Drivers Start Your Engines

 

 

April 26, 2021

Drivers Start Your Engines

It has been a long time coming for me to make a return visit to St. Petersburg to attend the Indy Car St. Pete Grand Prix. I was all ready to board a plane just over a year ago when the event was among the first to fall victim to the Coronavirus pandemic and was canceled. They eventually held the race last October but I could not attend and had to wait over a year before I could get back to attend this year’s race.

The pandemic continues as currently there are 33,285,045 cases so far in the United States with 592,630 deaths. In Monroe County there have been 6,938 cases with 3,241 of those in Key West and 49 deaths. Thankfully Kathy and I have been able to avoid coming down with the virus through isolation, social distancing and being careful. Now we are both fully vaccinated and ready to carefully begin to reenter society and begin enjoying life.

The race is one of the first major events that I have been brave enough to attend and it is still very different than in previous years as attendance is still limited and covid protocols such as required mask wearing, social distancing, and such are in full effect. They even took every attendees temperature before they could enter the grounds. The biggest difference for me at least is that they prohibited entrance to the paddock and pits and did not issue hard cards or credentials to anyone but essential crew members. 

This meant that I would not be able to enter the Indy Car pits or paddock for the first time in many years of attending the race in St. Pete. It was a bit of a bummer but the support paddock was open which meant that I spent a great deal more time hanging out in the paddock where the support series including the Stadium Super Trucks, USF 2000 , IndyPro and Indy Lights cars and drivers were. I generally don’t spend much time in these areas so it was interesting to get behind the scenes of the up and coming young drivers.

Since I wasn’t staying downtown and within walking distance from the street circuit which utilizes city streets and airport runways from the Alfred Whittfield airport, I had to drive through town to get to the track and was able to enjoy some of the many colorful murals that can be found throughout the city including some beautiful ones in support of the Black Lives Matter movement which were pretty cool.

 

Diversity is an area that has often eluded Indy Car racing and in recent years they have taken steps to address it by starting a program to encourage minority drivers and women to take a greater role in the sport. One of those initiatives is highlighted by the first all-black team in the USF2000 feeder series on the road to Indy. The Force Indy racing team in black-owned, has an all-black crew and an effervescent young driver named Myles Rowe.

I was very interested to check them out and show my support and was able to meet and talk to young Mr. Rowe who is a talented driver and about as nice a person as you would want to meet. I certainly wish him and his team all the best as they navigate the season and move up the ladder hopefully to Indy Car. It would be beyond cool to see a talented young African American driver find success.

It was a great first day at the track as I got to see the first and second Indy Car practice, a couple of support series races including the Stadium Super Trucks which are just a blast to watch as they bump, grind, crash and mash into each other all while negotiating a series of jumps which are pretty cool to see. I also managed to run into my friend John and his wife who live just north of St. Pete and are regulars at the race. It was really cool seeing them and getting to hang out. 

Sanibel to St. Pete

April 23, 2021

Sanibel to St. Pete

It was just over a year ago, the day I was scheduled to board a plane and fly to St. Petersburg to attend the annual season opening Indy Car race when the word came at the very last minute that the race was canceled due to then then fresh Covid-19 Pandemic and I canceled the trip and pretty much everything else since then. Now, though the pandemic is still actually still going fairly strong, things have begun to reopen and this year’s St. Pete race was to go on as scheduled, with restrictions on crowd size and other Covid protocols in place such as masks required in the grounds and the Indy Car paddock and pits off limits to visitors.

This year, rather than fly, I opted to rent a car and drive over via Alligator Alley so that I could make a couple of stops along the way, including a visit to Sanibel Island, a place I had not been in some twenty years. Both Kathy and I are now fully vaccinated along with about 30 percent of all adults in the United States so we are feeling pretty good about slowly resuming a more regular life even though the pandemic still rages. There have been 32,477,368 confirmed cases in the United States with 577,671 deaths. Here in Monroe County, Florida there have been 6,931 cases with 3,239 of those being here in Key West and 49 deaths.

I must say it felt great cruising across the state with the top down on my Chevy Camaro rental car, I drove the slow route across US 41 to take in the ambiance of the Everglades and Big Cypress Preserve stopping for the evening in Ft. Myers just across the causeway from Sanibel. I was up early the next morning as I wanted to get over to Sanibel and do some exploring but even early there was a huge snarl of traffic both going into and on the island. I guess Key West is not the only island in Florida overrun with tourists.

This time though, I was among the tourists and my first stop was at the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. I had been here once before long ago when I worked at Reef Relief and had loved the place, it was teeming with all manner of wildlife and it really made a mark on me and I have vowed to return ever since. Well I was back and this time I slowly drove the wildlife loop road stopping to observe the many birds, alligators and other creatures that inhabit the refuge.

Perhaps it is a seasonal thing, but there were not nearly as many birds either variety or individuals as had been here when I last visited. Still there was plenty to see and I just had an amazing time driving around, stopping to look and taking in the beautiful location. Though the island was packed, the refuge was just that a refuge from the throngs as very few other visitors were there while I was visiting.

After a visit to a cool wildlife rescue center called CROW, my next stop was at the amazing beach and famous Sanibel Lighthouse. Located on the Eastern tip of the island, the Lighthouse Beach and Park is a beautiful spot, highlighted by the 120 year-old lighthouse. Built in 1884 the lighthouse is a cool backdrop to the incredible beach and fishing pier that always draws a crowd. Renowned for the incredible seashells that wash ashore, people flock to the beach at sunrise and after high tides to scour the area for seashells.

I spent the better part of the morning and afternoon on Sanibel before hitting the road north across the Sunshine Skyway bridge and into St. Pete where I had the evening to myself to explore an area of town that I had previously missed out on, The Grand Central area that is packed with cool restaurants, bars and my favorite, breweries.

I stopped first at a cool dog bar, much like the one I visited last month in Winston-Salem this place was packed with frolicking dogs and their owners. I sure wish there was a place like that here in Key West. I explored next the collection of Breweries all within a short distance of each other including the Grand Central Brewery, Cage Brewing, Pinellas Ale Works and my favorite a tiny brewery called If I Brewed the World Brewery.

The small batch brewery had the best tasting beer of the bunch and a resident friendly cat named Nettie that took an instant fancy to me which was awesome. Overall it was just an awesome day and the main attraction, the race had not even begun their first practice. 

https://www.fws.gov/refuge/JN_Ding_Darling/

https://www.ifibrewedtheworld.com/