Dec 9 Gulfport to Bradenton

Dec 9


We enjoyed our stay in Gulfport. The marina was safe and secure.  The town was quaint and walkable.   Cute shops in their “downtown” which is just one street that’s 4 blocks long.  We walked around during the day marveling at the eclectic collection of "Old Florida" small single story homes and returned to town in the evening for a nice Italian dinner at Pia’s.   Awesome Osso Buco.  

Really liked this little waterfront home but would  hate to see the price tag

 Sunday we took a Lyft the 5 miles over to St. Petersburg to tour “The Dali”.  It’s a museum dedicated to the works of Salvador Dali and houses over 2100 items – the largest collection of Dali works outside of Europe.   The museum building itself was finished in 2011 and is listed as “one of the 100 architectural works to see before you die”. 

The "enigma" is a glass structure wrapping around  the building

Free standing 50 foot spiral staircase leading to exhibit on 3rd floor

Both the building and his artwork are impressive.   I honestly knew nothing about Dali but this museum is listed as a must see while in St. Pete so we went.   His art and styles spanned a wide range of styles. A nice thing they do is provide an audio guide for some of the major paintings.  You definitely appreciate his art and his life much more after listening to the explanations.

A selfie with an interactive electronic Dali as we were leaving

After all that edumacation my head hurt and my stomach was growling so the next logical stop was Oak and Stone for a wood fired pizza and a cool one.  Unique concept.  You get a digitized wristband.  Tap the symbol on the beer plaque you want to try with the wristband and it activates the tap. Pour however much you want and it gets electronically registered.  I was like a kid with a quarter in a penny candy store!!

Try one or try them all!!

May need this after all those brew samples

Today we took a short 3 hour cruise across Tampa Bay and up the Manatee River to Bradenton.  It’s a few miles out of the way off the GICW but we wanted to check out the town.  Several big marinas with some nice boats.  Downtown area abuts the water with a nice Riverwalk promenade.  Downtown has a few cafes, bars and restaurants.  No real shops per se. It’s the county seat so lots of admin buildings and  law offices along with some apartments , hotels, and condos.  

Mix of old and new - these classic old  Florida apartments date from 1927

Across street from this new but appealing  commercial building

 Motorworks Brewing (love their name and logo) is several blocks off the water in an old Hudson car dealership building. Nice diverse mix of beers. We enjoyed a flight in their outdoor courtyard sitting beneath a 150 year old live oak tree draped in Spanish moss.  Very enjoyable sitting outside in shorts and a t-shirt drinking beer in 78 degree sunny weather on Dec. 9^th.  Wish you were here.

Another perfect sunset to end the day

Journey for Dec 9