The Left Coast of Florida.

From time to time our family takes a Vacation that doesn't involved Disney World.  Recently We returned from just such a trip to the Gulf side of Florida.  In the Tampa Area, just south of Clearwater is a stretch of very nice beach that goes form the Tip of the St. Petersburg Peninsula all the way to Clearwater.  Our family had gone to this area several times when we took my wife's mother to see her sister. Our original plans were to spend another week on the beautiful gulf coast of Alabama with my parents as well as my wife's mom, but my parents couldn't come. Since we hadn't been down to Madeira beach for couple of years, and we hadn't made reservations yet, we rearranged our plans to fly down and visit the Left Coast of Florida. My wife managed a wonderful deal on a two bedroom Condo that was directly on the beach and we procured airfare from Southwest airlines. and we were ready to go.

Obtaining a place to stay at a reasonable rate is sometimes a challenge. But sometimes waiting to the last minute does pay off.  On this occasion we were lucky to find a place on the beach for about half of what we would have paid for a condo in Gulf Shores for this time of year.  Now the only trick was finding airfare.  We had found airfare that would take all three of us down to the beach for a little more than $1000.00. We thought that this wasn't bad.  The times for travel were not the best as we would have had to leave pretty early and there was a stop both going down and coming back.  Ever since we got stuck in Dulles airport over night one time, I've been a little nervous about flying back from the Tampa area with any stops along the way. Personally, while others in our group accepted the overnight in a strange airport as part of the adventure, I thought the whole thing a nightmare and perhaps the worst traveling experience I had ever had. We found a non stop flight from south west for a few hundred dollars more.  At the end of the day, our desire to avoid a stop on the way home overcame the amount of money extra the flight cost.  Also the flight times were much more reasonable.   We purchased early check in as well.  To be honest however, the flights were so empty that we really didn't need to buy the early check in feature,  but had the flight been full, it would have been worth the extra money.  Since we booked our rental car with the flight we got a better deal on that as well.

The morning of our trip arrived and Saturday came with all the anticipation that comes with a new vacation. We finished the last minute packing and drove off to pick up my wife's mom. Then we jumped onto I 70 and made our way to the airport, arriving about two hours ahead of when our flight would leave.  As a side note to flying,  I try to make it a point to be at the airport early for several reasons.  I never know what the security line is going to be like when I go to the gate area of the airport.  I 70 traffic can be really bad, especially during road construction season. And finally, I want to leave plenty of time for any unanticipated issues that could come up.   Airports are not too bad and the new terminal at the Indy airport is especially nice.  The old terminal was easy to access and arrivals and departures were simple.  Fortunately the new terminal is just as easy to access and is nicer for more extended layovers if necessary.  Our arrival at the airport went off with out an hitch and we were soon through security and at the southwest gate. We did a quick reconnoiter of the area to find where we could have a little lunch/breakfast. By this time it was almost to late for breakfast but a little too early for lunch.  We settled on the Champs sports bar that was close to the airport gate.  The food there was typical for the food you get at an Airport sports bar and not really worth mentioning that much.  After lunch, we had a couple of hours to kill before we boarded the plane.  I spent my time reading a great new fantasy series my wife had ferreted out for me at the public library, so the time went quickly. In what seemed like no time at all to me we were lining up to get aboard the Southwest 737 that was destined to take us to Tampa We boarding the plane and being pushed off from the gate.  We were on our way to the left coast of Florida.

The flight was not full at all.  Everyone might have been able to have a row to them selves.  Of course many people wanted to sit close to family and my wife and her mother took advantage of the flight to sit in the same row and chat.  I took a row to my self and spread out for the relaxing 2 and 1/2 hour flight to Tampa.  When was the last time you could describe a flight as relaxing?  With all the room I needed to stretch out and the wonderful book I had to read I could feel my vacation had already begun right there on the aircraft.  Except for the fact that we were uncrowded, the flight was completely uneventful and we flew in to the Tampa airport a little a head of schedule. After recovering our luggage, our first order of business was to get our rental car.  Dollar Rental Car ended up having the cheapest price for the time we wanted to stay when we booked vacation and after a little confusion we found our way to the correct rental car counter.   We added my wife to the agreement which allowed us to upgrade to a nicer vehicle, ending up with a Jeep Liberty.  I was kind of grateful that we did upgrade because the Liberty was similar to our Kia Sorento that we drive at home.  The Jeep had a similar driver position and handling was very close to the Sorento.  It was, of course, a bit smaller but we were comfortable in the car.  We spent a good portion of our vacation in the car going to restaurants and other locations in the St. Petersburg area so a comfortable and familiar ride was very important to us.

