I have known Teresa since 1980. At that time she was Teresa Smith. She started working at ENSCO at about the same time as I did. She was a recent graduate of Florida State University and was working software for the "Seismic" group. I was working data analysis and software for the "Nuclear" group. We had a tennis ladder at work and she was my partner in doubles. I went to her wedding to Tim Short in Tallahassee. They moved to Sweden so Tim could work on his post-doctoral at Manne Siegbahn Institute of Physics in Stockholm, Sweden. They had two children, Robert and Anders.
On Sunday morning, I woke up at my normal 7 Am and I went to the bathroom. As I was in there a smoke alarm started to go off. Of course, it woke Teresa, the cat and would not reset with a push of the button. I had to remove it from the ceiling. Nice start to the day. Teresa said she could make breakfast or we could go out. I said I just needed some coffee so she took me to the Kahwa Cafe on 2nd Avenue South.
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| Sign inside the Kahwa Cafe' |
Teresa ordered a latte and a egg croissant sandwich. I ordered myself a large cafe' au lait. They were very decorative with my cup....
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| My cafe' au lait with a pretty leaf on top at Kahwa Cafe' |
There was real cool art on the walls so I tried to get a picture of it. Unluckily, I caught Teresa stuffing the croissant toward her mouth. The four ladies in the corner were meditating for about five minutes. I almost wanted to go steal their coffees while their eyes were closed.
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| Teresa and the fine art at the Kahwa Cafe' |
They must have free Wifi because they were people on their laptops, and some were studying text books. USF is real close by. I wanted a picture of Marilyn so I caught strangers in that photo too.
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| More art on the walls at Kahwa Cafe' |
After our coffee, we decided to take a walk down to the water. The first place we hit is Al Lang Stadium, home of the Tampa Bay Rowdies soccer club. They play in the NASL and had beaten Puerto Rico 3-0 while we were at the baseball game. There were lots of empty beer bottles still in the parking lot.
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| Al Lang Stadium where Tampa Bay Rowdies play soccer |
Interesting fact, this use to be the baseball stadium for the spring training of the Rays (formerly Devil Rays).
I started to wonder how many Tamp Bay teams play in St Petersburg. For those who have never been there, it is about 25 miles between Tampa and St Pete. St Pete is on Tampa Bay. There is a Hard Rock Casino and one of their floats was still in the parking lot.
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| Float probably used at Rowdies game for Hard Rock Casino |
Just past the parking lot is the water and a marina. I took a picture looking south toward the Mahaffey Theater (glass on building) and Salvador Dali Museum (hidden by theater.) Teresa is also a member of the Museum but I had been through it the last two visits.
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| Looking south toward Mahaffey Theater & Salvador Dali Museum |
As we walked along the water toward the Museum, we had to avoid people on bikes and segways. There were also lots of people walking their dogs. As we proceeded, we could see into the Rowdies stadium. That is a Hilton on the other side of the field and the red roofed buildings are part of the University of South Florida.
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| Soccer field at Al Lang Stadium |
A small sailboat was setting sail....there was a cool breeze off the water, even though it was already above 80. I love to watch sailboats using their sails...
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| Small sailboat in harbor in St Petersburg |
Teresa said she had been to a Diana Ross concert recently at the Mahaffey theater...
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| Mahaffey Theater |
The skyline of St Pete is currently growing. I took a nice picture looking North from our walk...
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| Rowdies Stadium in foreground plus some of the many high rises going up |
There was an ad for the current artist being featured at the Dali Museaum. Horst is a photographer and I was not sure who he was. I did Google him when I got back home and I have included one of his photos. I wished I had gone seen it with Teresa. Sorry Teresa!
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| Ad along Avenue for Horst at Dali Museum |
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| Photograph by Horst |
We finally got down to the Dali Museum. I highly recommend a visit if you have never been. I also should go any time I have the chance. Maybe next time...
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| Dali Museum |
Teresa pointed out that there was a Salavdor Dali mustache in the garden...you can see it in the next photo, the curved, thin, black poles on either side of the palm tree.
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| Dali mustache in the Museum Garden |
As we were walking back North, I saw a plaque. I told Teresa I like to read plaques because they always give a little history of a place. This one is kind of interesting...
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| Plaque in St Pete, "The Burg" |
Also, Teresa had pointed out that the street we had crossed and were walking on is where the Indy cars race each year. The red lines on the sides of the street mark the course. I plan to go to that one year soon. I know the Marins went this year. For my NASCAR friends, the winner in St Pete in March of this year was Juan Pablo Montoya. I was imagining that the cars were racing at me in this next photo....
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| Red stripes mark course for Indycar race |
After our walk, we headed back to the house and I left before noon. There were storms in the forecast and I was trying to beat them. I did not succeed and hit rain near Orlando and Kissimmee.
I have attached a map with some of the places I visited; highlighted in red ellipses. If you get a chance, visit St Pete. It is a nice city.
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| Map of St Petersburg with places visited hi-lighted |
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