Indian Shores Florida and St. Petersburg

We had a great trip over Christmas to Indian Shores. We rented a condo in the area that was two bedroom and ocean front for around 100.00 a night. We are not used to getting such a nice place for that rate! We stayed for 10 days and were never bored!
We spent most days on the beach and the weather, sand, and water were great. The beach is really wide, hard packed and clean. We were able to go on long walks and runs any time of day. Of course, I like the water cold.....I think I was the only one in the water (except for the Canadians that were staying in the same complex)!

Food: Bern's Steakhouse - Tampa - great steaks, great atmosphere, sides were just average. http://www.bernssteakhouse.com/

Don Cesar's - Christmas dinner, wonderful atmosphere, food was exceptional and service was great! I would like to stay here one day after I win the lottery. http://www.loewshotels.com/Don-CeSar-Hotel/

Bella Brava in St. Pete was one of the best meals that we had! We went for lunch and it was really good food. My flatbread with fig, arugula and gorgonzola was out of this world! The soups and salads were good as well. Very nice outdoor seating. http://www.bellabrava.com/Menu/LunchMenu.asp

The Sea Hag toward St. Pete beach. blind Pass marina. Right over the bridge on the south end of treasure island is a fun place for drinks and watching football. We had the "buckets" of shrimp and fish and were impressed with the breading. Just fun and good bar food. Good drinks here.
http://www.seahagsbarandgrill.com/

Columbia restaurant was our biggest disappointment. The food was average. The drinks were good and the view was awesome. It is so sad when a place has so much potential and the food ends up just being average.
http://www.columbiarestaurant.com/st_petersburg.asp

The Salt Rock Grill was right across the street from our condo. I wish we had not waited until the night before our return to try this place. It is beautiful inside - from the outside it just looks average. Our food was very good and the service was great. We all ordered the "fresh" fish of the day. http://www.saltrockgrill.com/

Other than those we had lunch out several times at local "dives" and just had fun. Crabby Bill's was good and so was Guppy's. I get these types of places mixed up because they are all similar, but we had fun. There are lots of places up and down the area and they were all good.

Sights: Dali Museum in St. Pete. WOW! Only if you like Dali though. The space is so impressive and the collection is inspiring.
St. Petersburg Museum of Fine Arts - very nicely done and a nice collection of Impressionists! I would recommend this place. While we were there we were able to see the Egypt exhibit.
Dale Chihuly Glass Museum - if you like Dale Chihuly this is a must! Very nice collections of his work. We didn't have time to do all of the glass blowing and galleries, but I think it would have been worthwhile if we had the time.
P Buckley Moss Museum - this is a regional artist and you can see a different view of her works from Florida.

That is about it. There were LOTS of condo's and hotels with availability in this area during Christmas and I understand that it is not always this warm. When we go back (we will) we will probably get a place in St. Pete near the downtown area. There was so much going on in that area that is seemed like a really good time.
I am not good at writing these reports but I feel like you all give me so much information that I need to at least make the attempt.
One last thing. I was very impressed that there is a bike lane and a running/walking lane on the roadway! I was amazed at all of the cyclists that were on the road.