Last night was almost the full moon (tonight is the actual full moon). The temperature was somewhere in the low seventies, I think–long sleeve weather, but not jacket weather…the kind of weather that makes folks want to move to Florida.

A friend and I walked down to the Gulfport, Florida, Art Walk which is held on the first Friday and third Saturday of every month (see gulfportflorida.us/gulfport-art-walk). It was suppertime, so we stopped at almost the first place we saw: Yummy’s Chicago style food (2914 Beach Blvd, Gulfport, FL 33707; 727-321-9869; Google place page). We’d never eaten there before. You can bet we’ll be back. It’s just the place for a light supper.

There’s a few tables inside, but there’s also outdoor seating, which for me is a big plus, especially since we were fortunate enough to sit at the table nearest the wonderful firepit pictured at the top of this post.

My friend wanted some wine. Yummy’s doesn’t serve wine, but, for that, they directed me to a little place in the same courtyard, Java Nirvana Cafe (2908 Beach Boulevard South, Gulfport, FL 33707-5548;
727-323-5904; Google place page).

I’ve had early morning coffee with another friend at the Java Nirvana Cafe–a great place to go to sit outside over a steaming mug and wake up. The horse sculpture which is pictured in the photo at the bottom of this post is just outside the Java Nirvana Cafe.

But, last night, I simply got my friend’s wine, and carried it back over to our outside table beside the firepit at Yummy’s where we ordered and ate our food: a kraut dog for my friend, a meatball sandwich for me–true Chicago style grub, and very good.

This courtyard also hosts live musicians who were setting up on the small stage just as we were leaving.

If you get a chance and you feel like eating outside at retired-teacher prices (that mean inexpensive!) on one of our balmy evenings, checkout this courtyard at the corner of Beach Blvd & 29th Ave. S. in Gulfport. Any evening will do, but it’s fun to do it during an Art Walk evening.

If you’re interested in fresh produce you definitely want to make it to the Saturday morning market. Here’s their website, www.saturdaymorningmarket.com/, a map, and some pretty pictures I took at the market: German bread, pastries, and very fresh fish and Saturday Morning Market.

Midweek, my favorite places to buy fresh produce are City Produce, any day, and Gulfport Fresh Market on Tuesdays.

For very, very fresh seafood, I recommend Island Seafood Market and Bistro.

There are other markets and specialty shops–too many to easily mention–but, the above are my usual produce and fish shopping haunts. For more possibilities, visit the Index page of Inkwatu at inkwatu.com/index/ and look under the Food category.

Gulfport Hideaway Apartments

• Gulfport Fresh Market
• Gulfport, Florida
• Geckofest and other festivals
• Before TV
• Thai-rific
• O’Maddy’s

Even though I live in downtown St. Petersburg, I love coming down to Gulfport. I think the reason I enjoy it so much is that it reminds me of the Ocean Beach, Mission Beach, and Point Loma of my early college days. It’s a quintessential beach town. But…back to our quest: getting places from Gulfport, only on foot or by public transit.
 
Gulfport is within Pinellas County. The entire county is serviced by the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA). They have an excellent website utilizing Google Transit Trip Planner as well as PDFs of the various bus schedules. The regular PSTA bus system, in cooperation with a number of Trolley services, provides easy access to anywhere in the area.
 
Here’s a list of those services:

• The Gulfport Red Trolley services downtown Gulfport.
• The Gulfport/St. Pete Beach Connector Trolley connects Gulfport to the beaches.
• The PSTA Beach Trolley serves all the beaches on the barrier islands.
• The St. Petersburg Looper Trolley serves downtown St. Petersburg.
• The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) serves all of Pinellas county and interconnects all the trolley services.
• This might seem more complicated than it really is. Just hop on any bus or trolley and tell them where you want to go; the drivers are very friendly and helpful.

