They remind me of Auckland and Wellington (except for the proximity of course). Tampa is the serious, larger city and St Petersburg is the smaller, hipper city sitting by St Pete's beach.
I spent five nights in St Petersburg and fell a little in love with the laidback place.
In the downtown area there were shops dedicated to kitsch '50s furniture and clothing as well as kooky tattoo parlours playing on naughty themes.
There were lots of cool antique stores which looked like a collector's cupboard jammed shut, with the mismatched items waiting to fall out when the door opens.
We were walking towards downtown one morning after nine and I was gagging for a coffee but most of the cafes were not due to open for a couple of hours.
St Petersburg wasn't on any sort of a schedule and aside from the caffeine withdrawal, I liked that it didn't play by the rules.
I didn't need another reason to like the vibe of St Petersburg, but I found one which impressed me so much - the tradition of First Night.
Our hosts took us to the downtown area on the first Friday night of the month, where the local authorities plan a big street party - every month!They roped off the streets around a few of the big bars and everyone had a jolly good time with the live music blasting and the pub scene bursting into the streets.
Everyone was incredibly friendly including some girls who started to rave about my tan. That made me laugh because they were Floridians, the most tanned people on the planet.
My favourite encounter was with a guy named Al and his 'lady friend' who were having the kind of night only a man with a goatee and a Harley Davidson singlet can.I couldn't believe it when he told me he'd worked in Wellington when he was younger, on an engineering project.
Al and his gal summed up St Petersburg really - they were friendly, interesting, stress-free and incredibly welcoming. If I could handle the heat, I would move there.
Next stop: We ask a Floridian what a crawfish is, not expecting him to bring a live one to our table.
Check out more photos from my trip in my Flickr album.
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