We’ve gotten that first nip in the air! And it’s all we can do to get out of our air-conditioned caves. With all those September rains and warm October days, the flowers and greenery abound. The hues of nature make an eclectic backdrop for entertaining in our backyards.

Most of us have odd-shaped backyards thanks to the diversity of the neighborhood. And if you have a small backyard to boot, count your blessings. It’s less work in the summer and creates a better sense of intimacy with your guests. So those of you sandwiched between a back alley and your neighbor’s garage really have the best location.… Read More

My wife wants me to take yoga classes, but I don’t want to. Admittedly, yoga has been around for thousands of years and it has been perfected and validated as an excellent pathway to mental and physical health. But I have a resistance to physical exercise that is probably due to being involved with too many youthful sports run by coaches with too many personality disorders. Now I am happy to call sitting in a hot tub and then walking to a coffee shop an exercise routine, and will let the rest of the world sweat its way to nirvana. The problem with all this reluctance is that there are so many yoga teachers in St.… Read More

The historic Vinoy Park hotel was built by Aymer Vinoy Laughner in 1925. The architect was Henry Taylor, who also designed St. Mary’s Church, Comfort Station No. 1, the Jungle Hotel (now Admiral Farragut), the Jungle Prada, and the Florida Theater. The cost of construction was $3.5 million – at the time, the largest construction project in Florida history. The Vinoy was the largest and most luxurious of St. Petersburg’s boom-era hotels.

According to historic hotel author Prudy Taylor Board, the Vinoy was sparked as the result of a wager made between Laughner and 1920’s golf champion Walter Hagen. At a party at Laughner’s house on Beach Drive near the present site of the Vinoy, Laughner bet Hagen that he could not hit golf balls off the top of Laughner’s watch without breaking the crystal.… Read More

When local WTSP/CBS news anchor Dion Lim first arrived in town with her husband, Evan Panesis, she had found corporate housing in Tampa’s Hyde Park neighborhood. Unluckily for them, they moved in during Gasparilla weekend and experienced the revelry firsthand (perhaps more firsthand than even a news anchor would desire).

A few months later, in search of a permanent residence, Dion and Evan began exploring neighborhoods on both sides of the Bay. When they discovered the Old Northeast, they were instantly hooked.
“It’s exactly what we wanted in a neighborhood, and it’s the lifestyle we wanted,” Dion explains. “As soon as we moved in, we immediately bought bikes.… Read More

St. Petersburg native and film director, Curtis Graham, is happy to return to his Eden Isle home following a grueling month of filming on location on Oloibiri Island in the Niger Delta. Oloibiri is the site of the first oil well drilled in Nigeria in 1956. Since that time, big oil has come to dominate the Nigerian economy. Curtis served as the director of photography for the movie, and helped to produce the film as part of a joint venture between Greyhouse Films, his St. Petersburg-based production company, and Right Angle Productions, a Canadian film production company. The film is set for release at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.… Read More