Gulfport to the Beaches

We began our trek by walking two blocks east from the Gulfport Hideaway Apartments (5620 29th Ave. S., Gulfport, FL 33707) and one block south to the corner of Beach Blvd S & 30th Ave S where we waited at the bus stop in front of the Peninsula Inn (2937 Beach Boulevard South Gulfport, FL 33707-5547).

interior of Gulfport Connector Trolley

The signs on the left below, are the signs where we caught the Gulfcoast Connector Trolley. Notice that these stops are usually shared with regular PSTA bus stops.

left: PSTA and Gulfport Trolley signs; right: Suncoast Beach Trolley sign

inside K. Kringle’s Christmas & Holiday Shoppe in historic Corey Shopping District

75th Ave & Coquina Way down to Pass-a-grill beach

the Hurricane and trolley stop beside it

across the street from the Hurricane

Pass-a-Grille open air art show

Pass-a-grille Beach up to Indian Rocks Beach

Crabby Bill’s in Indian Rocks Beach

Indian Rocks Beach down to John’s Pass

We were starting to tire so we caught the Suncoast Beach Trolley back down south to John’s Pass. For more information on John’s Pass, see Inkwatu: John’s Pass Village & Boardwalk (the Friendly Fisherman & Hubbard’s Marina). On the way there, we passed one of my favorite beach restaurants, Dockside Dave’s.

open air art show at John’s Pass

Heading home

Before we climbed aboard the Gulfport Connector Trolley to head on back to the Gulfport Hideaway Apartments, we decided to treat ourselves to a fine English meal at Madeleina Cottage Restaurant, which is practically across the street from the bus stop in the Corey Avenue shopping district.

exterior Madeleina Cottage Restaurant

interior Madeleina Cottage Restaurant

cheese steak sandwich

fish and chips

various barrier island beach locations

• Gulfport Hideaway Apartments to Beach trolley transfer station (75th Ave & Coquina Way)
• Gulfport Hideaway Apartments to Pass-a-Grille Beach
• Gulfport Hideaway Apartments to Indian Rocks Beach
• Gulfport Hideaway Apartments to John’s Pass
• Gulfport Hideaway Apartments to Madeira Beach
• Gulfport Hideaway Apartments to Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary

various shopping opportunities

• Gulfport Hideaway Apartments to Walgreen Drugstore
• Gulfport Hideaway Apartments to Sweetbay grocery store
• Gulfport Hideaway Apartments to Publix grocery store
• Gulfport Hideaway Apartments to Tyrone Square Mall
• Gulfport Hideaway Apartments to Williams Park (downtown St. Petersburg) and St. Pete Pier

various entertainment venues

• Gulfport Hideaway Apartments to Beach Theater
• Gulfport Hideaway Apartments to Muvico Baywalk Theatres
• Gulport Hideaway Apartments to American Stage
• Gulfport Hideaway Apartments to St. Petersburg Coliseum
• Gulfport Hideaway Apartments to Palladium Theater
• Gulfport Hideaway Apartments to Museum of Fine Arts

Note: If you visited the Gulfport Hideaway Apartments website, you’ll notice that some of today’s post is quoted from that website. That was done with permission since I wrote the copy for and designed that website.

It’s that time of the year in Florida. The hot, humid days of late summer are just beginning to pass away. There’s the occasional cool front that comes through (we never seem to have real cold fronts). And the festivals begin. A couple weeks ago I went to the Geckofest (geckofest.com) in one of my favorite parts of the St. Petersburg area, Gulfport, Florida. There are several other Inkwatu posts on Gulfport you might want to visit: Gulfport fresh market, Gulfport Florida, and Before TV.

The Geckofest is very much a family and kid friendly event with lots of body painting and fake tattoos as well as inflatables. For the adults, many tents where local craftsmen display their work. And, everywhere: music! Bands, solo artists, and even a belly dancing troupe are scattered through the venue. Of course, many food and drink vendors. A worthwhile experience, especially for families as the pictures in this post show.

The Geckofest is hardly the only fall festival in the area, though. For examples, there are the local Okterberfests I reported on last week (see Oktoberfest). This weekend is the Sunshine City Antiques and Collectibles Show at the Coliseum. November 27-29 the Coliseum hosts a Gem, Jewelry and Bead Show, on January 8-10 another Sunshine City Antiques and Collectibles Show, and on January 16-17 a Buckler’s Craft Show. One not to be missed is the The Florida Antiquarian Booksellers Association’s 29th Annual Florida Antiquarian Book Fair Friday, March 12 through Sunday, March 14, 2010 at the Coliseum. For a complete list of shows at the Coliseum see the Coliseum Events page.

