St. Petersburg, Florida.

Home for me is Saint Petersburg, Florida, and I feel like we have it all! I can't think of anywhere I'd rather live right now. We are located on a peninsula in the Tampa Bay area (go Bucs), so we are surrounded by beaches on three sides and they are all completely beautiful! If sand is not your thing, don't worry! We have an incredible Downtown area that anyone would enjoy! Not to mention we are driving distance from multiple theme parks, and incredible national parks. I can't wait to share with you some of the amazing things my hometown has to offer.

Our first stop is the beach. When you think of Florida in general, one of your top thoughts is probably of the beaches. Our beaches are incredibly beautiful and lined with high class hotels, cute little condos and apartments, and fantastic restaurants. I love driving aimlessly down Gulf Blvd on weekends and just people-watching. We try to guess who is a tourist, who is a "Snow Bird", and who is a Local. Florida is sunny and warm almost all year, so the beach is almost always an option. Even if it's a little too chilly to swim, its a good photo spot and it's just really nice to feel some sand between your toes every now and then.

The next hotspot is Downtown St. Pete. Our downtown is huge and only getting bigger! For a long time, our area was kind of a retirement town, lots of older people, but over the last handful of years our downtown has been attracting a lot of young adults. Sports teams like The Rowdy's, The Rays, The Lightning, and The Bucs all help to make the Tampa Bay area exciting and fun, but I think one of the big reasons that our downtown specifically attracts a lot of younger people is the crazy art. The walls of our buildings downtown are completely covered in beautiful murals by local artists. You can just walk down Central Ave all day and have a whole photoshoot and not run out of fun and interesting backgrounds. Our Downtown area also has multiple enriching museums including Florida Museum or Fine Art, The Dali Museum, and a Holocaust Museum.

Finally, all the extra stuff nearby. We have beautiful spring-fed rivers like Rainbow River and Ginnie springs within driving distance, both of which let you rent inner-tubes and tube a few hours down the river. The water is clear and full of wildlife like manatees, otter, alligators, and pretty fish. They also have beautiful walking trails you can stroll down and admire nature. AND we have Disney World! We also have Busch Gardens and Universal close by, but in my opinions, Disney squashes everything else. It is simply magical and if you have never been you are really missing out. Go before you die. Even if you don't have kids. Just go. Whenever anything huge and heartbreaking has happened in my life, my mom's solution is "go to Disney", and I know that this is not always a healthy and productive coping mechanism, but Disney is our happy place.

So, no matter what you are looking for, Saint Pete has it. Unless you are looking for snow. Then you might want to reconsider.

But if you love beaches, museums, art, energy, theme parks, and/or natural wonders, we've got it! I love where I live.