Rob Price & Leroy Bridges of St. Pete/Clearwater
Always a fun night out at the Rogers Centre – especially when the Jays win!
Sunwing's COO Andrew Dawson with
TCook Canada Product Director Paul Holinaty
Pat Rotz, Lois Sarkisian & Matt Lostracco of
CAA Niagara
What better way to spend part of the last long weekend of the summer (sob!) than with the Boys of Summer? And of course also with the nice folks from St. Petersburg/Clearwater area of Florida?
It’s become something of an annual tradition: those friendly Floridians host us to a swank evening in a box at Rogers Centre, and if all is well, the Blue Jays lose to the Tampa Bay Rays to show how polite we Canadians are.
This year was no exception. I got to chat with several of our hosts, getting the update on what’s hot in their region. “This destination has evolved so much,” Leroy Bridges of VisitStPeteClearwater told me. “People now come from Tampa to St. Pete to go out – our cafes, bistros, galleries are great. Not as high end as South Beach in Miami, though, more genuine and funky.” (Insider tip– it is officially St. Pete, not St. Pete’s).
And speaking of funky, guess what a hot new trend in the area is? Shuffleboard. Yes, it seems the gentle game is not just for the geriatric. St. Pete is home to the world’s largest shuffleboard centre (on Mirror Lake), and every Friday night you are welcome to bring a picnic - complete with adult beverages - and hang out and play or watch shuffleboard with local families, singles and groups simply looking for a casual, free event with a hint of nostalgia and some great tunes wafting in the tropical air.
Also retro are the Postcard Inns (featured by Sunwing). “We’re quirky, trendy, very 50s flavour,” their Area Director of Leisure Sales Diane Dove told me. The Inn on Isla Morada boasts a funky fishing theme and features 7 F&B outlets plus beaches and a marina; while the Postcard Inn on St Pete Beach features surfboards – in the guest rooms - plus pingpong and shuffleboard (again with the shuffleboard!) in the courtyard. “Great for a holiday reminiscent of kinder, simpler times,” she says.
Leroy’s colleague Rob Price is partial to 1,100 acre Fort Desota Park: “No T-shirt shops, no booming stereos, folks bring their dogs and their kayaks or fishing poles.” If all that sounds thirsty-making, Leroy also pointed out that the region is home to 10 craft breweries, with 5 more set to open in the next 6 mo.
The evening ended up with a good news/bad news game result: The Jays won (yay!). But they didn’t lose to Tampa Bay – for some reason they were playing Kansas. So both hosts and guests had something to celebrate!
