St. Pete & Me: Day 2

Vacation day two: Got up whenever I got up (ahahahaha!) had breakfast (free at the hotel) and drove to Fort de Soto Park. For the grand entry fee of 35 cents, I was welcomed into what Trip Advisor call's America's Best Beach.

It is very nice - I admit that. It's not what you and I think of a beach, though. It's on the gulf, so no real waves. It's made up of five small, connected islands and is awash in running trails (both paved and not). I got in a quick four miler, starting here:

And ending here, on top of the actual fort (I didn't take my camera with me - I took the pictures after the run when I was stink and sweaty. No wonder all those German tourists in sweaters and long pants looked at me funny).

Then I showered and headed over to St. Pete proper for the Dali Museum. As you can guess, it was incredibly odd. It's housed in a bunker type building along the water. In 2011, it'll be moving to new, big digs.

Next, was another trip highlight:

Oh, I do love Village Inn (free pie on Wednesdays!) I'm craving those hash browns right now, too.

Post-lunch, I bought a few summer items off the sale rack at Surf Shack, then it was back to the pool for more reading, another beer, and more sun.

In case you're wondering, I read 3.5 books on vacation. That is a record for me.

On Thursday, I wasn't running during sunset, so sat on a beach chair and watched the sun sink over the gulf. It's a highlight of every visit.

For dinner, I headed to Pass-a-Grille, which I first thought was a restaurant. Turns out it's a town just north south of St. Pete Beach - very small, very quiet. I thought I'd try one restaurant, but I didn't like the look of the menu, so headed up the street to a place called Brass Monkey. No, this is not named after the Beastie Boy song (at least I don't think it is). I was the youngest person in there by at least 20 years, except for the bartender. I enjoyed watching the seniors dance to the cheesy cover band.

I try local beers wherever I go, and I couldn't get much more local than Evander Beer. Evander is an artist who lives in town. He is a bit scary looking but makes a nice beer.

I had a salad before the artery clogging meal above, FYI. That's Evander's beer (and face) in the background.

Then it was back to the hotel to rest up for Day 3, which was all about Tampa...