Photos by M. Shackelford Burns

Though we’ll still feel the heat for weeks to come, summer draws to its official close this year on September 22. Take a look back at some of the fun in the sun had by residents in our fair city, from boating to bubbles, and bicycles to beachcombing.

In this hot housing market, many Zillow listings for the Old Northeast mention the beautiful old trees, the proximity to downtown, the waterfront parks. But there’s something important home-sellers often fail to share. Frankly, it should be in the “Disclosures.” But if you’ve moved to Old Northeast recently, perhaps you’ve heard some version of, “You know about Halloween, right?”

Like it or not, in ONE, Halloween is a part of your life now, and you have three choices: You can embrace it and turn your home into a haunted mansion, a pirate ship, or a spooky orphanage. You can turn the lights off and hide.… Read More

The Vinoy Renaissance St. Petersburg Resort & Golf Club has a long history as one of the grandest hotels in the area. Called “The Pink Lady” by locals, the hotel has watched over our local shorelines, and welcomed residents and visitors alike to admire her beautiful halls. But where there is beauty, there is also lore. It is said that the Vinoy not only hosts tourists but is the alleged home of spiritual inhabitants as well.

The building’s history is legendary. For the origins, we must go back to the 1920s when Aymer Vinoy Laughner hosted a party. Guest Gene Elliott, himself a real estate developer, noted the scrub land across from Aymer’s house could be put to much better use.… Read More

One the corner of 10th Avenue North and 3rd Street stands a tree with a stocky trunk and limbs like flexed biceps curving up toward the sky. It almost begs to be climbed, but this tree is hardly welcoming. The trunk and branches are protected by rock-hard thorns. And not just a few thorns. The Brazilian floss silk tree wears an armor that keeps even a squirrel from exploring its limbs. 

It was planted about 25 years ago by Cynthia Serra and Allison Butler who came to St. Petersburg in 1990. They found the tree when it was little more than a stick at a nursery in Miami.… Read More

Joshua Ginsberg is a man of mystery. The author of Secret Tampa Bay: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful and Obscure (2020), Tampa Bay Scavenger (2021), and Oldest Tampa Bay (2022), his work delves deep in the strange or lesser-known bits of the Bay area.

Ginsberg’s writing career was catalyzed by the sudden death of a friend while he was still a resident of Chicago. “Seven years ago, I was stunned when my closest childhood friend, Steven, died,” he explains. “I had been talking with him late one night, making plans to see him and his family, and I got a call the next day that he had died.… Read More

You know how, in horror movies, right before things get real, someone says, “It’s quiet. Too quiet.”?

That is decidedly not the case with Bird Island, sometimes called Coffee Pot Bird Preserve. You can hear – and often smell – the island residents before you see them. A cross-section of birds flap around this tiny Snell Isle island, from black crows to white ibis. Though it’s likely the crows have landed for an opportune snack, white ibis are among many species that nest and roost here. Herons, both blue, green, and triple crowned night herons, peer out from the mangroves. Roseate spoonbills provide occasional pops of color, while squadrons of brown pelicans dominate the island.… Read More

“Remember that the happiest people are not those getting more, but those giving more.” 
– Robin Sharma

Giving is the best present we can give to ourselves. And, though the rewards are great, giving something as precious as time can be challenging. Personal wisdom gained over time, lessons that each of us had to take time to learn, is perhaps our most precious asset. Imagine then, the incredible wealth of knowledge in the possession of our senior citizens. 

A recently expanded program supported by Seniors in Service of Tampa Bay, called Senior Companion, aims to make good use of lifetimes of wisdom while easing the loneliness that sometimes comes with it.… Read More

There’s a certain Dalí piece that exists not only in painting form at St. Pete’s Dalí Museum, but as a virtual reality experience in an entirely separate part of the museum. Archeological Reminiscence of Millet’s Angelus hangs on a white wall in the museum, and also in a whole other dimension.

The Dreams of Dalí VR experience comes with the price of admission. While this is a fairly new technology to many, art museums have been using the concept for years to immerse guests in art. In 2018, the Smithsonian Institution added a virtual exhibit – No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man.… Read More

Historic landmarks, especially cherished churches, require TLC, and so it is with First United Methodist located across from Williams Park in downtown St. Petersburg. The church dates its history back to 1889, a year after the city’s founding. The first church building was erected in 1892 and later succeeded by a second building on the corner of 2nd Avenue North and 3rd Street in 1902. The present grand structure dates from 1925-27. 

It was a challenge to get the church built. After much of it was constructed in 1925, an outer wall collapsed, virtually requiring construction to start anew. Upon rebuilding, the church was retrofitted with an interior steel frame.… Read More

If you bump into Tampa Bay’s media guru and Beach Drive resident Elliott Wiser walking around downtown St. Pete on September 24, don’t be surprised if you see a big smile on his face. It was on that day in 1997 he launched Bay News 9, the popular 24-hour news channel here in Tampa Bay. 

 Yes, 25 years ago Wiser had a dream. A vision. And while retired now, it is with a sense of accomplishment and pride that he describes a project that seemed surreal at the time. 

“This idea started out as a new concept for a TV station,” he explains.… Read More