Active Pursuits

Sunny Days

St. Petersburg is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the city with the longest number of days of consecutive sunshine -- 768, to be exact. From February 9, 1967, to March 17, 1969, the city experienced not a drop of rain, no clouds -- just pure, unadulterated, tan-friendly sunshine!

Biking, In-Line Skating & Hiking -- With miles of flat terrain, the St. Petersburg area is ideal for bikers, in-line skaters, and hikers. The Pinellas Trail is especially good, since it follows an abandoned railroad bed 47 miles from St. Petersburg north to Tarpon Springs (tel. 727/464-8201; www.pinellascounty.org/trailgd). The St. Pete trail head is on 34th Street South (U.S. 19), between 8th and Fairfield avenues south. It's packed on weekends. Free maps of the trail are available at the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce. The 2 1/2-mile-long Friendship TrailBridge, linking Tampa and St. Petersburg, is another popular venue for hikers, bikers, bicyclists, anglers, and in-line skaters, but be careful going up and down the steep center span, especially if you're on skates.

Golf -- One of the nation's top 50 municipal courses, the Mangrove Bay Golf Course, 875 62nd Ave. NE (tel. 727/893-7800), hugs Old Tampa Bay and offers 18-hole, par-72 play. Facilities include a driving range. Lessons and golf-club rental are also available. Fees are about $30 in winter, slightly lower during off season.

In Largo, the Bardmoor Golf & Tennis Club, 8001 Cumberland Rd. (tel. 727/392-1234), is often the venue for major tournaments. Lakes punctuate 17 of the 18 holes on this par-72 championship course. Lessons and rental clubs are available, as is a Tom Fazio-designed practice range. Call the clubhouse for seasonal greens fees. The course is open daily from 7am to dusk.

Call Tee Times USA (tel. 800/374-8633; www.teetimesusa.com) to reserve times at these and other area courses.

For course information online, go to www.golf.com or www.floridagolfing.com; or call the Florida Sports Foundation (tel. 850/488-8347) or Florida Golfing (tel. 866/833-2663).

Sailing -- Both Steve and Doris Colgate's Offshore Sailing School (tel. 888/454-8002 or 239/454-1700; www.offshore-sailing.com) and the Annapolis Sailing School (tel. 800/638-9192 or 727/867-8102; www.annapolissailing.com) have operations here. Various courses lasting from 2 days to a week are offered. Contact the schools for prices and schedules.

Tennis -- You can learn to play or hone your game at the Phil Green Tennis Academy, at Safety Harbor Resort and Spa.