Please help me plan day trips to both coasts!!!!

[disneyfan551]

Hi all! We are planning day trips to each coast, and would love to hear your suggestions on which beaches to try. We are taking our 7 mo. old DD, and would like something low-key, but with nice, sandy beaches (shells would be nice too!!). (And, not alot of teens running everywhere, so nothing overpopulated...)

I've seen messages posted (somewhere?!?) that Madeira & Indian Rocks Beach are nice for the Gulf side. Any other comments or suggestions are greatly welcomed!

going to my home-away-from-home in 13 more days!!!! woo hoo!!!

 

[Bonnie40]

Hi there! We were down in WDW in March and took 2 day trips to both coasts. One day we went to Cocoa Beach - we'd never been there before and it was nice but busy. The second beach day we went to Venice Beach which is just south of Sarasota. We go there every time we go to Florida because it is an amazing place to visit. It is worth the drive which is about 1.5 hours with good traffic. It is a community with older people, and it is clean and very beautiful. The drive down Venice Avenue to the beach is wonderful with little shops. They have a public beach area with free parking and a nice little place to grab lunch. This beach is well known because it is famous for fossilized sharks teeth washing up on the shore. The shelling is great too. As you can tell, we just love it! Hope this info helps.

Bonnie

 

[Boots]

It has been ages since I have been, but my dad's loves Daytona Beach! Though I think his car automatically goes there if pointed in that direction!!!

 

[disneyfan551]

Thanks for the suggestion! Venice Beach sounds perfect! Did you visit any great seafood restaurants there? Can't wait for some real seafood!!!

I really appreciate the help!!

only 11 days to go!! I can't believe it's finally here!!

 

[Bonnie40]

Every time we go to Venice Beach we go to Sharkey's Pier. If you ask someone there they can give you directions, but it's easy because you can see the pier when you look down the public beach. It's a fishing pier but there is a really neat restaurant there and they do have a seafood selection. They have plenty of outdoor seating and music and it's always lots of fun. We sat outside and watched the sunset while we were eating dinner. Just love it there! FYI though, it's a busy spot!

Bonnie

p.s. If you do go, let me know what you thought. Anyone I've ever suggested go there have loved it!

 

[disneyfan551]

Thanks for the restaurant tip! If we go to Venice, we'll check it out! I pulled up the driving "map" on the 'net and it said it takes about 2 hrs. to get there from LBV. Was that the case for you?

Thanks again!

 

[Bonnie40]

Hi Tiffany!

We found we did it in less than 2 hours. It is definitely worth the drive - we left Kissimmee early in the a.m. and were on the beach way before most people. I would suggest going early in order to get a parking place for the day. If you're interested in taking in some of the shops, it's a beautiful walk up Venice Avenue. They have a boulevard down the middle with an amazing Banyan (?) tree that my kids always say is "theirs"! I keep telling my hubby that when we retire, we're going to spend alot of time there! I also didn't mention the number of dolphins that play in the water there. In March we say them playing right in the surf - very close to shore! It was amazing! And the water there is a beautiful aquamarine - the Gulf coast is far more beautiful than the Atlantic coast IMHO!

Enjoy your trip!

Bonnie