(Continuation of my article)
After three weeks in Sarasota, Puffin is now wharf-side at St. Petersburg's Municipal Marina. Moorings are also available in a neighboring basin.

Randy has provided an excellent overview of the many things to see and do in St. Petersburg. For us, St. Pete really started with the Chihuly glass exhibit at the Morean Arts Center. It can't be said more simply - it's fantastic. This is not your grandmother's cut glass collection. This is an extravaganza in color, light and artistry. These are large, fantastical pieces of vividly colored, hand-blown glass pieces and they're exquisitely displayed in a building especially designed for them. After you've recovered from the exhibit, it's worth following up with a visit to the "Hotshop" a few blocks away, for a live exhibition in hand-blown glassmaking,

Another museum of significance in Saint Petersburg is the (Salvadore) Dali Museum. The explosively fertile imagination, the range of coloring and the technical artistry exhibited in his work is breathtaking. In one example of his technical proficiency, we were amazed by a picture of his wife, Gala, painted on a canvas the size of an iPhone screen and so detailed it looks like a photograph. Think painting with a magnifying glass and three hairs of a sable brush. Other paintings are huge, perhaps ten by fifteen feet and layered so that at ten feet away the painting is one picture and from 50 feet away another picture reveals itself. The large crowd in attendance was an obvious testimony to his immense popularity.

There is an inexpensive, local bus system, the Downtown Looper, which includes some historical commentary by the driver of sites in the downtown. One particular driver treated us to remnants of show-tunes, sung a cappella, that seemed to relate only by title to the site that he was explaining. At one point he sang an entire song, and quite well, while driving along his route. He was most appreciatively applauded by his astonished passengers.

We've rented a car to continue our explorations in Clearwater and in Tarpon Springs. This will be Puffin's northernmost waypoint before she turns south toward the Keys. This somewhat random compilation of highlights aims to provide a small supplement to Randy's articulate homage to Florida's Left Coast. Much remains to be explored and we expect to find more delightful places as Puffin works her way south. (End of article)