The Don CeSar hopes to bury 2020 with time capsule

ST. PETE BEACH, Fla. - For all the things in the Don CeSar time capsule, from masks to hand sanitizer, none of them can truly sum up 2020 better than the message Janice Steele had: "Let's put 2020 away."

2020 will go underground, at least symbolically. 

The waterproof metal case went into a pit lined with cinder blocks, stuffed with things we'd rather forget -- COVID supplies, a recap of 2020's natural disasters, and a summary of the election. 

2020 is the ultimate teaching moment for whoever opens it in 2070. 

"You have to have flexibility, you have to have priorities, and the friends and people you love is all-important," said Gina Case of St. Pete Beach.

Hotel general manager Thomas Fraher timed the closing of the capsule to the completion of a renovation project, which will help the historic hotel withstand another 92 years. 

Don CeSar staff left nametags, a flashdrive photo album, and obituaries of famous people who died in 2020.

"For them to kind of look back and understand the troubles that happened locally and across the world, and to hopefully appreciate calmer times that lay ahead for them," explained Fraher.

Hotel guests wrote messages to the future, on paper in the Don CeSar's signature pink.

"Hopefully no one will have to go through this again in the future," added Leigh Howe of Pass-A-Grille.