Entering the front doors, I am surprised by the sight that greets the family. While most resorts have invested heavily in vast sheets of glass, bright spaces, and modern architecture—the foyer of the Postcard Inn on the Beach, St Pete feels like a quirky neighborhood coffee shop. Lots of wood, great reclaimed ornamentation, and overstuffed brown leather sofas make the space a cozy counterpoint to the blaring Florida sun outside. The comfortable seating by the front desk was in use often during our stay, as were the over-sized Connect Four game set and the normal-sized  chess board. To be fair, the foyer is appointed nicely with a long bar that wraps in from the restaurant space, so it is more of a speakeasy than a caffeine-delivery space. The comfortable atmosphere and the floor-to-ceiling wall of books give a strong message that guests are welcome to sit and enjoy for a long as they like.

Photo by Wes Roberts.

PHOTO BY WES ROBERTS.

 A couple of additional steps take me into the on-premises coffee shop, P.S. Grind. The Grind became my first stop in the morning and a frequent checkpoint in the afternoon. They serve Kahwa coffee as good as any, and I enjoyed bringing a delicious macchiato in with me to the breakfast buffet. The iced mocha latte (“half the chocolate please”) was a tantalizing way to cool off from the sun. We also found that the “grab and go” breakfast and lunch options to be delicious. What a great way to help guests make the most of their time both on and off property. Just grab a couple of breakfast sandwiches and you can get your day underway. A small convenience, but one that more properties would benefit from offering to their guests. It was on the second day of our visit that I wandered back up to the busy foyer of Postcard Inn on the Beach and sat for a bit, trying to figure out why the space seemed familiar. Then it hit me—the foyer, for me at least, reminded me of the famous “Central Perk” coffee shop on the 1990s supershow Friends— a livingroom-away-from-home with sofas that are a little too nice for a coffee shop.

Photo by Wes Roberts.

PHOTO BY WES ROBERTS.

We loved our room-simple, but complete, with plenty of space to get in and out of our swim gear and beach gear. It is a smart feature of both Postcard-owned properties that I have had the pleasure to stay at—this St. Pete property and the Islamorada property in the Florida Keys, that both have kept the older motel-style where the rooms open directly to the outside rather than into an air-conditioned hallway. When you are wet from the pool, or sandy from the beach, you don’t want to be trudging up and down long hallways and riding in chilly elevators. And we, like all of our neighbors, left the most beachy of our belongings—the floats, sandals, and kid’s pails—outside our door when they were not in use. Having a door that opened to the outside, especially onto the proud floor, gave us another benefit, a bright green, grassy, postcard-sized personal lawn. This tiny bit of greenery got a ridiculous amount of use from our kids, who rolled on it, played on it, snacked on it and read books on it during our stay. Most of our neighbors enjoyed their small private kingdoms as well. A friendly couple a few units down were out on their mini-lawn off-and-on all day. The safe space let them trade off caring for their very young baby, while the other parent got to nap. It was nice of the parents to welcome my daughter’s curious visits, and interesting to talk to the husband, who turned out to be a world-renowned “shark-tagger” who spends most of the year at sea. 

Photo by Wes Roberts.

PHOTO BY WES ROBERTS.

Of course, the beach is divine. It is a huge, almost endless expanse of soft, perfect sand that leads to the happy Gulf waters. The Gulf of Mexico is almost always gentle and warm, among the best beach experiences in the world. The resort’s pool is also enormous and was a centerpiece of activity and energy all day. And, at least while we were there, two happy, fun-filled weddings were underway — ceremonies on the beach during the day, and festive, evening parties after the sunset.

Photo by Wes Roberts.

PHOTO BY WES ROBERTS.

An amazing synergy has formed between a nearby start-up business and the resort. Right beyond the gates to the parking are the offices of Beachfront Buggies, where your vacation can be expanded to include the rest of St. Pete Beach. Beachfront Buggies offers “buggies” for rental, which are something in-between a road-legal golf cart, and a futuristic space pod. The egg-shaped vehicles can comfortably carry four people, and offer a roof and a windshield, but no doors. It’s an open-air wild ride in which you self-drive and putter your way up and down the island, exploring while the wind whips by and the sun beams.  The staff is incredibly enthusiastic about the service and cares that their customers have fun, including offering tips on places to go and things to see on the island.

Photo by Wes Roberts.

PHOTO BY WES ROBERTS.

We set off down the road. First whipped past our favorite must-return lunch spot in all of St. Pete— The Barracuda Deli Cafe, which is walking distance to the resort. Barracuda is a small, unassuming family restaurant with the best Cuban sandwiches you will find anywhere. The kids hooted and cheered as we headed North to John’s Pass Village & Boardwalk, a lovely collection of shops and restaurants arranged along the eponymous boardwalk. The view from the windows of the Friendly Fisherman Restaurant is half the joy of lunch—boats, seagulls and gorgeous Florida waterways—and the Half-Pound Blue Cheese Crunch Burger managed to satisfy even my son’s growing-boy appetite.

