The Guinness Book of World Records recognizes St. Petersburg as having the longest string of consecutive sunny days. The sun warmed the city for 768 consecutive days, from February 9, 1967, to March 17, 1969. Occupying much of the southeastern half of the Pinellas Peninsula, St. Petersburg is the largest city in the area with a population of 240,196. The city has 10 marine institutes making it the largest oceanographic research center in the southeast.

St. Petersburg is home to Major League Baseball with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, who play in Tropicana Field downtown. The downtown area features six world-class museums and more than 20 galleries. St. Petersburg features more than 700 events each year including an international sail expo, the annual fall Boat Show, offshore powerboat races, triathlon, cycling and running events. St. Petersburg's shoreline - a 234-mile stretch - is longer than New Hampshire's and Delaware's combined. Known as the sailing capital of the South, the city's Municipal Marina is the largest in the state.

Legend has it that landowner Gen. John C. Williams and Russian immigrant Peter Demens, who brought his small gauge, Orange Belt Railroad to the Gulf Coast, drew lots to determine who would name the developing city. Demens (originally Petrovich A Demensheff) won and named the city after his Russian hometown. St. Petersburg also was the birthplace of scheduled commercial aviation on New Year's Day 1914. Pilot Tony Jannus flew a Benoist airboat across the bay to Tampa with former mayor Abe Phiel as the first passenger.

The city is home to several large corporations including Danka Business Systems, Raymond James, Franklin Templeton, Home Shopping Network and Lucent Technologies.

Things to do and see:

The Arts Center: www.theartscenter.org
Boyd Hill Nature Trail: www.stpete.org/nature.htm
Coliseum Ballroom: www.stpete.org/coliseum.htm
Salvador Dali Museum: www.salvadordalimuseum.org
Derby Lane: www.derbylane.com
Egmont Key: www.floridastateparks.org/egmontkey/default.cfm
Florida Holocaust Museum: www.floridamuseum.org
Florida Orange Groves Inc. & Winery: www.floridawine.com/introduction.htm
Fort De Soto Park: www.fortdesoto.com
Friendship Trail: www.friendshiptrail.org
Great Explorations The Hands-On Museum: www.greatexplorations.org
Home Shopping Network Studio Tours: 727-872-1000 or 877-HSN TOURS
Museum of Fine Arts: www.fine-arts.org
The Pier: www.stpete-pier.com
Planetarium: 727-341-4320
Renaissance Vinoy Resort & Golf Club: www.renaissancehotels.com/TPASR
St. Petersburg Municipal Marina: www.stpete.org/marina.htm
St. Petersburg Museum of History: www.stpete.org/museums.htm
Steve & Doris Colgate's Offshore Sailing School: www.offshore-sailing.com
Sawgrass Lake Park: www.pinellascounty.org/park/16_sawgrass.htm
Science Center of Pinellas County: www.sciencecenterofpinellas.com
Sunken Gardens: www.stpete.org/sunken.htm
Sunshine Skyway Bridge: www.pbs.org/wgbh/buildingbig/wonder/structure/sunshine_skyway.html
Tropicana Field: www.stpete.org/dome.htm or www.devilrays.com
Weedon Island Preserve Cultural and Natural History Center: www.weedonislandcenter.org

For more information about St. Petersburg:
www.stpete.org
www.stpete.com