Written by:  Tom Noe

Last week I took my family to Goodson Farms for Cuban sandwiches and strawberry shortcakes. Every year we feel pulled back to the place. Almost every time we see some of our neighbors there also. The food is so good and sharing it with loved ones makes it even more special. Goodson Farms is a real local treasure.  I took a few pictures to share with you.

Written by: Tom Noe

​I decided to take a walk down Central Avenue in St. Petersburg the other day. I passed many restaurants, a hair stylist, a chocolate and coffee place, a cupcake and ice cream place, and an olive-oil and vinegar place – not quite all the major food groups, but close enough.

Long, long ago, Central Avenue used to be lined with green-colored benches so tourists and locals could sit in between shopping. Today, these benches have gone the way of the dinosaurs, but one of them can still be sighted inside the Green Bench Flowers shop near the intersection of Central and Fourth, somehow surviving the mass extinction of the others. Green Bench Flowers has a long, complex history intertwined with many of the people, places, and businesses of St. Petersburg. I found it all bewildering, but what I was able to remember is that it actually spun off from the Maas Brothers Department Store after it was merged with Burdines.

Today, the flower shop sells plush toys, picture frames, cards, flowers (surprise!), ceramic and glass fixtures, and even imitation vegetable arrangements. I began to imagine all the different ways these items could be combined to decorate for some event. Their tagline is “We send emotions.” I looked around on the shelves for these emotions, but I didn’t see any. They must be kept out back.

10 Fourth Street North, Saint Petersburg, Florida
GreenBench.com

Written by Daniel Noe, InkDoodler.com