Credit: qwesy qwesy [CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Credit: qwesy qwesy [CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
You can park for free on St. Pete Beach.

At least, until this red tide nastiness goes away.

The city commission voted to suspend all parking fees — that means no meters to feed! — in an effort to draw people to the beach and support local businesses. 

That means you don't have to feed the meters if they're city meters. It doesn't, we should note, mean you can park illegally (yes, the Publix lot will tow you) or on private property.

The email the city sent stipulates the commission has suspended parking fees "until further notice," which one could take to mean "until there are no more dead fish, dolphin and other sea creatures washing up dead on the beach."

This article appears in Sep 27 – Oct 5, 2018.

Cathy's portfolio includes pieces for Visit Florida, USA Today and regional and local press. In 2016, UPF published Backroads of Paradise, her travel narrative about retracing the WPA-era Florida driving...