 |
| This is my bedroom and door to the bath (right). The doorway you see on the left (partially) is my private entrance. |
After that, I rode the Central Avenue trolley downtown, and did about 4 miles worth of of walking. I explored the restaurants, clubs, and funky shops. I had a late lunch at "Lucky Dill Deli" on Central Ave. and had a mile-high pastrami on marble rye, topped with cole slaw and melted Swiss cheese, a side of potato salad, and a Coke. Delicious. They brine their own beef briskets there. The bill came to $16, but the giant sandwich lasted me the rest of the evening.
From there, I visited the store/galley of a watch acquaintance of mine on 4th Street North, about 11 blocks off Central Ave. His name is Jeffrey Hess, and his business is called "Hess Fine Art." I wanted to see if his temperament and demeanor had changed any in the last five years since I last saw him, and unfortunately it hasn't. He wants me to collaborate with him on writing a book, I'm definitely interested in the topic (Omega watches) but I don't think I can work with him. But I'm glad I got to see his shop, which was very nice and connected to a jewelry store, which he also owns. Don't get me wrong; he's an OK guy, and he knows lots of stuff and some great connections in the industry. But I can only take him in small doses. He's a little heavy on the ego, and he has this constant need to prove he's the smartest (and the richest) guy in the room.
I stopped at a Starbucks after that for some caffeine, and also a CVS pharmacy to buy some snacks and a couple of daily bus passes. Then back to the house, where I got a good dose of Kelly's demeanor. Nice gal, but a veritable gumbo of neuroses, including OCD, ADD, hyperactive, and good dash of high drama thrown in. She keeps her office for her home-based business out in the common living area of the house, and maintains a running verbal dialog with the computer and the dozens of emails and texts that come in on an hourly basis. And, as a real estate broker, her phone is ringing a good amount of the time as well, plus she's regularly scolding her pet Chihuahua, Dakota, who barks at the slightest provocation and likes to lick people's bare legs. But the coup de grace of the evening was when the Internet went completely out at about 6:30 p.m., whereupon a flurry of expletives were uttered, and a long telephone conversation ensued with her Internet provider with her phone on speaker mode so that I could hear the blow-by-blow account between her and the customer service rep. Fortunately, this did not last long, and it was at least partially compensated for when Kelly told me to help myself to a six pack of beer left in the fridge by the previous visitor.
Kelly herself is 50 years old (by her own admission), is about 5'3", weighs about 100 pounds, 20 of which is boobs. She subsists, from what I was able to tell, on Chock Full O' Nuts coffee, tangerines, and rice cakes.
So I hope by how you are getting the full picture. Having said all that, I should emphasize that my overall experience at my airbnb location was pleasant, and both Kelly and Dakota (the Chihuahua) seemed to settle down after the first evening. Kelly and her boyfriend, Eric, went out every evening I was there, so I had the whole house to myself every evening. Even Dakota was sequestered in the private area of the house when Kelly was out. I retired to my private bedroom (with private bath) every night between 9:30 and 10:00, and I was never aware when Kelly/Eric returned from their evening outings because they were very quiet. Bottom line, if you go with airbnb, you are essentially a guest in someone's house and must more or less abide by house customs and adapt to the "vibe" of the household. Overall, the experience was pleasant, priced right ($60/night), and I will probably do it again the next time I travel solo to a place where I will only stay for a few days. (I notice since leaving that Kelly has increased the price of the room to $80/night!)
