Kathy Turner Lee remembers hollering to her mother, “Going over to the gardens,” as she ran out her front door on 18^th Avenue and to a side gate that led into Sunken Gardens. In the 1950s and ‘60s, Sunken Gardens may have been one of the most famous roadside attractions in Florida, but to Lee, the four-acre tropical oasis was just the family business that her grandparents, George and Eula Turner, Sr., founded decades before. It was like an extension of her own backyard.  

“The gardens were a big part of my childhood,” Lee recalls. “My brother and I would run around by ourselves and no one thought anything of it.”… Read More

Piers and St. Petersburg are virtually synonymous. The city was founded by John and Sarah Williams and Peter Demens in 1888. The Williams owned the land and had visions of a great city. Back then, in order to be a great city a railroad was required. Peter Demens, owner of the Orange Belt Railway, agreed to route his fledgling railroad to the new city in exchange for a prime share of the anticipated new downtown real estate. Part of the deal was that he would extend his railroad tracks out over a pier reaching water 12 feet deep to allow cargo exchange between ships and the train.… Read More

Getting around the bay area without a car keeps getting more interesting. We have scooter and bike rentals, a seasonal ferry, trollies, and even an old-fashioned streetcar. Now, St. Pete boasts an innovative way to whisk residents and visitors through some of the city’s most vibrant neighborhoods. Of course, I’m referring to the new SunRunner, the Bus Rapid Transit Route (BRT) that takes riders from downtown to St. Pete Beach.  

Spend more than a few minutes with someone in our house and you’ll start hearing about how much we love the new SunRunner. I’ve been accused of being on the PSTA payroll, but I assure readers that the only thing PSTA has given me is a ride.… Read More

Springtime in St. Petersburg comes early. Trees, flowers, and everything green throw their pollen to the wind like confetti, heralding the season’s arrival. Snowbirds head back north; humidity is on the rise. And the intense sound of “angry bees buzzing” signal yet another springtime tradition: IndyCars and their high-revving engines making practice runs. The trucks, trailers, and roadway detours downtown, along the bayfront, and around Albert Whitted Airport mean just one thing…it’s time for the Firestone St. Petersburg Grand Prix, presented by RP Funding. This year’s racing, and myriad other events, take place March 3-5.

For those new to the sport and rusty on the French language, Grand Prix literally means “grand prize,” so the term is applied to a great many types of races.… Read More