Another St. Pete festival not to be missed is the St. Petersburg International Folk Fair Society (SPIFFS.org) 35th International Folk Festival which has a new date this year: General Public–Saturday November 7, 2009, 10am-10pm and Sunday November 8, 2009, 11am-7pm; School Days–November 5th & 6th, 9am-3pm. Admission is $8.00 children under 12 free w/paid adult.

In progress right now, is the renowned Tampa International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival which runs October 8-18, 2009. One of the most venerable of St. Pete’s festivals is the Festival of the States which dates back to 1896; it features many marching bands and floats. Two of the biggest festivals are the Gasparilla Pirate Festival over in Tampa (its art show is a must see) and the Strawberry Festival over in Plant City, just east of Tampa. The list goes on and on, including the St. Petersburg Cajun Zydeko Crawfish Festival, McDill AirFest, the Bay Area Renaissance Festival, and Creative Clay’s Folkfest which just concluded a couple weeks ago. (See Creative Clay Folkfest for a report on last year’s event.)

Here’s some links you’ll want to bookmark to keep track of the latest information on all area festivals:

• St. Petersburg Festivals
• Florida Beaches Events
• Pinellasarts Festival Guide

If you think all we do down here is party at festivals and eat…you might be right!

Happy Thanksgiving! The above photo of a cornucopia of produce from the Gulfport (Florida) Fresh Market is my holiday visual greeting for this celebration.

The whole horn of plenty was less than $7.00. I got them at the Tuesday morning incarnation of the Gulfport Fresh Market (they used to be only a Saturday morning event).

The official name is the Gulfport Art Village Fresh Market, which is located at the Gulfport Art Village (2908 Beach Boulevard, South Gulfport, FL; 727-528-2575).

At this Gulfport’s Tuesday Morning Fresh Market article there is a stunning collection of photos of the market. This website, gulfportflorida.us, has an email subscription if you’re interested in Gulfport activities. I recommend the gulfportflorida.us site, highly.

Another article on the Gulfport Fresh Market that has excellent photos is this post from the travel group at the gather.com website. I enjoyed this post and the author’s eye–it’s the kind of positive post I try to write myself. Really enjoyed it.

Gather.com is an interesting site, overall. Kind of a communal blog with various subgroups (travel, food, thrifty tips, etc.) on which members publish posts. It’s free and quite nice–perfect for someone who doesn’t want to write an independent blog.

Other than the produce stand–which is excellent, truly, truly excellent–the main draw of the market for me is The Honey Cart. They give sample tastes of their four honeys, each gathered in a different season and from different flowers: Spring (citrus, primrose, clover), Summer (palmetto, jasmine, gallberry), Fall (black mangrove, wildflower), and my favorite, Winter (maple, tea tree, golden rod, strawberry, blueberry). I like the winter honey because it has a nice dark taste that goes well on my oatmeal in our “cold” 52° mornings in our Florida “winters.”

The Honey Cart folks sets up at a number of different local farmer’s markets. Here’s a list that’s even more complete than their website:

Pinellas Park Farmer’s Market (Monday); 5120 80th Ave. N. 9am-2pm
Gulfport Fresh Market (Tuesday); 2908 S. Beach Blvd. 9am-3pm
Clearwater Farmer’s Market (Wednesday); 112 S. Osceola Ave. 8am-1pm
Safety Harbor Farmer’s Market (Thursday); 401 Main St. 8am-1pm
Tampa Downtown Market (Friday); 400 Franklin St. 10am-2pm
Ybor city Farmer’s Market (Saturday); 8th Ave. & 18th St. 9am-3pm

I already have plans to visit–and report on–several of those.

Happy Thanksgiving!

SADLY, PHO 97 IS NO MORE–IT WAS A CASUALTY OF THE DIFFICULT ECONOMY. IT WILL BE MISSED

Blogger Quests

Every so often, a blogger—especially a food blogger—takes a photo of which they are enormously proud. An example is the first photo. It’s a snapshot I took of a banh mi sandwich from Pho 97 restaurant, here in St. Pete (3090 34th St. N., St. Petersburg, FL 33713; 727-526-1997). The moisture on the pickled veggies makes my mouth water just looking at it.

