Don't Dally on Dalí

Shortly before marrying in 1942, A. Reynolds Morse and Eleanor R. Morse attended a Dalí retrospective. Intrigued by the artist, they bought their first painting a year later, beginning a forty-year relationship as patrons and friends of Dalí. And that is how St. Petersburg, Florida, came to have a museum with the world’s largest collection of Dalí’s work, outside the Dalí Theater-Museum created by Dalí himself in his hometown of Figueres, Catalonia, Spain.

I must admit, the first time I visited the museum the only piece of his work I was familiar with was The Persistence of Memory—you know, the one with the limp watches. But thanks to that visit I have a much deeper appreciation for the scope of Dalí’s work. And the museum building itself is stunning, complete with “surreal” benches for photo-ops in the gardens. It’s worth a trip, and handily Allegiant Airlines offers nonstop flights from New Orleans to the St. Petersburg airport. That airport is much smaller than the Tampa airport and serves mostly charter flights, but it puts you about ten minutes closer to the museum. And Allegiant flies there cheap, if you pack light. Like the other super cheap airlines, it charges for even a roll-aboard. But as I’ve mentioned before, I have a gym bag that meets the airline’s size requirement for a “personal item.” Which you can bring aboard for free. And I can easily pack for a long weekend at a warm weather destination in it. Allegiant currently has fares to St. Petersburg in January starting at $86 round-trip. But there are often airfare sales by other airlines into the big Tampa airport, so make sure you compare before you buy. And as an added bonus, visit before mid-April and enjoy the museum’s current exhibition of the work of Frida Kahlo as well.