A few weeks ago my husband and I looked at each other and said we needed to get away to somewhere sunny and warm. This long, cold, icy, snowy New Hampshire winter was getting to us. With some guidance from a travel agent friend we decided on Clearwater Beach, Florida. Below is how we spent our time away.
Day 1: We flew out of Logan Airport in Boston heading to Tampa International Airport on JetBlue. At my husband’s request, we rented a Jeep Wrangler through Enterprise. Thanks to a co-worker we were able to get a discount. My husband was in heaven.
We were starving after our flight and found an amazing hole in the wall restaurant, The Cuban and Mexican Restaurant in Clearwater. The food was fresh and delicious and the staff were very friendly.
We stayed at Clearwater Beach Hotel on South Gulf View Blvd. Our hotel was located across the street from the beach with a glimpse of the ocean. It was a little older, but clean and the staff were very friendly. Our room was simple with two queen beds, bathroom, mini fridge and microwave. The lobby had a small selection of drinks and snacks. There was a pool, but we did not use it.
After unpacking we walked to Clearwater Beach, about 5 minutes away. The sand was white and so soft. With us being on the gulf side the ocean was pretty calm.
In this area there was much to do from various food options, shopping, water sports and activities, playground, ferris wheel and blow up waterslides. We walked around getting familiar with the area.
For dinner we went to Surfside Taphouse. Grouper is the fish in the area, I tried the grouper tacos, they were so good. We all enjoyed our food and our service was great.
Gelato is my daughter’s favorite. While exploring the downtown area we found an amazing gelato shop, Gelato Cafe. Some of the best gelato we have had.
As we headed back to our hotel, we stopped to enjoy the sunset.
Day 2:
The day started out with an amazing breakfast, drinks and water view at Patrona Coastal Cafe in St. Petersburg. My family said it was some of the best coffee they had. I loved their Coconut Matcha. The food was fresh and delicious. Staff were friendly and prompt. It can be a busy cafe, which we could see why.
Next stop was Sunken Gardens in St. Petersburg. This was a beautiful botanical garden to explore with various plants, turtles, koi fish and birds.
The flamingos were my favorite.
Next stop was Fort de Soto Park. There was so much to do here from renting bikes, kayaks and paddle boards, a couple different beaches, an old fort to explore, a campground, boat shuttles and overall beautiful views. You pay a one time, daily, parking fee of $6 and can park in any of the designated parking spots in the park. We started out by renting bikes. There are some great bike and walking paths around the park. You can go several miles.
After a five mile bike ride we went to the beach near the snack shack, changing rooms and the bike rentals. There was plenty of parking. Photos do not do justice of how beautiful the sand and water was.
After some time on the beach we were hungry and drove out of the park and found a beach side restaurant, Paradise Grill in Pass-a-Grill. We got wraps, sandwich’s and frozen drinks. The food was fresh and flavorful and the drinks were refreshing. It was so fun to eat overlooking the beach and water.
We drove back to Fort De Soto to explore the fort and more beach time before heading back to our hotel.
Once back to our hotel we walked the main area of Clearwater to get some gelato and watch another amazing sunset.
Day 3:
We all wanted to go back to Patrona Cafe for breakfast. With it being 30 minutes away the drinks and food were so worth the drive.
After another amazing breakfast we drove to Ana Maria Island to explore the beaches, about an hour and half drive from our hotel. We found a cute park, Ana Maria Bayfront Park, with a parking lot, changing rooms, picnic tables and a beach. Parking can be a little tough on the island as they are very strict on where you can and cannot park and this was the only parking lot we saw. The water and beach were stunning.
My husband really wanted to visit Bean Point. We lucked out and found street parking near Bean Point, which is another stunning beach, but due to rip currents not a great place to swim.
Lunch was delicious pizza at Pizza Social it was fresh and flavorful.
With rain moving in we decided to take a chance and drive a little out of our way to try to see manatees. We drove to Manatee Viewing Center at Tampa Electric, unfortunately we did not see any Manatees. They did have a nice boardwalk and a touch tank of sting rays.
We drove back to our hotel and walked to Jimmy’s on the Edge Rooftop Bar in the Edge Hotel for dinner and to watch the sunset. They had one of the best drinks I have ever had, a Key Lime Colada.
Our food was good and service was great. At sunset servers gave everyone a shot and we did a sunset shot, which was fun. The views from the rooftop were stunning.
We walked back to our hotel along the beach to enjoy more of the views.
Day 4: This was our final full day in Clearwater. We ventured down the strip of Clearwater to try a different breakfast place. Blessed Cup Clearwater Cafe is located on the second level in Pelican Walk Plaza. This super cute cafe had a variety of coffees and breakfast items. My daughter and I both got the chocolate waffle which was a homemade waffle with nutella and fresh fruit. It was so good. My husband got a breakfast sandwich. My husband and daughter got coffees and I got a tea.
Our next stop was a dolphin tour through StarLite Cruises in St. Pete’s Beach. This high speed boat tour cruises around the waterways of the gulf to get dolphins to ride their wakes. The staff provided information on the surrounding area while enticing dolphins to jump in their wake. We were able to see several dolphins and take in some great views while being on the water for an hour and half.
We went back to Paradise Grill for lunch and beach time. After some food we decided to go back to Fort de Soto Park to enjoy the beaches. It was a little cloudy, but we enjoyed limited people on the beach and the warm water.
We headed back to Clearwater Beach to enjoy one more sunset.
We got dinner from the Taco Bus located across the street from our hotel. Their Mexican food was so good and a great way to wrap up our wonderful time in Clearwater Beach.
Takeaways from our trip:
The hotel was average. It was clean, reasonable priced, as many of the hotels in the area are very expensive and the staff were very friendly. It was a five minute walk to the beach and close to so many things to do on the strip. Once we parked at the hotel we could walk to a lot of activities. A downside was that it being an older hotel a couple nights it was very loud with spring breakers in others rooms and the noise from the busy street. We felt very safe. Even walking around Clearwater at night there was a strong police presence and never felt unsafe.
The food surprised me. I did not have a lot of expectations, but we had some amazing food from fresh seafood, amazing breakfast, fresh and flavorful Mexican and gelato. Service was always great.
I did very little planning for this trip as we planned it last minute. I am usually a big planner and have an excel sheet of things to do, but this time I just winged it. I had a couple things on a speed sheet, but no real plans. My husband and daughter picked activities and restaurants to visit. My husband said this was one of his favorite vacations because of how laid back it was.
There was a lot of traffic. I felt like we sat at lights or in traffic every time we went out. That was a little annoying at times. I was thankful we could do a lot of things from our hotel.
Every beach we went to was clean and beautiful.
Overall, we had an amazing vacation and would absolutely return to the Clearwater Beach area.
