Clearwater Beach ferry – too late for 2015 spring break

We know it’s been tried before with little success. Proponents of the proposed ferry to Clearwater Beach point out the dynamics of beach traffic, and more importantly parking, have changed since the last attempt at such an operation in the early part of the century. This time, the focus is more on beach workers rather than strictly tourists so it might work – next year. The problem with the effort right now is it is about six weeks too late getting started. Easter comes early this year and spring breakers are already here and traffic and parking are a mess. Already, fishing boats at the Clearwater Marina have had to turn away afternoon customers because there just wasn’t any place left to park. There have been delays in the startup of the ferry which means it will take that much longer to catch on. By that time, peak season will be over and it might be hard to sustain the service through the summer and fall months. If the promoters of the ferry can hold on for this year, the ferry will be a boon for next year.

Around the bay:

1. Perhaps Tampa should join the majority of bay area cities and adopt a plurality system for their city council elections. If you think the March 3^rd turnout was light, wait until next week’s run-off. It will be extremely light but not inexpensive.

2. Few surprises in a rather thin Pinellas County election slate. As you would expect, Kenneth City managed to “out weird” the rest of the county with an Election Day display of pro-candidate pink flamingos which, in the words of an old police friend is “highly illegal”. Sad to note the election loss of Belleair commissioner Steve Fowler, a long time civic leader in both Belleair and Pinellas County in general. His level tone will be missed.

3. By a show of hands, how many of us are in the tourism business? The answer is we all are. Even if we do nothing more than smile at visitor, give directions to the Marine Aquarium or just bite your tongue when traffic comes to a dead stop.

4. In a related note, more hands in Clearwater government should go up when the above question is asked. Too many folks in the city just don’t get it.

5. You’ve lived in Clearwater a long time if you bought your first color TV at Gordon’s (Drew Street), Hart’s (Greenwood near CJHS) or Semlow’s (Gulf to Bay) – three of the city’s earliest TV stores.

The diamond, the media & other stuff:

6. 25 years ago this week, baseball ended a month-long lockout of its players. The labor peace would prove short-lived as just four years later, the players walked out causing the first cancellation of the World Series since 1904.

7. You may not know the name Windell Middlebrooks but you would know the face. For years, he was the face of Miller High Life beer – the plain talking delivery man who shunned the shallow for real people and real beer. He passed away last week at the young age of 36. Windell also appeared in Cougar Town, Body of Proof and Scrubs, but he won the hearts of America as the Miller High Life spokesman.

8. Food News I: Our regular item “you’ve lived in Clearwater, Pinellas, the bay area etc.” from last week (Philly Hoagie Shop) landed on Facebook and began a city-wide debate on the relative merits of hoagies. Your HB (humble blogger) only ate the Italian version which spoiled me for everything else (the food I missed most while on a “government paid vacation” in the early ‘70s) - closest thing today is probably the Italian at the Publix deli.

9. Food News II: Our Rants and Raves focus group (comprised of three old, cranky people) notes that John Sylvan, the guy who invented the K-Cup, says he now regrets it because the cost of the cups has spiraled out of control. Our group says that is unless you invest in one of those “as seen on TV” devices that allows you to pre-measure regular grind, thus saving money and allowing you to use whatever is your favorite brand - which may not be packaged in K-Cups. (margin of error – 50 percent or so).

10. Food News III: Cereal sales are at a 10-year low. Think about it – when was the last time you had a bowl of cereal? Most cereals are, to paraphrase leading nutritionists, nothing but a pile of sugar to which you add milk.

Florida needs to be wary of MLB-Cuba connection

It sounds innocuous enough. In the light of a thaw in U.S. – Cuba relations, maybe we play a few spring training exhibitions down there. First, what’s a few? Second what teams? Our guess is if you were able to vote in Cuba (no, really able to vote) the overwhelming choice would be the Yankees – spring-based in Tampa. So the Yanks go south for a few games. Who goes with them - another Florida-based team? Not so fast, Speedy Gonzales. Every time a Florida-based team travels elsewhere for an exhibition, you lose room nights, dinners being served and ballpark concessions - to mention a few things. So maybe, we schedule a few Reds games down there. After all, their top farm club was based in Havana in the pre-Castro ‘50s. Point is this: a few games –okay but we “share the wealth” with Arizona-based teams like the Reds and not have Florida take all the economic hit for any Cuba-based spring training games.