Quick weekend in St. Pete/Tampa

Parent Cafe
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<p>Torn between the St. Pete Courtyard Downtown and the Clearwater Bayside. I plan to head straight to the Clearwater Aquarium on Friday, hoping to beat the weekend crowds. The rest of the weekend is still up in the air.</p>

<p>One question I do have is the area around Downtown St. Pete. Since my friend and a couple of others have mentioned that the St. Pete Pier will be torn down, I wonder if that might not be a good place to stay. I was hoping to take the downtown shuttle to restaurants in the evening, but my friend is worried things will be closed already, in preparation for the demolition.</p>

<p>Since I would like to head to the Indian Shores and John’s Pass area on Saturday, I wonder which hotel would be a quicker drive home, as I will be exhausted after a day of adventure.</p>

<p>Also wondering if anyone has gone to Keegan’s lately. Husband and I love checking out Triple D featured restaurants, and wonder if it’s worth the trip. Although husband won’t be with me, he would enjoy a souvenir from the place.</p>

<p>My friend is also considering taking me to Weeki Wachi. Has anyone been there lately? We’d love to see the mermaid show and go on the glass bottom boat, and don’t know if those are still in operation. It would be very far from the St. Pete hotel, but may be closer to the Clearwater Bayside hotel.</p>

<p>Will be going over guide books while we drive up for Parents Weekend and hope to get a more solid itinerary, but I know Clearwater Aquarium and Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary are must sees for me this trip.</p>

<p>Thanks again for all your help!</p>

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<p>Holy Mackerel, you are exhausting me just thinking about all the places you are trying to see in two days. Weeki Wachee is almost 60 road miles north of Clearwater Beach up US Hwy 19–with about 75 traffic lights! I used to life guard at Weeki Wachee summers (I’m still a college student.) The mermaids and show are still there; they wanted me to be a mermaid but I was afraid of going into the tunnel they use to get in water–I am claustrophobic. The boats at Weeki Wachee now don’t have glass bottoms (they’re in Ocala at Silver Sprs), the ride goes down river from the big spring about 2 miles and then doubles back. The one thing I remember the boat skipper telling us from the boat tours is that the raccoons along the shore will eat anything you throw them except BBQ potatoe chips!</p>

<p>You’ve got a whole bunch of super places to tour on your list, and all the hotels you’ve mentioned are fine. Go to any of these places and you are going to have a blast; maybe don’t try to do too much.</p>

<p>Forget about the St. Pete pier anyway, it’s nothing super duper and I am not sure even when they are tearing it down–it’s removed from parks downtown a bit and you can walk downtown on sidewalks waterside and see fish and birds without having to go over by pier. Just the pier is being blown up…not all of downtown St. Pete!</p>

<p>Maybe flip a coin…heads St. Pete, tails Clearwater Beach. Both are fine and fun; both locations will allow you to tour whole bay area easily.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.tampabay.com/features/movies/stars-director-of-dolphin-tale-didnt-sample-a-lot-of-tampa-bay-nightlife/1191541[/url]”>http://www.tampabay.com/features/movies/stars-director-of-dolphin-tale-didnt-sample-a-lot-of-tampa-bay-nightlife/1191541&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>You can tell my worst subject is geography. In looking at the guidebooks this weekend, I was dismayed to see the St. Pete Pier is into Tampa Bay, not the Gulf. I am really hoping to see more of the Gulf. I am also exhausted after a weekend of SEC football, and am really looking forward to just a quiet, laidback weekend, so I’m going to try to move my certificate back to the Bayside location, plan on seeing Winter and the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary, and anything else will be lagniappe. I’ll try to pick up a boat tour into the gulf if I can find a good, nature oriented one. Hope to catch the sunset over the gulf at least one of the days I’ll be there.</p>

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<p>Back from my whirlwind weekend in Clearwater area and wanted to thank all the posters for their input!</p>

<p>Landed in Tampa, checked into the Clearwater Bayside Fairfield, driving over the Courtney Campbell Causeway. Was thrilled to see osprey on light poles along the way. Gorgeous view of the water.</p>

<p>Even more thrilled at my room, which overlooked the causeway and water I just drove over, complete with an osprey on the pole right outside my window. Grounds of the hotel had trees with Spanish moss and palm trees, giving me a taste of home and Florida at the same time.</p>

<p>Met my college friend at Clearwater Aquarium and stayed there until closing. Took the Behind the Scenes tour and fed the stingrays. Got to see Winter and all the other animals, and even got to hold an exemplar of Winter’s tail!</p>

<p>Met my friend, her husband, and youngest son at Salt Rock Cafe for dinner. Beautiful evening sitting outside. Food was wonderful!</p>