Photo by Wes Roberts.

PHOTO BY WES ROBERTS.

After filling up on fries and some really excellent clam chowder, we took to the boardwalk to explore. Right on cue, just as the warm air and post-lunch torpor set in, we stumbled across The Sandbar, an ice cream shop that had just added a delicious cold-brew coffee over ice cream option to their menu. The sugar perked up the kids, and the caffeine perked up the adults, and with that, we remembered the advice of the concierge back at the Postcard Inn on the Beach. We had been told that we might find alligators, snakes and other wild animals nearby.

Photo by Wes Roberts.

PHOTO BY WES ROBERTS.

The Alligator Attraction must be seen to be believed. Humbly ensconced on the second floor of an outdoor shopping center is one of the quirkiest and most fun places you might ever find. Where there should have been a sunglasses store and a clothing boutique, is now a quintessential roadside attraction where you can kiss baby alligators, hold scaly pythons, pet potbellied pigs, cradle chincillas and much more. It’s a turn-back-time place, where the tickets don’t even break $10, and the value is many times that.

Photo by Wes Roberts.

PHOTO BY WES ROBERTS.

Most importantly, the staff loves the animals, and the animals are clean and well-cared for. Kyle, the young man that gave us our tour and oversaw our one-on-one interactions, talked to the giant, scaly ornate monitor lizard like it was his child. We got a demonstration of how he had managed to train the temperamentally ornery reptile to sit peacefully on his lap and accept pets from the kids. The owner of the Alligator Attraction happened to arrive while we were there, and he turned out to be exactly the sort of wild character you might expect to run a strip mall alligator petting zoo. Travis Palladeno, alligator man and past Madeira Beach Mayor, chatted animatedly while he worked with the newest member of the menagerie, Sid the Sloth. 

Photo by Wes Roberts.

PHOTO BY WES ROBERTS.

The Alligator Attraction is not for everyone. Some visitors might bristle at the tape on kissing alligators’ mouths, or simply that the space does not mimic the natural environments that the animals would normally enjoy. Hands-on access brings a trade-off, and while I am glad for the naturalism of modern zoos, on this occasion it was wonderful to see our two kids’ faces light-up at getting to touch and interact with numerous animals they have only previously seen behind thick glass. This sort of experience is so rare it makes it a must-do for families on vacation.

Headed back to the Postcard Inn on the Beach, we indulged well beyond our normal limits and stopped at the Twistee Treat. Soft serve cones are sold from inside a building designed that is, itself, an oversized soft serve cone—a wonderful bit of kitsch that used to be common to touristy meccas, but time and progress have cleared most of these structures away. It’s wonderful to see the Twistee Treat still carrying the banner.

Back on property, the kids still have energy to spare. My daughter runs around on the grass and my son challenges anyone passing to a game at the outdoor billiards table. He’s only nine, and not exactly a pool shark, but a number of other kids and adults are game to play. Perhaps the pièce d’ resistance of the throw-back atmosphere is the PCI Beach Bar & Snack Shack. Nationally recognized more than once as the “Best Beach Bar in Florida,” it’s an interesting asset. On Saturday afternoon especially, while the resort spaces and pool are relaxed and uncrowded, a flood of St. Pete locals in search of daiquiris and each other, comes around the side of the resort and enters the publicly accessible bar that separates the property from its beach. Young people in boardshorts or bikinis smash tightly together around the bar like salmon headed up stream.

Imagine a “wild nature park” where instead of giraffes, you can observe a beach full of Baywatch extras throwing frisbees and hanging-out. The crowd was well-behaved and limited to the beach bar area. It’s sort of what you probably *told* your parents Spring Break was like, and it added to the active energy of the Postcard Inn on the Beach. Both the interior and exterior bar are well serviced with fancy high-end options, like the Smoked Old Fashioned, as well as beach-safe frozen daiquiris in plastic cups. 

Lunch and dinner on property can be enjoyed at Stamps in the form of burgers, mahi-mahi taco, and other casual classics. The burgers are exotic enough to make choosing hard—do you want a Surfing in Paris with a sea salt and black pepper rubbed patty, roasted garlic gloves, bacon, and Gouda cheese or the California Dreaming, with a toasted cumin and chipotle rubbed signature patty, queso fresco, and avocado? See… hard choice. I can guiltily admit that if I had discovered the Hanging Bacon & Deviled Eggs appetizer on the first day I might have eaten it for every meal.

The last night, after the kids and wife were asleep, I wandered the property, not wanting to say goodbye. I may have ordered an extra Hanging Bacon & Deviled Eggs all for myself that was totally worth it, and I definitely enjoyed the chattering conversation of strangers and new friends that gathered in Adirondack chairs around the fire pit. It was a perfect place to be the last night of a vacation, when I had absolutely nowhere that I needed to be.