Tuesday, June 09, 2015
Crysta Parkinson @ Well Worn Suitcase
We made our first trek to the western side of Florida this week, visiting the Gulf Coast and taking in some sun at Clearwater Beach. Clearwater has been named the Best Beach Town in the U.S. by a reader's poll in USA Today, and it is a title they wear with pride.
After driving along the beach, we found ourselves in Sand Key Park, a gorgeous little spot just down from the main beaches.
Sand Key Park was beautiful, less crowded, and had cheaper parking than the Clearwater beaches - completely ideal for our group.
(I later saw a review of the park that said, "Fantastic beach! Glad there wasn't any parking in Clearwater!" That is pretty much exactly how we felt.)
All day parking was $5. If you are local to the area or plan to visit often, annual parking passes are $75, or can be acquired free by completing 100 hours of volunteer service to the Parks & Conservation Resources Department. Learn more here.
It was so amazing, we spent more than five hours floating around in the water, collecting sea shells, checking out fish, and watching the boats go by.
Two of the boats we saw were SO exciting! We didn't get pictures of the dolphin tour going by, but it was really cool, and we might have to do it next time we hit the Gulf Coast. It was called Sea Screamer, and it was a huge yellow speed boat, with a pod of dolphins chasing along behind it in the wake. The people on the beach cheered as it went by! Super neat!
The second boat was a pirate ship that does cruises from Clearwater, called Captain Memo's. The littles in our group got really excited every time it went by. Everyone loves pirates.
The park features the same pristine white beaches and incredible clear gulf waters, along with lifeguards from March to September and amenities like changing rooms and umbrellas for rent. We trotted out our new beach tent for the first time, but the water was so amazing, we mostly looked at it from a distance!
We collected tons of gorgeous shells, and made these fun picture frames out of some of them to remember the day.
As the sun dipped low in the horizon, we went back into Clearwater for a seafood dinner by the water at a fun little place called Jimmy's Fish House and Iguana Bar. They take their sunsets seriously!
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Loved this day and this post!! I didn't know about the volunteer hours thing at Sand Key, that's really neat! There were so many shells there, it was amazing!
ReplyDeleteOh wow that water looks clear and calm! This looks like a place I should be, I love the beach, but find the open Pacific and Atlantic coasts a little raw.
ReplyDeleteOh this looks like my perfect day out! I love spending time just enjoying the warm waters and watching the boats go by. Sand Keys looks pretty special and bonus for it not being too busy. I love the seashell frame, what a lovely idea. Thanks so much for linking up with #MondayEscapes
ReplyDeleteThank you for the fun group to link up to! :)
DeleteThis place is amazing but have you been to Sabbia Beach? It has great beach line, it is very clean and untamed. And there are also very good places to stay there. I fell in love with it since when I was there last year. Now I am searching for places like that but I still can't find.
ReplyDeleteWow ! I have visited Sand Key Park, it is so beautiful and enjoyable place for tourist, It is surrounded by awesome atmosphere. I love this place and planning for visit again. Enjoy Clearwater Florida Attractions with cruise which is an undefined experience of traveling.
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