Take a Ride with Duke

    “Way back when” is always used whenever some want to make a statement about the “good old days.” Life was slower then, they say. It had to be, because you couldn’t go very fast on 1-horsepower carriages.

Now, it’s fashionable to park your 160-horsepower V-6 for a twenty or thirty minute ride around Straub Park, or out to the Pier, or for wedding memories of a lifetime. Maybe you just need a special night out. Like the six ladies in a bridge club who live at Bayfront Towers. They arranged a memorable evening with Leland Allenbrand, who manages Surreys At the Pier. Leland picked them up promptly in the lobby at the Towers. The ladies, whose average age is about 70, showed up with a picnic basket full of sandwiches, snacks and four bottles of champagne. Leland reports that was one of his most fun evenings guiding Henry, one of his three horses around the downtown area and out to the Old Northeast then back to the Towers.

    Lots of couples do just that, and it’s one of the happiest rides for Leland or for one of the other six drivers who guide the Surreys. When you’re in downtown St. Petersburg nearly any pleasant evening, look for one of the classic looking carriages pulled by Duke, or Tiny or Henry. You might also choose the “Cinderella” coach.

While we talked, Leland suggested a ride around the park for Susan and me. Wow. A perfect romantic horse-drawn ride around the Vinoy Park area and back to Beach Drive. Some romantic ride! I'm in front holding my tape recorder to get every pearl of wisdom from Leland, and Susan Woods Alderson, is sitting in the back seat snapping photographs. We're just observing anyhow

    Leland has been in St. Petersburg for a couple of years after a lifetime of raising horses in the Midwest. His brother started Surreys At the Pier five years ago, and it has become quite successful for both. Leland is now the manager for Surreys. When you listen to him talk about driving around behind a horse, you know that he loves what he does. He knows that he brings some happiness and relaxation to people.

    Leland: “St. Petersburg is so pretty, such a neat place for carriages like this. People take the ride and see things they never saw before, even if they’ve lived their whole lives here.”

    “Weddings are a lot of fun because the bride and groom are center of attractions. They have a ball everybody’s whoopin’ and hollerin’ and makin’ a big deal of the two of them. It brings a lot of joy to me also.”

    Several times people have booked the Cinderella carriage and then shown up with the young girls dressed like Cinderalla. Sometimes the guys even show up dressed in old-time clothes like the Prince Charming might have worn. It’s a great fantasy ride.

    The beautiful waterfront is a perfect locale for rides like this. Leland and his drivers are downtown every evening when the weather permits, which normally is most of the time. This past winter was not a good time with the weather so chilly for so long. Leland only had seven acceptable nights in January and nine in February, but with the moderating spring evenings, he’s been downtown just about every evening. He also likes to participate in all the parades, unless there are loud drumming bands.

    Leland: “There’s a lot to tell about St. Petersburg, its history, the scenery. It’s so beautiful at night, especially with a full moon on the water.” No wonder the rides are so popular with people out for a night on the town. Duke, a Belgian draft horse, Henry and Tiny are all well-trained, and can even maintain their calmness with blaring sirens from emergency vehicles. Drums and other unusual distractions are more difficult for them. Leland says an ambulance or fire engine an go by with lights and horns making a racket. They keep right on trotting without a flinch, but a sudden loud noise or even a small shopping bag blowing across the road could stop one of them until Leland reassures his horse. The most important route for him is the safest for both. Leland and the other drivers recognize potential problems and simply stay away.

    The normal tour for Leland is around the park, or out to the Pier, but the carriages can go anywhere in St. Petersburg since they are licensed as a street vehicle. Each is well lighted and well marked. He and his drivers show up around three or four o’clock during weekdays, but are there most of Saturdays and Sundays.

    This sounds like quite a grind for the horses, but they are well cared for and show it. He still lives on a farm — sort-of — if you can call Skyview Stables in Pinellas Park a farm. Skyview boards fourteen other horses.

Henry, Duke and Tiny have their own hay and own grain each morning and evening. They get a bath and rubdown every morning with a special organic shampoo that removes dirt but leaves natural oils. They come to work in their own trailers, parking downtown at Southcore where the carriages are stored.     They get plenty of snacks throughout the day. One regular customer brings organically grown carrots, carefully sliced and quartered. Leland makes sure snacks are rationed because each horse already has a well-balanced diet.     Leland also likes to patronize all the restaurants along Beach Drive and downtown because he feels it’s good business for him in many ways. If you ask him for a recommendation of a particular menu or style, he can make a suggestion based on personal experience. Then he or one of his drivers can take you there in style. The restaurants return the favor, since many of them are places where you can find Leland or another driver, in between gigs.

Leland loves his horses. So do his regulars, and many who see them on the streets downtown. Take a short ride with him anywhere, and you see how he talks to each one, with a patience that only a long-time relationship can bring. There is one thing that strains his patience — impatient drivers behind the wheel. Leland has only one thing to say for those who drive by blowing their horn: “They don’t have any sense anyhow.”     A throwback to another era perhaps — a time that we only read about in storybooks or fantasize about. The soft sound of Duke’s hoofs — or Tiny’s or Henry’s — can overcome all of the other regular sounds of traffic, once you get into the rhythm of the carriage movement through St. Petersburg streets downtown, or into the Old Northeast, Snell Isle or other locations within easy riding distance.

    One of the best ways to see any city is to take a horse and carriage ride. Whether the city is St. Augustine or St. Petersburg or any picturesque city, climb into the carriage. Enjoy the clip-clop as you move along some of the old brick streets and avenues. You don’t have to worry about driving. Just take a deep breath, sit back and relax. Block out all the other city sounds around you.

    No wonder, Surreys At The Pier has so many regulars. “I’ve got lots of regulars,” Leland opines, “like the six bridge club ladies. Rides like that make my day.”

    Leland Allenbrand seems to have lots of days like that. Make your day; reserve your relaxation. You can enjoy a ride by calling Leland’s cell phone — 816-215-8613.