unfortunately, the planes also have to be able to take off from here, and that's the rub. short story shorter, my first planned flight to tampa got canceled because of freezing rain and i had to reschedule for the following weekend. but i made it!! and i enjoyed a really wonderful weekend with my childhood friend alissa, who migrated from new hampshire many years ago to the land of palm trees and never looked back. i'd only been to tampa and never st. pete, and had basically assumed the two were one in the same. well, (unforgivable voice) that's a mistake. st. pete is SO cool and funky and artsy and yes, i was browsing zillow in a manic frenzy on my plane ride home before i reminded myself of who i really am — and that's a new englander. still, it was adorable and i had a fantastic time and i highly recommend you visit. here are the spots to hit!
DAY 1:
upon my arrival, we drove out to have lunch with alissa's parents (we go way back) on treasure island, and it was the perfect way to kick off a sunshiney vacation. this town was quintessential florida beach village, with lots of pirate-themed statues and a chill, seaside feel. after taking in the amazing view at their condo, we walked to grab pizza at britt's, a casual gastropub.
then it was off again — this time to downtown st. pete — for sidewalk drinks with alissa's friend and birthday girl, kelsey, at this bar called flute and dram. it was sunny and just about 70, and there was a guy with ear gauges faithfully doing acoustic covers of "watermelon sugar" and "dirty little secret," and the people watching was fabulous, and i was drinking a half-priced rum old fashioned because happy hours exist in florida(!!!!). life was good.
for dinner, we wandered over to bellabrava, a moderately-priced, nice-but-not-super-upscale italian restaurant with a lovely atmosphere. more friends joined us here, and we split some appetizers, including bruschetta and meatballs, to start — both delicious.
but holyyy fuck i am still thinking about the chicken parm i ordered and i'm never going to get over it. two salty, crispy-crunchy chicken breasts smothered in prosciutto and mozzarella, atop a bed of pasta....i don't remember the last time i was moved to use the term "foodgasm," but this was deserving because i'm pretty sure my eyes rolled all the way back into my head. and then there was cake cake cake cake, courtesy of one of the girl's sisters or cousins or someone who is a cake designer. it was in the shape of a k (for kelsey, natch) and had beautiful chocolate-covered strawberries and ferrero-rochers on top! *almost* too pretty to eat, but not quite.
we bar-hopped a bit, starting with this big, dark, and gorgeous tiki bar called saigon blonde. LOVED the ambiance, LOVED my drink (the "basic beach" which i can't locate the ingredients for now but involved rum and something coconutty and lots of fruit juices), HATED the music. it was excruciatingly loud house/club shit and the main reason why we only stayed here for like, a half hour. as an amateur bar soundtrack/vibe matcher, i deemed it a huge miss. this bar called for '60s surf and garage rock intermingled with lush, modern, atmospheric pop stuff like the neighbourhood. but what do i know??
there was a brief visit to a "craft shot bar" with the stunningly bad name pour decisions where i just chugged water because i am old and my tummy is sensitive, and then we ended the night at a rooftop spot called the landing, where the DJ was strangely playing the perfect mix of early 2000s hip-hop like "freek-a-leek" AND songs i loved when i actually lived in florida over a decade ago and haven't heard since (like "out of my head" by lupe fiasco featuring trey songz....holy random). soundtrack and vibe match on point here! our little group played a few quick rounds of "never have i ever" where we learned entirely too much about each other, as well as some jenga, as i very quickly began to fade.
DAY 2:
we spent saturday morning in the insanely adorable town of gulfport, and as soon as we were seated outside of stella's — a cute, lively breakfast spot — my brain was already going a mile a minute planning my new life there, obvs. i'd wear lots of flowy pants, lightweight scarves, and peasant tops, and start wearing my hair in a top knot and maybe start painting and swan around drinking iced lattes and petting other people's dogs. but i digress! at stella's, i got the banana bread french toast and a side of turkey sausage, which i wish i could have right now again because i was slightly hungover at the time and couldn't quite make it through the entire thing.
the whole town reminded me a lot of one of my other favorite florida places, sanibel island. it was funky, colorful, and full of friendly faces (both human and canine, squee!). we wandered the pier, and then strolled through this little craft/art fair that was happening, and then lurked some houses, obv. love love loved it all.
there was this huge vendor/art/craft extravaganza called localtopia happening back in downtown st. pete, so we strolled around there for a while. i didn't see anything that was reeeally calling to me (except the print below, but i have no more room on my walls for art), but alissa got some plants and it was a lovely way to get a feel for the st. pete community!
all of that strolling called for a caffeination break, so we popped into intermezzo coffee and cocktails for a mid-day pickup. alissa got a flavored iced tea and i got an iced vanilla latte with oat milk, and we sat outside taking in the palm trees and beautiful, sunny, 70-degree weather (and eavesdropping on the small birthday meetup of gen z girls taking place next to us, where the ladies were washing down some THC chocolates with their cold brews. get it!).
as i mentioned before, st. pete is a huge artist enclave, and street art is everywhere around town, especially in this neighborhood...which i believe is called the grand central district? so many beautiful and colorful murals.
