Shopping on Main Streets in the St. Pete/Clearwater Area

Five St. Petersburg/Clearwater communities, five main drags, a hundred uncommon opportunities to reward your inner shopaholic. Main Street? Yes. Mainstream? No way!

In Safety Harbor, you can buy a peek into your future or a striking art glass vase. Fill up on natural sponges and baklava in Tarpon Springs. Antiques and tartans are standard stock in the Scottish-pedigree town of Dunedin. Gulfport’s quirky Beach Boulevard retailers sell art from kitsch to fine, while the merchandise in Pass-a-Grille ranges from beachwear to Evander Preston’s famed eclectic art and jewelry.

Safety Harbor

Safety Harbor’s healthy and artistic aura glows along Main Street, which dead-ends at a body of water named – what else? – Safety Harbor.

• Quirkiest shop: Jars of herbs line the shelves of Bailey's Naturals Herbal Apothecary, a block off Main.
• Best buy: Rainbow-hued art-glass lava bowls at Syd Entel Gallery/Susan Benjamin Glass, Etc.
• Bargains and splurges: Splurge on a Caviar & Champagne Spa Package at Safety Harbor Resort and Spa – a caviar cream facial and “pedi kur” washed down with a glass of champagne. Or indulge your curiosity with a psychic reading downtown.
• Refuel: Head over to Green Springs Bistro, just off Main, for creative Gulf Coast/Greek fusion in a cozy cottage setting.

Tarpon Springs

Named for a chain of Greek isles, Dodecanese Boulevard whisks visitors away to the Aegean.

• Quirkiest shop: Besides buying sponges at Spongeorama, you can watch a free vintage film and tour exhibits on the town’s heritage.
• Best buy: It's all about the sponges here and you won't find a better deal on these natural and versatile sponges than in Tarpon Springs.
• Bargains and splurges: Both a bargain and a splurge – baklava at any of the string of bakeries along Dodecanese.
• Refuel: You can’t get a bad Greek meal in Tarpon Springs. Santorini Greek Grill, however, has the best view of the Anclote River and its boat traffic.

Dunedin

Enter a hometown downtown that lies along Main Street and intersects with the Pinellas Trail. Antiques and Celtic wares honor its history and Scottish heritage.

• Quirkiest shop: Need to rent a kilt? The Celtic Shop of Dunedin has them for all occasions, along with district tartans, tams, coats of arms and even teeny kilts for dressing up beer cans.
• Best buy: Garden and wall art made by a local artist from recycled aluminum and glass at Clay and Paper Gallery of Art.
• Bargains and splurges: An Olde Feedstore whirls with affordable nostalgia from LPs to a spinning wheel.
• Refuel: Mexican cuisine is fresh, authentic and healthy at Casa Tina Mexican Grill.

Gulfport

Host of first Friday and third Saturday art walks, Beach Boulevard reaches the waterfront, where lively restaurants overlook the bay.

• Quirkiest shop: Anything that doesn’t move gets hand-painted at The Outpost.
• Best buy: Argentinean, swing, salsa or ballroom dancing with free lessons at the Historic Gulfport Casino ballroom.
• Bargains and splurges: At the other end of Beach Boulevard from the ballroom, have fun treasure-hunting at Eileen's Resale Boutique.
• Refuel: Order roast beef on a kummelweck roll to go with the view at fun-time O'Maddy's Bar and Grille.

Pass-a-Grille Beach

Eighth Avenue may be short – reaching a couple of blocks from beach to bay – but it’s packed with shopping stops tucked into historic digs.

• Quirkiest shop: Bamboozle's name is quirky enough, along with the shell mosaic mermaid that greets you at the door. Find hip clothes, jewelry and art.
• Best buy: On what other main street in the world can you buy passage to an unbridged, uninhabited island? Board the Shell Key Shuttle at Merry Pier.
• Bargains and splurges: Art! Splurge at Evander Preston on extravagant art jewelry that celebs have popped up to five figures to wear. Or find local artwork in the two- to three-figure range at pinky-keen A Little Room for Art.
• Refuel: Just off Eighth, facing the beach, the Hurricane Seafood Restaurant serves seafood in a sprawling building modeled after a Victorian home.