Writer Jack Kerouac died in St. Petersburg, Florida in 1969. On Monday I drove by the last house he lived and took a photo. Neither the photo or the house or anything special, but it was something that I felt compelled to do after receiving my master’s degree from USF, St. Petersburg the day before. (I was drawn to Kerouac’s writing when I was 20-something because he was the first writer that I knew that had a football background.)

The Last House Jack Kerouac Lived In
There are a lot of homes and hotels in St. Petersburg that are special because they reflect that fine era of the 1920s & 30s.

Private Residence

The Vinoy Renaissance Resort in St. Petersburg

The Don CeSar in St. Pete Beach
St. Petersburg is also special to me because it’s where my father’s remains are buried in Bay Pine Cemetery, so I made a stop there on Monday as well.

Bay Pines National Cemetery
The nice thing about being in St. Petersburg in December is you get to experience a taste of Christmas St. Petersburg style.

St. Pete Santa

Nothing Quite Says Christmas Like a Rhino with a Wreath
In Tampa, the Oxford Exchange is also decorated for the holidays…

Oxford Exchange in Tampa
…and it’s where I picked up my first pair of Warby Parker glasses. Look for them in the video I hope to begin releasing in early 2019.

Demo Pair of the Sullivan Frames in Saltwater Matte
Of course, the tie-in here is the Warby Parker name is pulled from some names that Jack Kerouac wrote. Overall I had a whirlwind weekend in the Tampa Bay area to finish two years of chipping away on my M.A.

Go Bulls! (Fall Graduation 2018)
P.S. Post-Thanksgiving I was pushing to finish a final project and final paper so my blog posts were sporadic—but starting tomorrow I’ll get back on the bull and finish the year strong with some help from the late William Goldman.