Saint Petersburg Things to Do

For those of you visiting the Tampa Bay area with children it is nice to know that we have a ton of free/cheap parks, playgrounds and pools. The kids will have a blast and your wallet won't be empty afterwards.

Here are a few I thought that were mentioning.
1) Highland Family Aquatic Center is more like a mini water park then a pool @ 400 Highland
Ave, Largo.(small charge) http://www.largo.com/department/division.php?fDD=13-176

2) Huge circus-themed playground @ 2050 Adams Lane, Sarasota @ offers two areas for different
age groups: an area for children ages 2-to-5 and one for ages 5-to-12. The playground
encompasses one-half acres and more than 300 children can play simultaneously.

These links will give extensive lists about other great places to go.
Tampa Bay times list of 10 water playgrounds
http://www.tampabay.com/features/parenting/article636016.ece

City of Tampa's list of playgrounds
http://www.tampagov.net/dept_parks_and_recreation/

List of indoor playgrounds (these all charge)
http://fitkidsplayground.com/fitkids-tampa/

Tampa Bay Onlines List of playgrounds in Tampa - will give you one one closest to you.
http://directory.tbo.com/FL-Tampa/Playgrounds

Orlando Playground guide (some of these will be worth the drive). Website has pictures -
http://tampaplaygrounds.com/

For a complete list of all the Tampa city parks and what they offer (remember neighborhoods
also have parks that are not on this list):
http://www.tampagov.net/dept_parks_and_recreation/park_search/parks_help.asp

Pinellas county parks - http://www.pinellascounty.org/park/default.htm

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Although the Pier, architecturally, screams early '70's post-modernism, it couldn't be more charming. Leading out to the pier is a sidewalk-flanked roadway over the water. Along the walkway or shelters and various interpretative signs about the ecology of Tampa Bay. There are meters on the roadway ($0.75 per hour in September 2011) and $3/day parking at the end. There is a free trolley that runs from the pier and into Downtown every 10-15 minutes.
The first floor consists mostly of tourist-oriented shops. There are art stores, t-shirt stores, a store dedicated to Florida beer and wine, and a couple of cafes serving drinks and desserts. There is also an information booth providing tourist info on both the pier and the city itself. Outside on the back of the pier, there are shaded picnic tables and a stage where there is often live music.
The upper floors are restaurants, with the top floor being half the Cha Cha Coconuts restaurant/bar (popular and with a great patio) and half an observation deck. The observation deck provides a 360-degree view of both the bay and the St. Pete skyline. It's great at sunset.
There are bike rentals available at the front as well as a dolphin cruise stand and a pelican feeding stand.

John's Pass Boardwalk

John's Pass Boardwalk is an interesting wharf-like collection of shops and restaurants along the bank of an inlet that separates the communities of Madeira Beach and Treasure Island. It is also a popular launching point for recreational activities (e.g. parasailing). For updated information on restaurants and shops, click here.

The Pier

The Pier is an unusual complex of shops, restaurants, and even an aquarium, that extends out from Downtown St. Petersburg into Tampa Bay. The Pier is also a site for special events and is now also illuminated with a light show at night. When I visited as a child my parents bought some fish there to feed the pelicans that like to hang out here. It is quite an experience to find yourself face-to-face with the large, agape beak of a hungry pelican! For updated information on what shops and restaurants are there today, and to see a virtual tour, click here.

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The Salvador Dalí Museum sits between Albert Whitted Airport‎ and Al Lang Field in downtown. This is the largest Dali collection in the world, with 96 oil paintings, 100 watercolors and drawings, and 1,300 graphics, photographs, sculptures and other objects.

Salvador Doménec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech was born on May 11, 1904 in Figueres, Spain. He is famous for bizarre images and surrealist work.

The museum's collection was established by A. Reynolds Morse & Eleanor R. Morse. From the 1940s until 1982, the Morses displayed their collection in the Cleveland, Ohio, then it moved to a warehouse in St. Pete. The new location, designed by famous stadium architects HOK, opened in January 2011.

Entry is expensive at about $20 a person, with some discounts for students, military, and elderly. It's really not worth the high price, so you might consider going during one of their discounted evenings ($10 after 5pm

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What's nice about downtown St. Petersburg is that all the areas of interest are located in a compact area downtown. Just find a place to park and walk everywhere. There is some interesting buildings with cool designs for architecture and photography buffs. Some very creative looking condos all over. Also, everything is surrounded by water, so there are some great parks all around the bay area to stroll. All the museums are located around the bay too. You can walk to the Pier as well as the shopping center called Bay Walk, which has a great movie theater. Central avenue is the place to go for restaurants and nightlife. Just make sure you watch out for the homeless which are situated around many of the parks downtown. They seemed relatively harmless though, I never really got hasseled.

fort desoto is located on mullet key in the fort desoto county park. the fort was built to defend tampa bay during the spanish american war. construction of the fort began in 1898 and it was completed in 1903. the fort was active until the 1920's. at the fort there are four seacoast mortars which are the only ones that still exist in the united states. for those interested in military history fort desoto is an interesting place to visit when in saint petersburg.

located at johns pass is a replica pirate ship that takes a cruise to the gulf. the pirate ship at johns pass has a show and "battles" using water cannons and squirt guns. a fun, touristy thing to do with children. see the attached web site for times and prices.