We climbed into our Jeep, loaded up our luggage and made for the Gulf coast of Florida.  Our family has stayed up and down the St. Pete/Clearwater area.  My wife once stayed in Clearwater beach with her mom and my daughter.  We have stayed in Indian Rocks Beach and Readington beach.  Many years ago I stayed at Treasure Island in the Thunderbird hotel with my high school graduating class.  The area is not unfamiliar to us.  This trip were were staying in Madeira Beach about  2/3's of a mile north of John's Pass.  In the past we have stayed in the last condo right next to the pass which we thoroughly enjoyed.  This time we stayed a bit further north in a condo for which my wife was able to obtain a fantastic price. After a quick visit to the rental agency we checked into our beautiful condo.  The layout of our condo was a little unusual.  Most of the time the master bedroom is off the living room and has a view of the beach, at least along the Alabama gulf coast that was how most of the condos were arranged.  This two bedroom condo had both bedrooms at the back of the unit.  I really didn't mind because we only use the view when we were awake anyway.  I didn't need to see the gulf to sleep.  I did however want to see it all the time I was awake.  Another unexpected and maybe just a little more unwelcome surprise was that the unit didn't have a washer and dryer.  I like to pack light when I go on vacation.  Throwing a few things in a washer and drying them while we were asleep at night was not an issue for us and we had packed thinking that we would do some washing while we were down there.  We overcame this minor obstacle by purchasing a few more things to tide us over.  T-shirt are cheap in the area and made a good souvenir.  Otherwise the little condo was charming and comfortable. We were treated to a great view of the Gulf and getting in and out of the place was easy.  We were on the first floor so we used the stairs that were just a few paces away from the door to the condo.  Quick escapes were easy.

Johns Pass

Best grouper around.. Boardwalk Grill.

One thing i can confidently say is that we ate well.  Wonderful restaurants are all over the coastal area of St. Peter/Clearwater.  Really good seafood can be found everywhere and we went searching for it. Our first stop was at an old Reliable location where we go each time we visit the Madeira Beach area.  North of Madeira Beach is a restaurant named The Conch Republic.  The stand out dishes for me were the Conch Chowder and the fish spread.  Both of these items are on the appetizer menu.  My wife had Mussels Diablo which are a spicy version of the Mussel dish we have come to love.  All of these dishes were tasty.  The Chowder is a spicy concoction that has potatoes, conch and other delightful ingredients.  The fish spread was probably the most unusual of the dishes.  The fish was lightly smoked and very tasty. think of a crab spread using fish.  For my entree I had a paella  that was good but I had better things to eat while I was down there.  We found our favorite place the next day.  At Johns Pass on the board walk adjacent to the dock there is a small out of the way grill that we found.  Bonnie used an online review tool to find this little gem.  The name of the place is the Boardwalk Grill.  The west coast of  Florida prides itself is the quality of the Grouper and the Boardwalk grill serves the best Grouper Sandwich I have ever had.  they served  me a huge hunk of perfectly cooked fish that is spiced just the way I liked it. The portion size was so big that the parts the fell off the sandwich were bigger than some whole sandwiches I have eaten.  I had my fish Cajun style.  The fish isn't blackened like you would think when you hear Cajun but the fish was grilled with Cayenne pepper and other spices that gave the grouper a little heat without hiding the delicious flavor of the fresh fish filet. We returned to the restaurant thee times on our trip.  My wife had a delicious lobster roll.  The lobster roll was the dish that originally attracted my wife to this place and was billed as one of the best around, bar none, including those on the east coast.  I don't want to get into a war over who has the best Lobster roll.  I've not had one from New England to compare the roll I had at the Boardwalk grill against.  All I can say is the lobster roll we had at the Boardwalk grill was wonderful.  The lobster was fresh and perfectly dressed with just the right amount of dressing to enhance and not cover the lobster.  The roll itself was stuffed with a bit pile of lobster.  My total tally for the trip was Two Grouper Sandwiches and One Lobster Roll at the Boardwalk grill.  Wonderful wonderful stuff. The other restaurants we visited while down there were almost all excellent. My favorite dishes were the Grilled Octopus and Keagans and the Grouper Tamales that were served by Frenchy's in Clearwater.  We ate the grouper Tamales which surprised us how good they were as an appetizer and I had a delicious ceviche at Frenchy's as my Entree.  Frenchy's has several locations throughout the Clearwater area.

