My daughter send OP (Todd) an email and copied me on it. Just in case there are other people following the thread who want info on what's happening in downtown St. Pete,
she said...
Greetings Todd,
My father, whom you will apparently know as "Peter" from an on-line
prostate cancer support forum, mentioned that you were planning to
attend an event in St. Pete in January with your wife and are looking
for things to do in the area. Dad said you were staying at the Vinoy,
which happens to be in my favorite part of town. There are a number
of great bars and restaurants along Beach Drive within an easy walk of
the hotel. Among our favorites are:
1) Cassis American Brasserie, a French restaurant with great food, a
nice bar, and café seating outdoors which will probably be lovely in
January in FL. They also recently added an adjacent bakery which is a
lovely place to have breakfast. http://www.cassisab.com/
2) Bella Brava. Just really great Italian in a modern setting. Also
with outdoor seating. http://www.bellabrava.com/home
3) Fresco's Waterfront Bistro. Nice seafood, waterfront seating.
http://www.frescoswaterfront.com/
4) Ceviche. Another place with great ambiance and great food.
http://www.frescoswaterfront.com/
5) The Columbia Restaurant on the Pier: The main building on "The
Pier" is a notorious eyesore that is slated for destruction, along
with the rest of the pier, sometime in the near future. But until
then, it hosts a restaurant called The Columbia which has goodish food
(but not, really great food) but a great view. And also really
excellent sangria. Even if you don't dine at The Columbia, The Pier
is a lovely place to walk down to just for the view.
Our favorite restaurant of all is a little farther away, but not far
by car, and is called Nitally's. It's a Mexican/Thai fusion
restaurant run by a married couple (he's Mexican and she's, you
guessed it, Thai). If you like really spicy food, this place is
great. http://nitallys.com/
Perhaps one of St. Pete's biggest attractions is the Dali Museum
(Salvador Dali) which has recently moved into a new building that is
quite the architectural marvel in its own right. Of course your
interest in this may hinge on what you think of Dali, but it's really
a pretty fascinating body of work and well worth a look.
Also in the downtown area are a number of music venues, most notable
being Jannus Landing http://www.jannuslive.com/category/concerts
Although the water may officially be a bit cold for swimming, the
beach, which is on the opposite side of St. Pete (the bay side beaches
don't really count...), might still be worth visiting. And depending
on how much time you have, and how far you care to drive, assuming you
have a car, there is lots to do in the area. Siesta Key beach in
Sarasota is about an hour away and is considered to be one of the best
beaches in the world. The town of Siesta Key is charming with lots of
little shops and restaurants. Busch Gardens is 40 minutes away.
Disney world is about 80 minutes away. LEGOLAND is somewhere in
between... You can rent kayaks right around the corner from the
Vinoy, take dinner cruises or dolphin-watching cruises (I haven't done
these so I can't comment too much on their quality).
Anyway, I'm not sure how long you'll be in town or what specifically
your interests are but I hope that helps. Let me know if you need any
other specific recommendations and enjoy your trip!