Tuesday, October 20, 2015

DRIVE DOWN GULF BLVD

Sunday, October 18 – Even though it was overcast this morning, we wanted to checkout Clearwater Beach, Florida, today. What a beautiful beach! Sand like sugar, plenty of parking (Although it was $2/hour.), girls playing beach volleyball, cabanas for rent, and the beautiful Gulf of Mexico to swim in. We only stayed for about an hour. Long enough to walk out onto the pier and squish our feet in the sand.

Clearwater

Clearwater

Clearwater

We then drove down the beach highway through all the small tourist towns to view the high rise hotels that will soon be packed with snowbirds. There's plenty of places to stay, a never ending supply of restaurants, some neat looking bars, and miles of beautiful beach to soak up the sun. You could almost hear the cash registers ringing up the sales.

Clearwater

We stopped in Madeira. This seaport town is the destination for many tourists looking for a place to do some shopping.

Madeira

Tons of souvenir shops, restaurants, and boats to hire for fishing or parasailing. We had a couple destinations in mind.

Madeira

They have a really nice boardwalk.Madeira

First was the Florida winery and tasting room. We are looking to stock up on Florida wine for our summer wine tasting party. We tasted several samples and purchased one bottle.  Most Florida wine is made from fruit juices and not grapes. Most are just too sweet for our gang of tasters.

Our second destination was the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. We enjoyed a scrumptious lunch of Cajun shrimp and a couple skewers of grilled shrimp. Man-O-Man where they delicious! We hope to find a couple more nice seafood restaurants before leaving Florida.

Bubba Gump Shrimp Company

Is that Forest in his running shoes or an imposter? Run Forrest Run!Bubba Gump

Bubba Gump

Marsha finally got to see several pelicans. They were hanging around the docks and diving into the water for their own seafood lunch. She was a little disappointed she hadn't seen any yet. There were also several dolphins jumping around off-shore putting on a show for the visitors.

pelicans

pelicans

There is a huge draw bridge in Madeira. When it went up, everyone stopped to watch.

draw bridge

Another wonderful way to spend the day. We recommend this drive to anyone visiting the area.

We have moved on to Cedar Key for two days. We have one additional post for St. Petersburg to get current with our blog posts. 

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

12 comments:

  1. I used to visit Clearwater Beach regularly and love the place. Thanks for taking me back. Ingrid@ LiveLaughRV.net

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  2. Hard to beat a FL beach-like the license plate:)

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  3. The beach is so gorgeous! I love that sugary white sand. Great photo showing how white it is:)

    Nothing better than fresh local seafood. We love running to the fish market to pick up something for me to make for dinner, which happens most night. Your lunch sounds yummy:) Who is that Forrest Gump imposter!!!

    Aren't the pelicans just so cute!! Glad you got to see some finally:)

    John's Pass is soooo crowded in the winter. John's sister and brother-in-law near by. That area is way too crowded for us. But it is fun to visit! And that bridge is unbelievable! We were lucky enough to get to watch it go up, also.

    Hope you enjoy Cedar Key. We've never been there but lots of bloggers love it there.

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  4. Gotta love the florida beaches especially when its not too crowded.

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  5. I'm curious about Cedar Key. We've been wondering if it's worth the stop.

    We love the sugar sand of the area Florida beaches too. Love it.

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  6. You know, we have pelicans in Merritt. Just sayin!

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  7. By that photo,Forest Gump must have had really big feet!

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  8. Try the seafood at one of the Frenchy's places in the area. If you want pizza or breakfast or italian try Gondolier Pizza.

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  9. Use to take our boat to St. Johns Pass great memories and Photos. Thx for sharing!

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  10. Use to take our boat to St. Johns Pass great memories and Photos. Thx for sharing!

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  11. Did Bubba in Daytona! Love your Photos hope to move Back to Florida's central east coast when I sell the Motorhome in a few years. The place I plan will have a guest bedroom you can visit! Enjoy Riding with you did you rent a small boat?

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