Grouper Tamales... Who Knew?

There is more than great food on the Left Coast of Florida.   The beach there is beautiful and full of wild life.  Each morning my wife and I would take a long walks along the beach.  We were always treated with a large variety of seabirds.  Seagulls were always around.  Sand pipers ran in the surf just in front of us looking for little crabs or clams they could eat.  The birds were fun to watch as they poked their long thin bills in the sand in search of a meal.  Squadrons of pelicans would cruise over head.  Sometimes the pelicans would dive into the water trying to catch a meal. My wife and I are very fond of these beautiful birds and they always add to the richness of our beach excursions.  Almost every day in the morning, men trying to catch fish with rods and reels either in the gulf itself or on beach very close to the surf.  I don't know if they had much luck but sometimes fishing isn't completely about catching fish.  I find there is something relaxing when you have a pole in the water weather you catch fish or not.  Inevitably a large blue heron accompanied the fishermen. The bird would wait on shore to see if he could steal either the fisherman's catch or his bait.  Sometimes I think the fishermen would give the fish he didn't want to keep to the herons.  These big wading birds could be seen  stalking through the surf looking for fish without the fishermen as well.  One morning, while we were enjoying our beach stroll we looked out over the surf and saw a pod of dolphins not 100 yards off the beach.  These beautiful animals were looking for breakfast.  I saw fish jump from the gulf ahead of them making me think they were building a bait ball as they sometimes do.  I really enjoyed being so close to such smart and beautiful animals.

Some afternoons after the sun had gone past peak, my wife and I would go for a dip in the gulf.  The surf was not high so our usual bout of body surfing was impossible. However the fact we couldn't fling ourselves in front of crashing waves didn't lessen our enjoyment of the water.  The warm Gulf waters were just the ticket to draw the stresses of everyday life from us.  The first day we arrived, we jumped into our suits and splashed our way into the gulf. Immediately I could feel the warm waters relax me and make the cares of work flow away.  Watching the turns dive into the gulf looking for fish became one of our favorite pass times while we let the gentle waves do their work on our bodies.  Sometimes they dove and caught themselves one of the little fish that seemed to be teaming by the thousands in the sallow waters near the beach.  More often they would come up empty.  that didn't deter them from trying again and many times we saw the turns fly over with fish in their beaks.   The bombardment of the turns was constant and relentless but the little fish were evasive and most of the time escaped the attack of the turns.  The waters of the Gulf were very clear and you could see to the bottom almost the whole time we were in the water.  Sometimes when there were storms at sea sand and stuff would get churned up in the waters but most of the time we could see all the way to the bottom.  Once, while we were walking just beyond the break of the surf, we saw a young sting ray swim away.  He couldn't have been more that 3 feet from us.  He would swim a bit away then try to bury himself in the sand.  We saw other stingrays swimming away from us sometimes which we really loved. One ray actually jumped form the water into the air splashing down about 5 to 10 yard away from us.   Form the most part, Rays that live near the coast are pretty docile and will only sting you if you actually step down on them. If they hear or feel you coming the will just swim out of your way. Off the cost of the Grand Caymens you can take expeditions out to Stingray city where these creatures swim up to people looking for a hand out.  While I have been on one of those excursions, I really don't approve of giving food to wild animals in order to create a tourist attraction.  The rays that I have encountered at the Clearwater Aquarium and Discovery Cove in Orlando have always been friendly,  even the bigger rays that curse outside the stingray encounter areas of Discovery Cove. Our policy was to shuffle our feet on the ocean bottom letting all the creatures that live there know we were on our way.  My encounters with sting rays have always been rewarding and amazing.

Sea turtle nests were all over the Beach.