Tuesday, March 10. Beach day. I took the Central Ave. Trolley to a transfer point, and boarded a second "Suncoast" trolley, which took me to the beaches. On a hunch, I opted for Madiera Beach, north of of St. Pete beach, because it looked like there were more shops and restaurants to help round out the day, since my fair skin is not cut out for an all-day, lay-in-the-sun-on-the-sand kind of day. My hunch played out well. I opted for a stretch of Madiera Beach known as "John's Pass," and on one side of the road was a lovely shopping/eating/drinking complex, and on the other side of the road was a beautiful stretch of white sand beach. Here are some photos:
 |
| On the boardwalk |
 |
| The drawbridge at John's Pass |
 |
| Some kind of motorized parasail contraption that some guy was flying up and down the beach |
 |
| On the beach |
For lunch, I ate at the "Friendly Fisherman" at the shopping complex and had a cup of what was maybe the best clam chowder I have ever eaten, and a fried grouper sandwich with cole slaw, all washed down with a pina colada. All was delicious. From there, I crossed the road (under the draw bridge) and walked the beach's surf line barefoot for about 1/2 mile in each direction. Beautiful. I would have to say the beach is quite a bit nicer than Ft. Myers beach in that it is more pristine and less "tacky" than Ft. Myers Beach.
I returned to the house by way of the dual trolley buses, and for dinner that night, I ate at "O' Bistro" just up the street a ways on Central Ave. from the house. One of their nightly specials was a 6 ounce filet mignon (I had mine prepared medium-rare), served with a cheddar-bacon potato gratin, and fresh lightly steamed green beans, washed down with a tangerine martini (Kelly's influence, no doubt!). Awesome food.
Wednesday March 11. Back downtown today to visit the Dali Museum. But first, a stop at Haslam's Book Store, at 20th and Central Ave., which is billed as Florida's largest and oldest used bookstores, founded in 1933, and with an estimated inventory of 300,000 books. I was in book heaven, and spent about 1.5 hours there, and bought a couple of used books. Here are a couple of photos:
 |
| One of the store's mascot kitties |
From there, I hopped back on the trolley and went all the way to the end of downtown at the city pier and walked the length of it, just to say I did it. I was told there were shops and restaurants at the end of the pier, but the building is closed and I was told it is soon destined for the wrecking ball.
From there, I took the "City Looper Trolley" to the Salvador Dali museum and paid my $24 to see the largest collection (outside of Dali's home country of Spain) of Dali art. Some say he was a genius; others say he was mad. Certainly I found his early work to be more traditional, with a splash of impressionism thrown in. But at some point, the man was definitely "touched" with some sort of inspiration (perhaps fueled by copious amount of hallucinogenic substances), and his paintings became wild, filled with optical illusions and tons of hidden images.
The one that fascinated me the most was this picture titled "Lincoln." Viewed close up, you see the backside of a naked woman looking out the window at a sunset. A tiny monochrome portrait of Lincoln can be seen to the left of the woman's left foot. When you back way from the painting, the entire picture looks like a portrait of Lincoln. Some weird stuff.
I had dinner that night at a Mexican restaurant close to the house called D'Mexican, where I had chicken enchiladas topped with a most delicious mole sauce made with about 20 spices, served with beans and rice, and I also got an order of chips and salsa. It was some of the best Mexican food I've had in a while, but I fear the place will not be in business long as I was the only customer in the place.
Thursday March 12, I woke about 6:30 and was on the road by 7 a.m. My overall impression of St. Pete was very favorable. I could certainly see myself wintering there. The downtown is without a doubt more vibrant and there's much more going on there than in downtown Fort Myers. I can't speak for St. Pete beach, but Madiera Beach was certainly lovely and more pristine than Ft. Myers Beach. On the downside, the public transportation system sucks ... there's just no other way to say it. You waste half your day waiting for buses, and the schedules, if there are such a thing, are quite erratic. You'd really have to either drive and struggle for parking (yuck!) or figure out a suitable bike route, which St. Pete does appear to be a bike friendly city. Also, the cost of living here I'm fairly certain is a notch or two above Ft. Myers, and I seriously doubt I would find an apartment of equal quality here for what I'm paying in Ft. Myers. And finally, the Tampa ship piers are about a 45 minute car ride from most anywhere in St. Pete, so the piers are not as close as I thought. So when all is said and done, I think I'm going to stay put in Ft. Myers, at least for another year. But it was definitely worth the trip here, and I had a great time exploring the city these past three days. And the airbnb experience was a good education.
On to Kissimmee!
Bruce
No comments:
Post a Comment