May 2009

St. Pete Beach occupies a 7½-mile island known as LongKey.Of all the
area’s islands, Long Key’s intriguing history is the best preserved. Its
greatest landmark is the fantasy-pink Don CeSar Resort, playground of
1920s glitterati such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Al Capone. It majestically
crowns St. Pete Beach’s southern threshold. The island’s southernmost
community of Pass-A-Grille fills its history pages with adventuresome
tales of French fishermen and 20th-century drug smugglers.
South of Long Key, the islands get smaller and more remote. Tierra
Verde holds a marina community at the doorstep to Fort De Soto County
Park, which occupies five small keys, where once war strategies were
planned.Unreachable by land,EgmontKeywas site of FortDe Soto’s sis-
ter fortifications. Today it is a refuge for wildlife and weekenders alike.