A Fun Getaway and a Sobering Interlude

We had a fun-filled two day adventure in St. Petersburg, just a three hour drive away. We took in a Tampa Bay Rays game (they lost, but we still had a great all-American time, including a fabulous $9 Coke!)

Our hotel was luxurious and welcoming, right on the bay and with magnificent views to wake and fall asleep to. The area around the Pier is very sleek and chi-chi now, including this little shop with fashionable sculptures out front:

Isn’t Gator-Woman fabulous?
The shoes! The pedicure!

A visit to the Florida Holocaust Museum was a solemn interlude. It’s a site I recommend to all, for a piece of history that we might rather forget — but must not. We had a very well-schooled docent. He showed us an actual rail car, shipped to Florida from Poland. Jews and other prisoners were transported in this car to extermination camps, where, near the end of the war, most survived for less than an hour. Chilling to see and contemplate.

We were also privileged to view a wall of tiles, created by children to represent their views of the Holocaust. Here are some heartbreaking, and heart-lifting ones I will remember:

Do you see the fragile “Hope”?
Here’s a bolder one!
The Talmud says, “Whoever saves a life, it is considered
as if he saved a world entire.”

I couldn’t leave St. Pete without some thrifting. I found the Revolve Clothing Exchange, and wow! it was a great find:

Packed full of goodies.

I picked up four nifty tops that fit right in with my aesthetic: simple knits and sheer florals. And a pair of shades. Total spent: $41!

Happy Tuesday to you all, and I hope you enjoy every moment.

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patti

20 Comments

  1. Thanks for sharing your visit to the Holocaust Museum; so important to continue to talk about and revisit.  

    A getaway wouldn't be complete without checking out the recycling territory.  Sounds like you found some great pieces.

  2. You look lovely, as always. I've never been to Florida but would like to pay it a visit one day. I've visited the holocaust memorial in Berlin, it's important to take the time to consider the history of a place & its people.

  3. During one of my vacations, I visited Auschwitz on my last day…what a way to end a trip. Had to see it though; glad I did.

  4. Sounds like you had a trip that was very full – as it involved many different things that included shopping 🙂
    I am very drawn to anything related to WWII and the Holocaust is one of them.
    It never ceases to amaze me how it brought out the best and worst in people.

  5.  sounds as if you have a wonderfully holiday. You are looking very relaxed. gator woman has fantastic legs, enviable.
    I think we should keep in memory the terrible atrocities that happened and we should fight against intolerance whereever we find it to avoid that such a horror  will happen again.

  6. You look darling in that photo!  Very cute outfit.  I didn't know that Florida had a Holocaust Museum.  We have visited the one in Washington DC–it was something I will never forget.  Our daughter was about 13 at the time and while I think it was a good thing for her to learn about/visit, I remember thinking how glad I was that she wasn't any younger than that…very troubling and emotional things to see and hear.

  7. Sounds like you had a great time.  The Holocaust, yes, a horror that we must remember.  That store you found looks great!  Wish I'd been there shopping too!  🙂 

    xx
    Lynn

  8. Thanks for sharing your trip – sounds both fun and thought-provoking.

    I have to check out at least one thrift store when I visit another city – in case they get way better stuff than we do 😛

  9. Dearest Patti,
    Very informative info here! I had no idea that in Florida they did have a Holocaust Museum.  That should become a MUST for all young people as they have no inkling what the taste of real FREEDOM is about.
    Love your photo posing with Gator woman! Very funny the way it's shaped; only the tail is way out of proportion.
    Glad you had a good time; so you're down south too…
    Hugs,
    Mariette's Back to Basics

  10. sounds like a nice trip
    love the statue and the name of the clothing store
    i can only imagine how visiting the holocaust museum was
    brett

  11. Adrienne – if we go to a thrift together, my husband asks the clerk straight away "Where is the husband chair?" then he takes out his book, and doesn't look up till we leave!

    If you come to Florida, we must get together  : >

  12. I have never been to Florida, but would love to go someday. If I do, I will have to hit you up for where to go and what to see. 

    Great thrifting score! I love to thrift in other cities while on vacation, if my husband will be patient enough for me to do so. 

    There is a holocaust section of the Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris that is also very chilling and tragic. It's hard to wrap my head around that not-so-distant period of our world history. I am reading a book right now about Russia in 1941 – about to be invaded by the Germans…I know some heavy material is ahead of me. 
    xo, A

  13. What a fabulous trip, a little bit of fun, little bit of history, and a little bit of thrifting. Way to do a get-away right! 

  14. Patti, the gator gal is too funny. Sounds like a wonderful vacation.
    The Holocaust Museum sounds as if it would be wonderful and yet sad to visit. I always think of Anne Frank and how she suffered.

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