Last year we went to St. Petersburg,
Miami, and
Annapolis boat shows.
Downtown St. Pete is just a fantastic place to visit. The
boat show is small, but still quite enjoyable. This is worth attending simply because the city is so nice. Make time for Salvador Dali.
Miami show was split, with Strictly Sail being at Bayside and a big powerboat show somewhere else. Lots of sailboats to look at. Vendors on the sailboat side are in relatively short supply, many wanting only one tent and choosing to put it up at the much larger powerboat arena. The upside is that the seminars and
forums are very accessible, the downside is that there is less to see on the boat show grounds.
Miami is a great international city. If you're not fond of it, go a few blocks to a different neighborhood. Seriously, we ate authentic Bavarian
food one night and some remarkably fantastic Peruvian
food the next.
Annapolis in the fall is fantastic. It was a little cool at night, but we wore shorts in the daytime (aside from that
hurricane day). The downtown is a little restaurant mecca with loads of good eats.
The boat show is enormous and all sailboats. It seemed like every imaginable vendor had a booth, and there was much to learn (along with a sales
pitch, of course) at every one.
Downside is that the show is so well attended that the seminars and
forums require advance
registration; and many boats have a line to get aboard. Caveat: don't let the hype fool you, there were only a few brokerage boats on display, at least relative to what we were hoping to see.
I don't recommend dining at Pusser's. But do get a crab cake at
Dock Street.
If you can do only one, go to the US Sailboat Show in Annapolis, and allow two days for boat show action.