Bloggers often have little on-going quests to amuse themselves and to give structure to their endeavor. One of mine is “eating the length of 34th Street.” By that, I mean eating at every interesting restaurant on a street that, in St. Petersburg, has a large number of excellent restaurants, especially Asian ones. So far, there’ve been Inkwatu posts on two Asian ones on 34th Street: Mekong Vietnamese Restaurant and A Touch of Heart. I’ve only covered one non-Asian 34th Street restaurant, to date: Skyway Jack’s.

Pho 97 Banh Mi

The picture above is of Banh Mi Thit Heo Nuong (Vietnamese Grilled Pork Sandwich) from Pho 97. In The Land of Missed Sandwiches post, I had Banh Mi Xa Xiu (Vietnamese Barbecued Pork Sandwich) from Cantho Oriental Market. Similar sandwiches in that both are on a baguette and feature pickled veggies and meat; different in that one is grilled pork, the other barbecued pork. Both Pho 97 and Cantho’s sandwiches are very tasty, but I think my preference is for the barbecued pork, although I preferred the Pho 97 pickled veggies. That’s not to say that I don’t like their grilled pork, I really do, but I’m more fond of it in another dish: bun thit nuong (Pho 97′s bun thit nuong is pictured below).

Bun Thit Nuong

The order in which posts appear doesn’t necessarily correlate with the relative most-favored-restaurant status of a particular restaurant. A case in point is The King and I which I didn’t get around to writing about until this past week but is one of my favorite places. So too, Pho 97. Their bun thit nuong brings me back time after time after time, but it’s not until now that I’m finally getting around to writing about it.

Wandering Chopsticks, one of my favorite bloggers, has a post on bun thit heo nuong, which is a slightly different version of bun thit nuong, in that it also includes shrimp and egg rolls. I also highly recommend her post, 100 Vietnamese Foods to Try for which she has links to articles of her own for almost all of the 100 dishes in the list.

Bun Nem Nuong

If you took a peek at the Pho 97 sign below you may be wondering what “bun nem nuong” is. It’s grilled meatballs with rice vermicelli. That recipe link is from Tia Nguyen‘s Recipe and Photo Journal website. Wandering Chopsticks also has a good recipe for nem nuong.

Bun Bo Hue

If you take another look at the Pho 97 sign, you’ll see “bun bo hue” listed. Wandering Chopsticks has a recipe for bun bo hue. I haven’t tried this dish at Pho 97 yet, but will eventually. Although I’m a fairly adventurous eater, I’m a little put off by the thought of the congealed pig’s blood in the recipe. But…I don’t know know why I should be. I absolutely adore Mexican morcilla and German blutwurst. I’ve never had what the English call black pudding, but I’d be willing to give it a try. So…why my hesitation to try bun bo hue? I suspect it’s the texture…I like the morcilla so much because it’s fried and crunchy. That’s no excuse. Next time I’m at Pho 97, I’m giving it a try. Can’t let Andrew Zimmern have all the fun!

Planning Ahead

Part of my purpose in writing these blogs is to encourage folks to explore new activities, foods, and places so that they discover new things to enrich their lives. I especially want to encourage folks who may not be in the habit of frequenting restaurants of an ethnicity other than their own to give those restaurants a try. Usually, the reason people don’t try new restaurants and foods is that they don’t know what to order. It’s often that simple. Here is a link to a typical Vietnamese restaurant menu. If you don’t have a paper take-out menu from the restaurant you’re thinking of trying, I’d suggest printing out this menu, making your choice before you go, marking the menu, and taking it with you. In no time, you’ll be ordering with confidence. Here’s a short Guide to Vietnamese Menu Items that is helpful.

Dong A Market Near Pho 97

On the way home from Pho 97 this last time, I stopped by the Dong A Market (5200 34th St. N., St Petersburg, FL 33714; 727-526-8594‎) which isn’t too far from Pho 97. They had banh mi cha lua (a cold-cut banh mi made from a thinly sliced steamed pork roll)—next time I’m there, I’ll buy one (…or two or three!). I think, soon, I’m going to have the courage to start making my own different kinds of banh mi at home. The only ingredients I haven’t yet found are the rice and wheat flour baguettes. Dong A had a huge barrel of fresh baguettes from a local French bakery; however, they were made of only wheat flour, not the combination of rice and wheat flour I’m looking for. I may have to learn how to make my own baguettes, too…if I can find the rice flour. Another quest!

