Suzanne Bell, LMT

Pirates of every shape, size and color descend on St. Petersburg's Vinoy Park every November for the Florida Pirate Festival. This event showcases various forms of interactive theater that celebrate the legendary Caribbean pirate tradition. The park becomes overrun with all things pirate, but also manages to include music, rides, comedy, cannons, storytelling, artisan crafts, nighttime fire shows and great food as well as a plethora of pirates!

Going underground has never been as much fun as it is when you take the family out to visit Sunken Gardens. At fifteen feet below street level, a botanical paradise awaits you at this attraction. This is St. Petersburg's oldest living museum that has offered a natural solace to visitors for over 100 years. Find your way through the footpath that will lead you through the gardens as you take in some of the world's most exotic and tropical plants. Also, there is a mesmerizing cascading waterfall that you won't want to miss.

Many say that the only way to change the future is to learn from our past mistakes, and that is exactly what the Florida Holocaust Museum aims to do. Instead of focusing on past transgressions and the severity and cruelty of what went on, the museum aims to underscore the spirit of perseverance and quest for freedom that these dramatic exhibits illustrate. There are various historical papers, photographs, and other objects that tell this solemn story. Perhaps the most sobering exhibit is an actual boxcar that shuttled prisoners to the concentration camps.