and because i am addicted to all things historic houses (especially bungalows), i coerced alissa into driving us to historic kenwood, a neighborhood that is full of 'em, including many craftsmen bungalows from the '20s and '30s. my kryptonite! we wandered around for like an hour just oohing and aahing at the homes as i snapped 1000 photos and lost my mind.
after beginning inventing anna on netflix — which we somehow finished by the end of my visit despite all of our other activities — back at alissa's place, we realized we hadn't eaten since our breakfast at like 10:30 and were positively famished. that clearly called for massive plates of burgers and fries. engine no. 9 is a very low-key, casual spot with mostly bar seating. i got the "demi-god" with cheddar, swiss, sauteed mushrooms, caramelized onions, and held the horseradish mayo because i fucking hate both horseradish and mayo. it was soooo good, y'all.
the best part of being in your mid-30s? you go to the hot new speakeasy in town at 6:30pm before it gets too busy and you have to wait in line. as someone who deeply appreciates both hidden/secret bars and kitschiness, i really dug dirty laundry. it's an instagram content dream come true, complete with a fake laundromat facade and lots of neon signage. ali and i both ordered the "made in havana" with vodka, irish cream, cafe bustelo, frangelico, and cold brew syrup, and took our drinks out to the patio area where we coached group after group of young ladies on the best poses and angles in front of the "all you need is love & mojitos" sign. it was a blast.
DAY 3:
we were not hungover and we were very hungry, so sunday morning was diner time. kissin' cuzzins, besides having an incredible name, was the perfect, down-home greasy spoon. they don't take any names down, you just wait in line for your table and they give you way too much food and it's all delicious.
but the highlight for both alissa and i was, unexpectedly, the lil' table busser/coffee refiller fellow. he was probably in his early 20s, mousy with brown hair and a ponytail and maintained STRONG eye contact and was so sweet and attentive! when our waitress brought "whipped spread" for our pancakes, he goes "i know you don't want *these*" and produced a handful of real butter packets from his apron pocket and winked with MORE eye contact. now, i'm no cougar, but let me just say that both alissa and i were swooning over this considerate young man and his deep understanding of our need for saturated fats on a sunday morning. we may or may not have brought up him at least three or four more times during my visit.
satiated and a bit bloated with meat and cheese and pancakes, we pressed on to fairgrounds st. pete, a new, interactive art and technology museum that was one of the coolest places i've ever been in my life? it was part gallery, part escape room, and just a trip and a half. we spent probably two hours there doing the flamingo-themed valentine's day scavenger hunt and trying to solve puzzles and just enjoying the shit out of it! highly, highly recommend you pay a visit here if you find yourself in st. pete.
of course, in addition to pretty houses, another essential component of every trip i take is coffee. and specifically, every single cute coffee shop in a given area. black crow coffee was the converted-garage cafe of my fantasies, with lots of plants and sunlight and drinks with fun names like "purple haze" (a latte with mocha and hazelnut, which i obviously ordered). it very much seemed like a place that would be in st. augustine, my other florida love. people were posted up inside and outside writing, reading, and listening to music, and it was all very chill and wonderful.
down the street is wild roots, a plant store where we made a quick stop to soak up some more chlorophyll, and then we drove through roser park, a super unique and cool historic neighborhood. it reminded me of an area that would be in LA; lots of hills, with houses hidden and set back on them, narrow, brick-paved streets, a brook running through the center of it all. it was dreamy as fuuuck and i'm so glad we checked it out.
we had an al fresco dinner at, uh, fresco's waterfront bistro, and obviously had to get more fruity drinks. to eat, i had the sweet & spicy mahi with sriracha-encrusted mahi, fried onions, sweet thai chili, and fried rice. amazing! guys, i have to say, i had zero expectations for food on this trip and every single meal i had was fantastic. you're sneaky cool, st. pete. OH, and ali recognized this famous tiktoker, luke franchina, at the outdoor bar, so we sent a drink over because we didn't want to disturb him. but he came over to chat briefly and was very sweet! why do i always only meet celebs and pseudo-celebs while i'm on vacation??
finally, we obviously had to see the super bowl halftime show, so we headed down the nearby pier to this huge restaurant called doc ford's rum bar & grille where we snagged seats at the bar. i had the "pier pressure" with black cherry rum, raspberry liqueur, fresh lime, ginger beer, and pineapple juice. there was a man celebrating his 80th birthday (who we also sent a drink over to because we were just in the mood to ball out) and the bartenders were super fun, dancing to "the next episode" and rapping to "lose yourself." great times!
before ali dropped me off at the airport the next morning, we had a really delicious breakfast at this hole in the wall cuban restaurant, la teresita. the place had multiple diner-style counters and a community feel — the man sitting next to me said good morning and the group of folks eating across from us wished us all a happy valentine's day and it was all very cute. i ordered the cafe au lait and an omelet with onions, american cheese, and peppers, both great! it was only after we left that i realized bourdain had visited this place back in 2002 and i am 99% sure I SAT IN THE SAME SEAT AS HE DID. crying. what a way to end the trip!