Just writing about O’Maddy’s Bar and Grille, thinking about sitting looking at the water while sipping a beer and munching on their Caesar salad topped with a double order of Vegas Hot fried chicken tenders raises the probability, considerably, that that’s where I’ll wind up eating supper tonight! O’Maddy’s, and similar places, are why some of us live in Florida. We like beach towns and beach town attitudes. I’ve written about Gulfport, Florida, before on this site in Before TV and Gulfport, Florida. In every way, Gulfport is an archetypical beach town. I’m instantly transported to my youth whenever I go there. Two good Gulfport websites are the City of Gulfport official site and this terrific site that really captures the feeling of Gulfport.

Back in the early 60s, I was fortunate to go to my first couple years of college out on Point Loma, in San Diego, California. Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, and Ocean Beach were where my friends and I spent our leisure time. Even today, those little beach communities have managed to retain some of their original, wonderfully seedy nature. (Here’s a live webcam of the surf at Ocean Beach.) I guess O’Maddy’s in Gulfport takes me back to 1963, San Diego beach towns, woodies, Jan & Dean, and riding behind my college roommate on his Vespa, listening to the Beach Boys sing Surfin’ USA.

Please don’t get the idea I was a surfer. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I was solidly, 100% nerd. But I liked the music and the times and the early 60s California scene. O’Maddy’s is as close as we’re going to get to that time and place, 3,000 miles away and 45 years later. The choice of piped in tunes at O’Maddy’s shows that the owner recognizes the demographic of his clientele very well. (My toes tap every time I’m there.)

O’Maddy’s Bar & Grille (5405 Shore Blvd., Gulfport, FL, 33707; 727-323-8643) is open every day at 11 A.M. with bar hours Monday through Saturday: 8 A.M. to 2 A.M. and Sunday: 11 A.M. to 2 A.M. Karaoke begins every night at 9:30 P.M. and the dinner menu starts at 5 P.M. Thankfully, the karaoke is in a different part of the building.

A word of warning about their website: it has midi music that plays on its own and can’t be turned off. Be sure to mute your computer’s speakers first unless you enjoy that kind of thing. But, their site is worth going to because it lists all the details of their menu. Their food is excellent. This is a “home run” place: excellent grub AND ambiance. The view of the water and Williams Pier is guaranteed to lower your blood pressure instantly.

There’s interesting info on William’s Pier at Waymarking.com: “521 foot extension into Boca Ciega Bay providing access to fishing in deeper waters/free admission/exterior lighting/benches/fish cleaning table.” So…take your fishing tackle for some fun before you go in for the karaoke contest every Wednesday from August 13^th through October 22^nd.

I’ve never had a bad meal at O’Maddy’s. The menu has plenty of appetizers with chicken tenders, buffalo shrimp, gator bites, mussels, onion rings, and scallops, through various salads with different meat toppings, on to excellent enormous wraps and sandwiches like corned beef, cheese Phillies, traditional Reubens, mahi-mahi Reubens, or substantial dinners of steak, pasta, chops, chicken, or fish.

To get to O’Maddy’s from Gulfport Blvd., which is the same as 22^nd Ave. S., go all the way south on 54^th St. until you dead-end at the Gulfport Casino. Turn left and it’s a couple blocks on your left. You’ll probably see me there, tonight!

By the light of stone-age campfires, our ancestors dramatized stories that spoke directly to the heart of their listeners about society’s deepest myths. Always, from those primeval origins, through the earliest recorded histories in China, India, and Greece, right up to the present day, live drama has always been more than entertainment (although it has definitely been that as well); at its best, it has always been an uncompromising examination of what it means to be human. (See Theater History for a concise history of theater.)

