By Caron Schwartz
When you think of St. Pete’s Pink Streets, don’t you imagine fairies frolicking on pink cotton candy? I do. To find out, Sweetheart Lenny and I went on an afternoon expedition to Greater Pinellas Point, home of the mythical Pink Streets. We found the area magical, even without dancing sprites.
When this area of winding pink streets at the southernmost tip of St. Petersburg was developed in the 1920s it was the first subdivision in Pinellas County paved with concrete. Why pink dye was added to the mix is lost to history, but when major repairs were needed in the early ‘90s, the residents insisted on them remaining pink and paid for it too.
We meandered along quiet candy-colored streets lined with magnificent homes shaded by a thick tree canopy. Several streets ended at Pinellas Point Park, with its amazing views of Tampa Bay. There’s archeological significance to this wonder: the Pinellas Point Temple Mound, a Tocobaga Indian mound amazingly left untouched during the neighborhood’s development. Owner Edward C. Wright donated the mound to the City of St. Petersburg in 1958, and it became an official historical and archeological landmark in 1993.
There’s more than the iconic rose-colored enclave to Greater Pinellas Point, which is roughly everything south of 54th Ave. S and bordered on three sides by sparkling Tampa Bay.
We found plenty of parking at Bay Vista Park where we wandered around in the shade enjoying the view. Other beauty spots include Maximo Park, Lake Vista Park and Rec Center, and Forrest Bluff Park.
For sustenance, we ventured slightly north of 54th Ave. S to Mullet’s Fish Camp. At a courtyard picnic table with grouper tacos, an Old Fashioned and a Coppertail IPA, we felt like we had stumbled into an old-timey Florida roadside fish house. Across the street, Southside Coffee, one of my faves, was already closed for the day or we would have strolled over for a shot of caffeine. Also nearby are The Chattaway, Tiki Docks, and Berlins Doener.