, but looking at the store, it looks like more than that. The books are new and used. You could spend hours just perusing the volumes. Haslam’s is located in Grand Central less than a block away from the Imagine Museum which makes the trip up there worth it!

Vinoy Park

One of my favorite things to do in St. Pete is just walking along the waterfront. The walk runs along the harbor along Tampa Bay, through the Vinoy Park, and into Coffee Pot Bayou – which is where we lived for a few years when Claire was little. There are gorgeous Spanish style homes along the way. You might sight a dolphin or manatee, but you are more likely to see a fisherman pulling in some mullet. If you would rather bike, this company has bikes to pick up and drop off all over town. For $8 you can ride for an hour.

Iberian Rooster Burlesque Shows

One night when Claire was in town, we somehow wound up at an impromptu burlesque show at Subcentral in Iberian Rooster. While the burlesque shows are not regular, I believe Wednesday nights are drag queen shows. Check it out their schedule here. It’s not Las Vegas, but it is fun!

Shopping

There are art and jewelry shops along Beach Drive – some nice, some too tourist-oriented for my taste. Antiques are kind of a big thing in Grand Central with lots of shops, many of them much larger than they look from the street. On the first weekend of every month Brocante Vintage Market has a major antique sale. The prices are good and there are many quality items for sale.

One of my favorite shops is Mis en Chic in the Edge area of Central. It is a wonderful mix or very girly stuff – clothes, home goods, jewelry. All very glitzy and cool. They don’t have a website per se, but you can check them out on Facebook.

 

I know that was a lot to take in! I would love to hear from you in the comments – are there places I missed that I should try next time I’m in St. Pete? I’m also happy to help advise if you have any questions or are looking at a place on Airbnb and want to know how centrally located it is. Have fun with your vacation planning!