Simply put, I live where people dream of going on vacation.
I’m not trying to say that everything about Florida/The Greater Tampa Bay area is perfect. Far from it. Hell, “Florida Man” jokes exist for a reason, and despite heavy Northern influence on the major metropolitan areas Florida will never let you forget that it is, indeed, part of the Deep South. I mean, there is a HUGE Confederate Flag off of I4 right as you cross into Tampa territory.
But…There’s a lot of stuff about this area that is pretty great.
The weather is pretty great. Yes, it’s hot most of the year. Yes, it’s humid. But the thing is, with the obvious exception being the times when a hurricane is barreling down on us, I’ve never heard the powers that be tell us not to go outside because we could die. Ocean breezes keep things relatively livable, even if you end up a sweaty mess. I used to be enamored with the idea of living places that are cold and grey, because I love the rare days we have that are that way in Florida, but I was disabused of that notion by my wife after visiting Chicago in November a few years ago. While we were driving between cities, she turned to me and said “I want you to look around right now. See how everything is brown and grey and wet? See how everyone is sad and depressed? It’s like this for MONTHS AT A TIME.” When we were driving across the Howard Frankland bridge after arriving home that November, I noted the beautiful sunset and the fact that I could see a school of dolphins playing in Tampa Bay and realized that cold and grey days could get old quickly.
The cultural scene here is pretty great, too. We have a ton of local theaters, artists, musicians, museums, and various other ways to scratch your creative itch. Downtown St. Petersburg and Gulfport are two communities that are filled with eclectic people and businesses, not to mention being LGBTQ+ friendly.
Obviously we have beaches, and one of them (Clearwater Beach) was recently rated as the Best Beach in the South. We don’t have waves to speak of, but our beaches are top notch and many of our beach communities are still pretty low-key and chill if you’re just looking to kick back, have a few drinks, and watch some stunning sunsets.
The food scene here has really taken a turn for the better in the last decade or so, thanks in no small part to the efforts of folks like my friends Greg and Michelle Baker. When I was growing up it seemed like the majority of restaurants around here were either chains, dives, or prohibitively expensive. Now we’ve got a wide range of eateries cropping up all over the place, from food trucks to Michelin star restaurants.
I suppose it goes without saying that if you’re into theme parks or cruises you’ve got your pick of the lot here in Florida, and from where I am in West Central Florida we’re reasonable driving distance to all of them. We also have St. Augustine, which is the oldest continually-occupied settlement of European and African-American origin in North America and just a really cool place to visit.
But ultimately? For me? Florida is home. We’re a state made up of transients, and when I was growing up very few people who I knew were actually born here. I wasn’t myself, but I’ve lived here for about 48 years. I live two miles or so from the house I grew up in. I can’t go anywhere in St. Petersburg without having some kind of memory pop into my head. This is where I have my roots, and despite all the reasons to want to live somewhere else I’ll never not love St. Petersburg, Florida. There was a time when I wanted nothing more than to live somewhere else, but the older I’ve gotten the more I’ve realized that it is a pretty amazing place to live.