Ideas for a trip near Clearwater??

[castanea1985]

Hi all,
Has anyone any ideas for somewhere to go near Clearwater. We intend to play golf over that way one day next summer, and would like to know if there are any nice areas to look round after we've played??
Any ideas of a nice place to eat? Maybe some different shops? Places of interest? etc.... we,re open to ideas???
Tracy

 

[castanea1985]

Has no one got any ideas????

 

[ford family]

For places of interest, visit the Dali museum and the Pier in St Pete's, Ybor city in Tampa, Tarpon Springs (Greek town) to the north.
For shopping, head south on I275 across the Sunshine Skyway ($1 toll) until you reach I75. Head south to the next junction (US301 Ellenton) and visit the Prime Outlet Mall. Very good value, lots of well known names. From there head west on 301 and visit the Gamble Mansion, a pre civil war house worth seeing. Continue west to Snead Island and use the boardwalks to get around the kind of topography that the area used to be like. Retrace to US41 and head north onto I275 and back to Clearwater.

ford family

 

[ajcolorado]

We went to Sunsets at Pier 60 at Clearwater Beach, it is a nightly festival a little like the one in Key West. There are street performers (bring some $1 bills), music, and some craft booth. It was nice.

 

[castanea1985]

Thank you so much AJcolorado and the Ford Family!
We'll certainly have a look at these places! We were already considering the Dali museum!!
Thanks again.
Tracy

 

[mike230652]

The Dali museum isn't exactly next door to Clearwater btw!!...but nice place to visit...also hit the aircraft carrier look a like that is the pier !! Very good food in the Argentinian restaurant on the pier if you're a committed carnivore!

Nearer to Clearwater try :

Dunedin - 10 minutes North. Great little town of 30K people, next to the sea...very old fashioned with great shops and a free tour of the Dunedin Brewery if you like!
Places to eat....Kellys Chic a Boom ....http://www.kellyschicaboom.com/Kellys/Home.htm
Real old fashioned place...excellent food....killer breakfasts ( forget the likes of Ponderosa etc ...this is REAL food ! ).

Purple Moon....great coffee and cakes..all home made..plus you can have your fortune told if you want! Run by some characters, even by US standards!!....very alternative but friendly and relaxing. Great courtyard outside and some unique souvenirs inside!

Go a few miles up to Ozona...about 15 minutes from Clearwater....nice secluded beaches...and try eating at Molly Goodheads ( honest! ). Fabulous sea food, and pretty mean steaks, fajitas etc etc.

http://www.mollygoodheads.com/menu.cfm

We've eaten at all these places..so no hesitation recommending them!
Personally we thought Tarpon Springs was Blackpool USA......pretty tacky ( IMHO! ) and not somewhere we'd re-visit.

Honeymoon Island is a nice place if you want to walk in a quiet beach area....and collect some HUGE shells...or go from Honeymoon Island to Caladesi Island...the feryy takes you and collects you 5-6 hours later. Very quiet, couple of small snackbars...and restful...if you want restful of course!

Hope that's of some use...... we love the area north of Clearwater, totally different pace of life to the area south of it! Both have their plus points...we just prefer north........

Mike

 

[JohnnySharp2]

I would drive from Orlando just to go over the Sunshine Skyway bridge - it's awesome and the views spectacular.

 

[castanea1985]

Thanks again, everyone - I had seen a good looking hotel in Dunedin - right on the water, so might book a night there if its nice!!
Thanks.
Tracy

 

[cleo]

We highly recommend Dolphin Landings sailboat excursion, with some of the best dolphin encounters we've seen. Take a look here: http://www.dolphinlandings.com/

Clearwater Marine Aquarium is another great choice for a full afternoon. Visit the aquarium and see Winter, the baby dolphin with no tail (she's amazing!), then take the Sea Life Safari, which is a terrific trip out on the waterway, with lots of educational value, the chance to pull up a crab trap, hands-on encounters with any fish (etc!) pulled up in the drag-net and an opportunity to collect shells (which you can take home for free) on a little island in the middle of the waterway. See http://www.cmaquarium.org/ for more on the aquarium, http://www.cmaquarium.org/sealife safari page.htm for some pictures and info about the Safari.

Frenchy's on the beach is also a casual, hearty lunch or dinner option.

 

[castanea1985]

Hi Mike,
We like the look of MollyGoodheads!! Do you have to book a table?
Tracy

 

[JohnnySharp2]

This link may help.

http://www.clearwaterbeach.com/

 

[castanea1985]

Thanks Johnny