Rainy Saturday morning. We cast off in the rain and headed south down the ICW toward St. Petersburg. Most of the ICW is no wake zone so we had to proceed fairly slowly the 25 or so miles past Belleair, Indian Shores, Reddington, Medeira and St. Pete Beaches before entering Boca Ciega Bay. Turning up into Gulfport, we followed the fairly shallow channel up into the municipal marina and fueled up before heading to our slip. The marina was clean and well-run with nice floating docks - and most importantly, calm - after feeling every wake and wave in Clearwater Beach

Salty at rest at the Gulfport Municipal Marina


Gulfport seems to be a town that prides itself on its eccentric reputation and artistic downtown - which all lent itself to a fun first evening. Because it was the third Saturday of the month, a number of local artisans and artists set up booths along the main street. A holiday trolley was trolling the streets with passengers singing Christmas carols - we boarded and sang too! We had a nice dinner at Isabelle's at the Peninsula Hotel and after dinner passed by a lively and loud drag show in progress, then found a wine bar and listened to a talented bluegrass band playing in the courtyard outside the bar. So much going on in Gulfport Florida! Who knew?

Gulfport Shore Boulevard decorated for Christmas

Beach Boulevard lined with artisans for Third Saturdays

Holiday Christmas Carol Trolley

Bluegrass Band performance


Next morning we notice another leak on Salty! A few ounces of clear fresh water under the television in the salon - so we searched the bridge looking for the source, and narrowed down the source to be down to a drainage hose in the floor of the bridge - which we'll have to figure out how to fix.


That evening, the AGLCA Harbor Host picked us up and showed us around downtown St. Petersburg - which is lively and full of young people. Apparently lots of millennials are moving to the Tampa / St Petersburg area and demanding urban amenities. So in St. Pete, there are lots of restaurants, parks and walkways along the water. We enjoyed some cocktails on the rooftop Canopy Bar at the Birchwood Hotel and dinner at a French Bistro called Cassis. On the ride home, we stopped at an extravagant display of the Christmas Season on and around the house of a very dedicated Christmas fan.

St. Petersburg view toward the Tampa Bay

View from rooftop of Birchwood Hotel

Christmas explosion on a side street in St. Petersburg


Great couple of days here - always great to discover a nice place we had never heard of before. Tomorrow we move on to Sarasota!