New (to us) in St. Pete and some old faves.

The Globe Coffee Lounge. Located at531 1st Ave North, this place is a funky, comfortable, friendly place that reminds me of my old favorite CoolBeans (on steroids) in Issaquah, WA. High ceilings, old funky stuffed chairs and sofas, vintage 50s dinette sets, art scrambled on the walls and counters, soups, desserts and great lattes and other drinks. And FREE Wifi. (and plenty of plugs for those energy gobbling laptops). This is going to be one of my favorites…only thing is they aren’t open until 11am…so they aren’t an early morning haunt.

Mid-Peninsula Seafood Market and Restaurant located at400 49th Street South, Casual (picnic and dinette tables with mix and match chairs). Kitschy tropical décor. Order at the counter and they bring you your meal. Excellent grilled shrimp. Good stone crab (old or hot). Good fries and cole slaw. Very reasonably priced.

Orange Blossom “stand”. Located on Hwy 19 in north Clearwater at Bellair, Orange Blossom is a huge warehouse selling fresh citrus of all types and local fresh vegetables (onions and Ruskin tomatos are “in” now). They also have my favorite orange soft serve ice cream…not too sweet…mixed with vanilla…yep…creamsicle. We drove about 10 miles out of our way for that treat!

Mazzaro’s Italian Grocery. I know I’ve written about Mazzaro’s before and this probably won’t be the last time either. I love this place. I LOVE THIS PLACE. I love it from the minute I drive in the parking lot and look at the colorfully painted hodgepodge of a building with a papermache Italian woman greeting you at the door. I love it when I walk in and smell the wonderful perfume of fresh, fresh meats, cheese, wines in storage, fresh pastries and even fresher pasta, oh and lets not forget the freshly ground coffees. I could just stand there and breathe if I wasn’t so eager to find the treasure of the day. Today, it was the search for good mozzarella and basil (to go with the Ruskin tomatoes that I bought at Orange Blossoms). A little fresh roast beef and garlic bread and we were set for dinner on the patio back at Jimmy’s pool house. Did I say I LOVE Mazzaro’s? It’s located on 22nd Avenue in St. Pete just a few blocks east of 34th Street.

Reporting from St. Pete

A working week in St. Pete as we helped my mom moved into her new apartment and met with contractors/architect on our house addition/remodel. Here are a few tidbits from our “time-off time”.

Eats:

Fresko’s. We’ve eaten at Fresko’s (located on the marina in st. pete, fla) once before. We had an inside table and a very mediocre meal. Probably wouldn’t have gone back except our working brunch was scheduled for there this morning. Despite rain, we ate on the deck (courtesy of effective clear plastic curtains) and had a delightful brunch. Very good eggs benedict and frittata. Good coffee. Lovely view. Glad we went. We’d go back for brunch.

Leverock’s (on S. Pasadena on the Westside of St. Pete). One of several locations of an old standby in St. Pete. Fish/Seafood. Went with mom, jerry, Jason and yaric. Good tilapia, sword fish, and fired shrimp. Lobster bisque had way too much butter and salt in it…and salads were uninspired. Potatos (mashed or baked) excellent.

Harvey’s 4th Street Grill. A local’s haunt. One of our favorites for good, basic food with a warm inviting atmosphere. The restaurant celebrates its 25th anniversary this week on the 1st. We have plans to go. Had a fabulous French dip…excellent, tender beef, soft/crispy roll, not too salty aujus. Great gin and tonic. Oh, and they have guiness on draft.

Panera's on 4th Street in St. Pete...free wifi...good bagels and lattes.

Coca cola anyone?

US Air is once again providing non-alcoholic beverages free of charge. No more lugging on plastic bottles of coke bought at the last minute from the news stand. No more digging around for exact change. Just a cup of ice and a can of coke. As it should be.

View from the Top

I flew from Philly to LAX last week. Window seat. Great views all the way across the country. In particular the views of the Rockies with snow and late day sun were spectacular. I was fascinated with how the front range explodes out of the sloping prairie flatlands. Here are some photos taken with my little Canon.

Sunday in the Park With Deer

Yesterday (Sunday) we went for a walk on a gray late winter afternoon at Valley Forge National Historic Park. Everyone was out, people, dogs, birds, and deer. Corgis, westies, jack russells, loping hound dogs, and a chihuahua pup. Mockingbirds chased each other in a preview of spring rites. Winter juncos still hopped energetically in the brambles. Joggers, bikers, mom pushing strollers, dog walkers, monument lookers...all were out. And then there were the deer...as always lovely...and sadly in too large of numbers. But I love to see them regardless of the fact that they are eating themselves out of house and home. To watch them raise their heads above the rust colored grasses and gaze across a path to me with a kind of "ho hum" demeanour always makes me smile.