Besides all the fish and rays and birds in or near the water, a large number of sea turtle nests were scattered across the beach.  According to the people at the Clearwater Aquarium over 280 sea turtles have made their nest on the beaches between Clearwater and the tip of St. Pete.  The number of turtle nests is close to a record. The staff at the aquarium are not saying that the program that has been in place for over a decade has been showing results, however they are hopeful that turtles are returning to the beaches in the area because a greater number of baby turtles are making it to gulf and some of these turtles are returning to nest on the beach.  Every night the aquarium patrols the beach looking for the telltale signs of a mama turtle that has created a nest during the night.  The marks that a sea turtle make on the beach are pretty distinctive and the aquarium staff members mark the site with policeman's tape, for want of a better description, along with a tag that identifies the nest and when it was discovered.   If the nest is high on the beach near the condominiums that line the shore, 45 days after the nest was laid, workers will put wire cages over the nest to prevent the baby turtles from going toward the lights of the condos.  They will even dig a trench that will guide the turtles to the gulf.  New born sea turtles will go toward bright light rather than the gulf if they have a choice, so the condos along the beach are required to reduce the amount of light coming form beach front common areas.  The condo we were staying reduced its lights significantly at night.  The reduction of illumination prevented people staying at our condo from using the pool at night.  Florida law requires and certain amount of light in the pool area and during nesting season, the management of the condo cannot provide that much light at night.  I think more sea turtles in the world is much more important than any night time dip I might want to take.

Winter and her new tail

In addition to their work with sea turtles, many of my readers might remember that the Clearwater Aquarium was featured in the movie Dolphin Tale. This movie tells the story, most of it true, of a Dolphin named Winter that was caught in a crab trap line. Eventually the lack of blood flowcaused her flukes to die and fall off leaving her with out a tail.  Winter received a prosthetic tail that allows her to swim in a more normal fashion.  The engineering behind the prosthetic was fascinating but the real break through for winter and for people was Winters Gell, a prosthetic sleeve that allowed Winter to tolerate the tail and has allowed people to use their prosthesis longer with less pain.  Winter has touched the lives of many people with artificial limbs and given hope and encouragement to a large number of folks that had none before. Now Winter has a young companion named Hope.  Hope was rescued  very near where Winter was rescued.  Hope's mother had died and she was an orphan.  The chances for survival of a orphaned dolphin, just a couple months old, were very low, so Hope was taken to the Clearwater Aquarium to be raised.  Hope is too used to people now and has missed out on the training her parents would have given her to survive in the wild, so Hope will have to remain at the aquarium for her whole life.  Both Dolphins are beautiful animals and the inspirational work of the Clearwater Aquarium, whether its with their rescue work with dolphins,  or recueing injured sea turtles nests, or caring for an otter who has lost the usage of its back limbs, or with the work they do to preserver the population of Sea turtles on the shores of gulf make it one of my favorite places to visit. The Clearwater Aquarium is a great place and deserves all the good attention it gets.

Amazingly beautiful

Boats and Globes

Forests of Glass

Having seen programs about Dale Chihuly on PBS, my wife and I jumped on the opportunity to see some of his work in person.  For the most part, Dale works collabritivly with his staff.  He leads them to his vision and works with them to create the amazing displays of aritistic glass that are his hallmark.  Fortunately for us,  across St. Petersburg from Madeira beach, close to Tampa bay, Dale has a display of his work at the Chihuly Collection gallery in downtown St. Petersburg.  The displays were beautiful.  Chihuly is a master of luminescence.  The only way for his art to work is to have a deep understanding of the interplay between light and glass.  Dale clearly has mastered this.  His work seems to grow from the environment that is is placed.  Trees of  glass and light,  chandeliers of delicate color and structure and beautiful plates and globes adorn all the rooms with such amazing beauty that it can take the breath away.  We took a few pictures but they don't really do the art justice.  The Vibrant colors and wonderful shapes should be experienced in person.  We purchased the option to go to a glass blowing demonstration, located close to eh Chihuly Gallery.  After traveling a few blocks from the gallery, we arrived at the glass studio.  Two Artists began the process of producing one of the plates that were very reminiscent of what Dale Chihuly create.  With Skill and a few extra shards of glass they produced a beautiful work of art from melted sand.  The steps involved were complex and would be fun to learn if I ever had the chance.  though i know i couldn't produce such wonderful pieces of art that these people did.  There is a demonstration class offered where visitors can make a paperweight that might be fun to do. Perhaps next time we go we will participate.

Islands of Adventure Theme park Map.

