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Around the Bay:

By Times Staff Writers
Published July 24, 2007

Palm Harbor

She's bringing Innisbrook up to par

Less than 24 hours after taking over ownership of Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club, Sheila Crump Johnson had set change into motion. The billionaire had met with Innisbrook's 500 employees and encouraged them to seek their career goals within her company. Also, the first bit of dirt was shoveled for a $1.5-million enhancement to one of Innisbrook's four championship golf courses. "I'm about excellence. I'm about reaching the top. I'm about being the best," Johnson, 58, said. Johnson, the co-founder of Black Entertainment Television, paid nearly $35-million for the resort, home to the PGA Tour's PODS Championship. Above, Johnson shakes hands with golf course designer Lawrence Packard.

Largo

Wild Indian Saloon sign sends a strong message

Mike Lang is a card-carrying American Indian. If you are too, the first beer is on the house.

Lang, who owns the Wild Indian Saloon on Rosery Road, lived with his family on a reservation with other Sitka Indians in Alaska. Life was bleak, he said. So as the Fourth of July approached, Lang decided to use the Wild Indian to send a message.

Lang said he hoped a strong message on a sign in front would stop people, lure them in. The message went up July 1. It got immediate attention.

Last year, Lang happened by what was then the Fox Bar & Grill and noticed a "for sale" sign. In December, he bought it.

He opened the Wild Indian six months ago.

He chose that name, he said, to draw attention to the permissive culture in America that tolerates derisive references for American Indians, but rejects equally hurtful language for other people of color.

ST. PETERSBURG

Koo Koo Kafe serves originality

There's something happening here at the Koo Koo Kafe, but even for owner Carla Bernhardt, what it is "ain't exactly clear."

"People say this is a concept, not a cafe," said Bernhardt, who opened the quirky coffee shop in May. "I don't really know. I just follow my heart."

In this 40th year since the Summer of Love, the Koo Koo Kafe, at 411 15th Ave. N, is embracing the hippie ethos in a modern context. Sitar music plays on the stereo and Janis Joplin watches over the front counter, but customers aren't a bunch of long-haired kids.

"They're Yippies and yuppies and established people," said Ray Rau, a Koo Koo regular who owns rental properties in surrounding neighborhoods.

Bernhardt, 51, sells coffee from Peoria and English tea with Persian roses, Middle Eastern foods and teapots from India, as well as handmade crafts from around the world.

She said she caters to people looking for an authentic experience with an international twist.

"It's not the chain type of thing," said customer Jon Tuft, a financial adviser with Raymond James.

"A lot of people who go there are baby boomers who are not really into Starbucks."

[Last modified July 23, 2007, 23:12:16]