<p>Saturday, met my friend at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota. Well worth the drive, as it was our dream place to visit when we were girls aspiring to be marine biologists. Saw dolphins, turtles, and manatees! Nearby Save Our Seabirds rehab facility was an added plus for this birder!</p>

<p>Gorgeous drive down to Sarasota, birding the whole way, even seeing a roseate spoonbill fly over as I approached the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. Amazing bridge! Found a slice of heaven in Terra Ciera, where I pulled off the road to do some birding to and from Mote. Ended the day driving over the Sunshine Skyway Bridge as the sun went down. Breathtaking!</p>

<p>Crossed the Bayway, unfortunately, after dark, as I had hoped to catch more spoonbills, but drove up Gulf Boulevard all the way back to Clearwater. Took note of places to stay and visit on a return trip. Found Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary, so I’d know where it was, as it was a must see before I left. Delighted to see the trees filled with my favorite birds and couldn’t wait to spend Sunday there. Stopped at Salt Rock Grill for dinner again, trying a different dish, and not disappointed.</p>

<p>Last day, drove down to Pier 60 and walked out to finally see the Gulf of Mexico up close. Amazing. Drove down to the sanctuary, stopping at the Indian Rocks Beach public park to finally get onto the beach itself. More birding and even getting my feet wet!</p>

<p>Met my friend and her oldest son at the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary in Indian Shores, almost to Redding Beach, and walked side by side with some of my favorite birds. Walked through the sanctuary onto the beach again, with even more birding and getting wet!</p>

<p>Had coffee and a muffin at Indian Rocks Coffee with my friend and her older son before finally heading for the airport. </p>

<p>What a special weekend it was. Thank you to all of you for all your great input. Looking forward to returning to the area again, hopefully, with husband and son in tow, and spending more time with my great friend and this beautiful area.</p>

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<p>Glad to hear you enjoyed your Florida visit so much. Thank you for posting the nice report. You squeezed a lot into one weekend! Next visit, instead of tame birds and sea life, you could maybe do a tour to see more exotic Florida critters like walking catfish, killer bees, pythons, nile monitors, coyotes, winter snowbirds, etc. Please come back and visit Florida again soon!</p>

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<p>THanks, Lizard! You’ve piqued my interest! I’m a bit gullible, so don’t know if you’re serious or not. But if you are, where might these walking catfish, nile monitors, and pythons be? Don’t like coyotes or killer bees, and went to UMiami with enough winter snowbirds, so can skip those, too. As for the birds, they were not tame. They were more like wild feral cats that hang around a restaurant. They’ll come around to eat, but won’t let you pet them. I can tell you, I chased enough of them around trying to get a picture!</p>

<p>We will definitely be returning as a couple, or the whole family, and even alone, I’m looking forward to spending more time with my friend and her family. She’s making a list of birding places for me, and I’d really like to spend some time up in Tarpon Springs as well. Although I shy away from the big cities, I would like to see the Tampa Aquarium.</p>

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<p>Yes I’m joking around some, but Florida does have a lot of invasive exotic critters bouncing around the peninsula now–especially in warmer south Florida. Don’t bother the critters and they won’t bother you. Ten foot nile monitors can be found in backyard canals in Cape Coral south of Sarasota, walking catfish do sometimes jump out of storm sewers and walk the streets of St. Pete, and Burmese pythons have quieted down some after freezes the last couple of winters did many of them in.</p>

<p>If you visit Tarpon Springs, try to find someone with a small boat to take you offshore a couple of miles to Anclote Island–it’s beautiful and is one of my favorite Florida spots.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.nps.gov/ever/naturescience/upload/2008%20Florida%20Invaders%20For%20Web.pdf[/url]”>http://www.nps.gov/ever/naturescience/upload/2008%20Florida%20Invaders%20For%20Web.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>[Welcome</a> to Florida State Parks](<a href=“http://www.floridastateparks.org/anclotekey/]Welcome”>http://www.floridastateparks.org/anclotekey/)</p>

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<p>Seriously?! Would love to see the walking catfish. There was a frogfish down at Mote that had fins that looked like feet. My friend and I studied Marine Biology together down at UMiami, and we were like giddy schoolgirls visiting the aquariums and such.</p>

<p>I am definitely going to try to make it to Anclote Island. While at Suncoast in Indian Rocks, one of the volunteers told me it was a great place to catch roseate spoonbills, one of my favorites that I am willing to travel to see.</p>

<p>Thank you so much for all the links. My ornithology professor used to take us out at four am every Saturday morning to explore Southeast Florida birding spots, and I am looking forward to exploring more of Southwest Florida’s beauty as well.</p>