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| saintpetersblog.com |
This is where friends and I had our Christmas dinner. It's the Pier, in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Pier, an inverted pyramid built in the 1970s, replaced the older Mediterranean pier shown below. Amazingly, the pilings of the "new" pier are already deteriorating, and the city wants to replace it with something entirely new and different.
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| stpetepier.com |
We arrived at sunset, and had fun watching this little boy feed pelicans. Because people can fish at the Pier, the pelicans stay close, waiting for unused bait.
Occupying the whole top of the Pier is a branch of the Columbia
Restaurant. I blogged about the original restaurant in a July posting,
here.
The atmosphere of the Pier's Columbia is reminiscent of the Ybor restaurant, with dramatic tile work.
It has a gift store that's almost entirely majolicaware.
We enjoyed sangria and excellent Spanish dishes, but saved room to have dessert and coffee at the home of my friends Sandy and Greg.
I hope you all had a happy Christmas
and were able to share with loved ones!
Hello Mark, That looks like a fun place to go with friends, although I hope that you are all good swimmers just in case those pilings suddenly gave way. I remember when we used to visit the east coast of Florida, there were so many great restaurants right on the water.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, who on earth still buys those "blackamoor" statues--Believe it or not, I have seen them for sale in Taiwan. For that matter, who even bought them a long time ago?
--Road to Parnassus
Hello, Jim,
DeleteThe fate of the Pier is by no means certain. The city wants to build an expensive rather radical design that many people are questioning, and of course there are many people who want the status quo. Meanwhile, the place is degrading much too early. What ever happened to buildings that lasted a hundred years?
As for blackamoors, they do remind one a little of those jockey statues, don't they?
Dear Mark - although far bigger and much grander, this reminds me of when we ate at the City Pier restaurant on Anna Maria Island which too is a hang out for Pelicans.
ReplyDeleteIt would make a pleasant change to eat Spanish food at Christmas, and what a nice idea to finish the evening off with dessert and coffee at your friends.
Dear Rosemary - The pelican is our city's emblem, and I'm sure we could figure out some great symbolism in that (but it escapes me at the moment!). Actually, I find pelicans very interesting because when they're standing around begging, the look quite comical, but when they're in flight, their appearance harkens back (for me at least) to dinosaurs and pre-history.
DeleteI do agree with you about the two aspects of the pelican. On the ground they really make you smile, but in the air, as you say, there is something pre-historic about them.
DeleteI know you will be aware of the symbolism of the pelican in art where in times of drastic need it will pierce its breast to feed its young with its own blood. The ultimate outpouring of love makes it a symbol of self-sacrifice and resurrection and the pelican often appears in crucifixion scenes. How this can relate to St. Petersburg I am not sure.
Now that you mention it, I do remember that story of the pelican's symbolism in art. Maybe our seal alludes to the city's taxpayers being self-scarificing!
DeleteI shall miss the pier after they tear it down. Love the Columbia....spent my Christmas eve at Ybor City location. Love the Piella Valenciana....with a pitcher of sangria!
ReplyDeleteDespite the fact that 1200 people passed through the Columbia yesterday (!), both the food and the service was excellent. And we had two pitchers of sangria.
DeleteDear Mark, I remember your post featuring the Columbia Restaurant and its fantastic majolica (maiolica). What a treasure and what a fun place to be with friends. I would probably forget to eat, being so busy studying the many hand painted tiles. I noticed that all of their talavera, featured in their shop, is from Spain, every piece of it. Don't see anything from Portugal or Italy. There must be a connection, a connection that would be interesting to know about.
ReplyDeleteDear Gina,
DeleteI had you in mind when I was photographing those dishes, and I think I must have amused my table companions by documenting every part of the evening. And then when my Pollo Manchego arrived, it was so yummy looking that I forgot to photograph it!
The Columbia Restaurant (the original, in Ybor, Tampa) is over 100 years old, Florida's oldest restaurant, and billed as the largest Spanish restaurant in the world. Though the family is of Cuban extraction, they take pride in their Spanish heritage. I think that's the connection you're thinking about.
What fun! Interesting how so much contemporary architecture and buildings are subject to far more rapid decay than ones built prior to 1900... I think part of the problem is many people confuse "modern" with "maintenance free," which it is most decidedly not. Although an older building looks attractive when it has developed a patina, modernist ones do not. Mainting their pristine modernity costs money, effort, and diligence. And, since many -- like the pier that is the subject of your post -- are built with new materials and in sometimes inhospitable environments, they are subject to even more rapid deterioration. Living in a house that is nearly 200 years old, as I do, I am often amazed and always impressed at the integrity, ingenuity, and longetivity of older, well-made, well-thought out structures that were built in a time when the quest for the "new" was not made at the expense of solidity. No building it maintenance free. There, that's my rant for the day! Reggie
ReplyDeleteDear Reggie,
DeleteI think the problem with the Pier is that Americans (and I'm making a generalization here) often use concrete that is inferior to that used in other countries, and I wonder if that is not by design. I an astounded that something only 40 years old needs to be torn down, and as a tax-payer I feel duped. Our stadium is 20 years old, and they're talking of replacing that, too!
The house I live in is 65 years old and solid as a rock. The walls (and I'm sure this is true also of Darlington) are lathed, and hanging a picture on the wall requires a drill reserved for concrete!
So sad they tore down that beautiful building for an ugly (falling apart) inverted pyramid!! Hopefully they replace it (soon!) for something equally as charming as the original. Such a warm and sunny way to spend the holiday, beats snowy, cold pittsburgh!
ReplyDeleteHi, Stefan - I well remember those Pittsburgh winters!
DeleteThe Mediterranean pier was indeed more classy, but I'm told that by the time it was torn down (several years before I arrived), it was very decayed. Future dwellers here may feel just as nostalgic for the pyramid because all designs for its replacement are not piers per se.
Love your brown pelicans.
ReplyDeleteRe comments about the Blackamoor I actually have one but she is in a pretty sad state. She is 19th Italian and was bought by my parents in Adelaide in the 1950s.
I too remember a previous visit to the pier be interesting to see what they come up with this time around.
The city council accepted a rather radical design which many people did not like or feel was practical. Those same people put their names on a petition that had enough signatures to put the decision to a vote. The mayor chose to ignore the petition (do we live in a democracy, or not?) and now that has turned into a legal suit. By now the design of the new pier has almost become a secondary issue. It will indeed be interesting to see what they come up with this time around!
DeleteDear Mark,
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had a lovely Christmas! What a wonderful setting. My new shipment is unpacked, and our family and house guests are all gone. I'm taking advantage of this quiet time to enjoy my favorite blogs. Thanks for all your posts in 2012. It's been such a pleasure.
Very best,
Loi
Dear Loi,
DeleteOne of the great things about the Christmas season is that we can gift ourselves by taking the time to sit back and reflect over the year past and the year ahead. It sounds as though you're having a good holiday, too. I look forward to your 2013 postings, and to watching the beautiful way you lead your life.
Mark
Wow. What a gorgeous place to have Christmas dinner - well, actually, any special dinner. But where are the photos of the food? What did you and your friends eat, Mark? Inquiring minds want to know.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it amazing that they could build things to last a hundred years ago, but today they can't quite seem to do the trick. The 1970's were such a shoddy decade.
Dear Yvette - To tell you the truth, I was so glad to see my excellent dinner arrive, that I forgot to photograph it!! I had a white sangria and Pollo Manchego — a chicken breast breaded with seasoned Cuban bread crumbs and grated Spanish Manchego cheese, sun-dried tomatoes and fresh basil. Now that I think about it, I doubt a photograph could have done justice to the superb taste.
Delete