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Vinoy Park has a whole lot of shakin' going on
By JON WILSON © St. Petersburg Times, published January 28, 2001 ST. PETERSBURG -- Well, mother screamed in fright When she saw me in the light, And daddy thought to put me in a zoo. But I owe a debt to him, Cuz he taught me how to swim, When he heaved me off The Pier on the avenue. Yes, it has been that sort of weekend. Mirth and madness. Well, most of the time. There was that guy with the fishing pole and bait bucket the guard wouldn't let into Vinoy Park Friday, because it's fenced off for Super Fest. Mainly the party just keeps going. Super Fest, an entertainment extravaganza, spins off the Super Bowl. The past few days, it has been part of the ambience in seawall land. The blowout continues today. Now, look here: What I want you to do is just stand there in the middle, and kind of move around a little, and pretty soon there's going to be a whole lot of shakin' going on. For true, Jerry Lee Lewis is expected today on the downtown waterfront. An icon for a certain subset of a certain generation, Jerry Lee is scheduled to perform at 4 p.m. in Vinoy Park, where, by the way, an array of games, food stalls and amusements also awaits your pleasure. There's even a replica of the Titanic, its superstructure coming out of the ground like the ship going down at sea. I'm not sure what happens in or on it. But it's supposed to be fun, and you don't have to hope for a lifeboat. The Dave Muse Band/Music of Firefall is on this afternoon's entertainment bill, too. Vinoy Park is at the end of Fifth Avenue NE, just past the resort. It costs $15 to get in, and some of the proceeds go to the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Suncoast. They say there's supposed to be a big football game today. But if you can't make the venue in Tampa, a giant screen and bleachers will be set up next to BayWalk. First Street N will be closed between Second and Third avenues to accommodate the party. The host is Dan Marino's Town Tavern, a recent BayWalk addition. Ten bucks gets you in, and again, some of the money goes to charity. A few big boats have anchored here, lured by Super Bowl activity. The 126-foot motor yacht Parlay, whose home port is Georgetown, Cayman Islands, is at the Port of St. Petersburg. It's next to Dream, another yacht that has been here for some time. Best view of them is from Peninsula Drive near the USF-St. Petersburg campus and the marine science complex. Take First Street S to Eighth Avenue SE -- also known as National Airlines Avenue. Take a left, then hook a quick right onto Peninsula. Meanwhile, the Vinoy Marina, part of the city's North Yacht Basin, is host to 16 visiting boats, most from the eastern seaboard and other parts of the gulf coast. Three are mega-yachts of more than 100 feet. "We are thrilled about that," said Krista Boling, the Renaissance Vinoy Resort's public relations director. "The Vinoy had not been repaired in 1991 when the last Super Bowl was, so from the Vinoy's perspective, Tampa's hosting it for the third time is a real big charm for us." Albert Whitted Airport business in general didn't pick up a lot this past week, said director M.O. Burgess. But the advertising banner business did. Tow planes were up by midweek. More people than usual were around the waterfront, so advertisers hoped to catch their eyes early. Two Coast Guard vessels from the St. Petersburg station took part in Saturday's Gasparilla invasion, including a 24-footer used on search and rescue missions, and the 110-foot cutter Pea Island. Amid all the hoopla, a somber event also takes place today. The Coast Guard will conduct its 21st annual memorial ceremony for Blackthorn, a Coast Guard vessel that collided with a tanker on Tampa Bay in 1980. Twenty-three Coast Guard crew members died. The service begins at 1 p.m. at Blackthorn Memorial Park on the Pinellas County side of the main Sunshine Skyway span.
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