St. Petersburg • Clearwater 2008 - (Page 44) LuLu's in downtown Gulfport. : TOUR IT » On the Streets: Arts Events & Villages Go out for an (art) walk. The 26 communities in Pinellas County serve up a host of galleries. Start in Gulfport, St. Petersburg, Dunedin or Pass-a-Grille. In Gulfport, visit Art Village. Here, artists and crafters sell their wares. Check out the retro gifts for sale at Hula Hula At the Rez; you can browse through work by more than 20 area creators. Further north, in Dunedin, you’ll find galleries scattered along Main Street, Broadway and Highland Avenue. At the Painted Fish Gallery, five Florida artists offer a funky mix of ceramics, watercolors and other work. Enjoying the wide stretch of sand on Passe-a-Grille? Take a stroll along Eighth Avenue, where you’ll find galleries, boutiques and restaurants. If you crave fine jewelry, Evander Preston sells contemporary designs in 14 and 18 karat gold, and in silver. (Check out the model train running through the window – its headlight is a half-karat diamond.) Galleries in downtown St. Petersburg are plentiful enough to merit their own day trip. TAKE a Google Earth tour of cultural attractions at www.FloridasBeach.com : DAY TRIPS You can spend an entire afternoon in downtown St. Petersburg meandering through the galleries and antiques stores lining Beach Drive, Fourth Avenue, Central Avenue and surrounding streets. Galleries spotlight a wide array of fine arts and crafts. Glass art glitters at Crystal Mirage Gallery. At ArtSpace, nearly 20 regional artists show paintings, copper work, stained glass and creations in a variety of other media. Check out phantasmagorical Croatian art at the Croatian Native Art Gallery and Museum Collection. Antiquing it? Visit Doc's Place of Antiques & Collectibles, Agnis Godfrey Antiques & Collectibles, Janet's Antiques and a host of stores on Beach Drive. You’ll find similar, though often more funky, offerings on Corey Avenue in St. Pete Beach. Drive Alternate Rte. 19 from Clearwater to Tarpon Springs for a taste of Old Florida. You’ll see older homes, oak trees dripping Spanish moss, offbeat boutiques and restaurants and the spectacular Pinellas Trail (a 34-mile linear park). Best of all, this road hugs the Intracoastal Waterway, offering terrific views. Time your drive home for sunset – you won’t forget the trip. 44 : Th e c u l t u r e o f t h e p la c e http://www.FloridasBeach.com
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.