Karaoke, hootenanny sing-a-longs, and tribal dancing, not withstanding, music is pretty much something that can only be appreciated within the isolation of one’s own mind. Reading a book is even more isolated. Art can be discussed, but the ideas involved are always a bit rarified. But, theater has the power to move masses, to start revolutions, to change the social order. One might think that movies were the same way, but somehow they’re not. They seem as interior an experience as music. Live theater, however, is more immediate, more visceral, with an impact that seems to reach right into the audience and involve it in the production itself. I’m not sure why this is so–it may be that it is the simple fact that it’s real flesh and blood actors in the same physical space as the audience–but that is my own personal experience and when I look around at the faces of fellow members of the audience I think it is theirs as well. ^(NOTE)

For that reason, we’re so fortunate to have a large number of small, amateur theater groups–as well professional theater groups–in the Tampabay area. In addition to the professional, actor’s equity theater, American Stage, in downtown St. Pete, groups that perform at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, and the various local university and college drama departments, there is the Suncoast Theater Alliance comprised of the Gulfport Community Players, the Island Community Theatre, the City Players, the West Coast Players , the St. Petersburg Little Theatre, the Eight O’clock Theatre, and the Francis Wilson Playhouse, whose website has an even more exhaustive list of live theater groups in the area!

Not long after I’d first moved to St. Petersburg, I went to watch a a friend, Andrew Meacham, a writer for the St. Petersburg Times, perform as Chief Bromden in the Island Community Theater’s production of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” at Gulfport’s Catherine A. Hickman Theater (5501 27th Ave. S., Gulfport, Florida). Please check out this review, these pictures, and this photo of Andrew as Chief Bromden. I enjoyed myself thoroughly (and even managed to win a door prize) and have looked forward to another fun night of theater in Gulfport.

I finally got my chance last weekend when I returned to the Hickman Theater, with friends, to watch the “Summer One Act Festival” presented by the Gulfport Community Players. It was an interesting evening: eight one-act plays, all written by local playwrights and directed and acted by local talent. It was just right! Having eight different plays provided a safety net for various tastes and attention spans. If one play wasn’t one’s cup of tea, the next one was. I was fortunate in that I enjoyed each on its own terms. I’m absolutely thrilled that the playwrights were all local. So much of our artistic experience is “imported” from international corporate art mills.

I love corporate art products as much as anyone, but there was a day, when if you wanted to hear music, the only music you got to hear was within a day’s ride by horse. Guys like Bach, Mozart, Hayden, Beethoven were all just local gigging musicians. If you wanted music you were stuck with your local talent–artists we now think of as the greats. I think the reason there were so many good artists and art produced in those days (in all fields of fine art—theater, music, graphic arts, dance) was exactly because of the local nature of the scene, the lack of competing big-bankroll imports. It’s not even an analogy, it’s literally the same phenomenon: supermarket chains are great, but they destroy local food “creativity” in the same way local performers are made irrelevant by imported talent.

So, it is with real interest that I discovered that the 1st Annual Florida Playwrights Festival is coming soon to the Tarpon Springs Performing Arts Center with an original full length play, “Money, Money-Who’s Got the Money” by Sharilyn La May; August 15-24, 2008 (727-942-5605). Also, the Theater Florida Playwrights Festival will present “Once More” by Brian Wiggins, at the Back Door Theater directed by Frank Hale, August 22-31, 2008, Friday & Saturday at 8 pm, Sunday at 2 pm, and “Shakespeare’s R&J” adapted by Joe Calarco, directed by Bill Rucker, November 21-30, 2008, Friday & Saturday at 8 pm, Sunday at 2 pm; auditions September 29 and 30, 2008, 7 pm at the Back Door Theater.

The Back Door Theater (4919 17th Avenue S., Gulfport, Florida) was once only the rehearsal, audition, and set construction space for the Gulfport Players. It is now an additional venue for their performances. They, as well as other theater groups such as the Island Community Theater will continue to perform at the much larger Hickman Theater, but the new Back Door Theater, owned by the Players, will have the capacity for catered dinner theater and will allow the Players to expand their performance schedule.

If you’re not familiar with Gulfport—a small community on the water, adjoining St. Petersburg, and home to the Hickman Theater and the Back Door Theater—I highly recommend your exploring the town before or after taking in a play. They have a large number of activities there of various sorts including sidewalk art shows and street musicians. Check out the Gulfport city website for more information. A much earlier post of mine about Gulfport is available here and a photo tour of Gulfport in a miniaturized version immediately follows this paragraph (a larger version is available at http://inkwatu.com/gulfport.html).