We stayed at Fort DeSoto Park on a Key just south of St. Petersburg. We had a waterfront site with mangroves to protect against the wind.
We met Phan, a friend of ours from when we lived in California, and her friend Sherri. Phan lives in Dallas now and has a house in Sarasota. We met at her sisters house in Bradenton which is on a canal off the Manatee River. We borrowed their kayaks and went for a paddle.
We spent the day is St. Petersburg. We went to the Dali museum. They had an AI exhibit where you typed in your dream idea and it created a painting for you. I put in a beach house with a tiki hut, you can see my painting below. We then walked through a farmers market and went to the St. Pete Pier. After lunch we walked through the Boyd Hill Nature Preserve.
We met Phan and Sherri again, this time at the Sarasota Polo Club to watch a Polo match. After the match Phan suggested we go to the Tampa Power Company. The water around it is very warm and manatees like to gather there. They have a large viewing platform and educational area. We saw well over 100 manatees!
We finally made it to some craft breweries in Florida. We would recommend both Gulfport Brewing and 3 Daughter’s Brewing. For ice cream we would recommend Bright Ice Scoop Shop.