I’ve decided to take some inspiration from my fellow group member Thomas and write about certain places that I am not only well acquainted with but enjoy greatly. So, I’ve chosen a city that is only 40 minutes from my hometown of Trinity; St. Petersburg.
Local legend claims that the city’s interesting name choice was decided by a coin toss between it’s two Russian and American founders. If you couldn’t tell, the Russian one and elected to name the town after the former Russian capital where he had spent part of his childhood. The American got the rather mundane (in my opinion) consolation prize of naming the town’s first hotel after his hometown of Detroit. The city’s growth was due in large part to tourists who came to see attractions such as the Million Dollar pier and hospitable weather.
The city has always had a love for baseball dating back to 1904 when the town’s mayor invited the St. Louis Browns to hold their spring training there. Therefore, it was no surprise that the area’s passion resulted in it being awared a baseball team in 1995 with the Tampa Bay Rays. This, along with a contiunously expanding population from the 1950’s to the 2000’s has resulted in the area being one of the most popular tourist destinations in Florida.
Personally, I’ve always found St. Pete to be one of my personal favorite locations in Florida because of it’s distinct Mediterranean architecture; which give the whole city a unique “vibe” for the lack of a better word. It give the area a rather old yet aesthetically pleasing aura. This is especially noticable since the majority of Florida does not have a history that dates back quite as far as St. Pete.