Besides the art, the food and the fun in the Gulf, we spent one day at Universal Studio's Island of Adventure. You already know that I like Theme parks form my blogs about Disney.  And inevitably a big Disney fan like myself is going to draw comparisons between Universal Studios and Disney.  The difference, in mind is, is the experience each company is trying to present to the public.   Disney is a much more Comprehensive experience.  Several Consistencies run through out all the theme parks. The people are universally terrific where every you go.  Disney people go out of their way not to break the immersive experience that creates the separate world that you find in all the Disney parks.  Also, No matter where you are in Walt Disney world you know that you are in Disney by the thematic environment.    At universal, The experience is much more disjointed.  Each "land" with a different theme that seemed much more unconnected with the other.  I enjoy the experience of Disney over the experience of Islands of adventure.   Also,  since all can see i'm not a small person,  Disney is much friendlier to bigger people.  The one single thing I was most interested in doing was the Harry Potter attraction.  I went all the way through the line only to be thwarted at the end by a seat that wouldn't close.  The ride was unsafe for me to ride.  I wasn't happy and there wasn't anything that would really pacify my wrath. Of course, I got over my anger soon enough, but I was still very disappointed at the time.  At the risk of Aesop's sour grapes comparison, I will say that when my wife came off the ride she said that she couldn't wait to be off of it.  She is much less prone to vertigo and the ride almost made her sick. Perhaps it was a good thing I didn't fit in the seat. We didn't ride the other coasters at the park even though I think they had seats just for people of my size on the rides. Now, That being said, I have to admit that Island of Adventures has probably the best two rides of their kind any where and the best thrill ride of any kind.

I Love This Attraction!

Island of Adventure has the best Water Raft ride that I have ever been been fortunate enough to ride.  Popeye and Bultos Bildge-Rat Barges is a blast.  The story of the ride is pretty much every Popeye cartoon ever made.  Popeye must rescue Olive from Bluto.  Riders follow his adventures through the town of Sweet Haven,  where Popeye and all the Oyls live.  To be honest, because of all the water jets, falls and fountains we were way to involved in getting soaked to pay attention to much of the story. At every turn riders face the chance of water overflowing into the raft or shot at the riders form jets located all along the sides of the river.  Signs warn you before you enter the ride that you will get wet and may get soaked.  More appropriately the signs should say you will probably get soaked and definitely get wet.  We emerged form the ride laughing and soaked to the bone.  In the hot Florida sun, Clothes dry pretty quickly and we had planned the day so that the water rides would be at the end when we would be going home.  No chaffing for us!

From the North West Territory to Orlando Florida

The second of the "best of their kind" rides in Island of adventure is Dudley Do-Rights Ripsaw Falls.   Many people my age will remember Dudley Do-right of the Mounted Canadian Police.  Jay Ward created many iconic 60's and 70's cartoons that were more than just children's entertainment.   Jay put a ton of political commentary in his cartoons.  Who can Forget Boris and Natasha who were spies from Pottsylvania.  Amazingly their Fearless Leader looked like a gestapo agent and all of Rocky and Bullwinkle's enemies  had Russian accents.   Dudley Do-right was another of those almost Archetypical characters.  Dudley was bold and brave and faithful to a fault. Unfortunately his horse was smarter than he was. His commander was clueless and the Arch Villain of the cartoon, Syndley Whiplash, wasn't much smarter than Dudley.  Anyway, Snydley was always capturing Nell Fenwick,  Dudleys love interest and daughter of Dudley's commander, and putting her in danger.  By shear luck Snydley would be foiled and Dudley would save the day.  Now you know the story behind the ride and the story behind nearly all the Dudley Do-right Cartoons.  What makes this ride special is how well the Characters are brought to life along with the thrill of the log flume itself. While not quite as intensely soaking as the Bildge-Rat ride, there were plenty of opportunities to get wet and the scenes that riders pass along the way are charming and well animated. Once again the rider should beware and know that they will get wet and probably soaked by the obligatory plunge at the end of the ride.  

The Best thrill Ride of 'em all.

The best thrill ride of any kind found anywhere as far as i can tell is the Spiderman ride at Islands of Adventure.  This Adventure is part 3D movie,  part roller coaster, part animatronic experience and always full of surprises that immerse visitors completely in the experience of a night out with Spidey.  Most of the codex villains are on hand to give you and your arachnid companion thrills and close calls.  Real fire and water are used to heighten the excitement as you go through the ride.  To be honest, the excitement of this ride is so intense that I would be hard pressed to tell you the back story.  All along the ride uses the Illusion of danger while keeping you perfectly safe.  Your head knows that everything is fine and that you are in a ride, but your eyes and your heart tell you that you are flying through the air or about to be burned to a crisp.  The effects are amazing.  The animation is also very realistic.  The use of 3D is great and puts the rider right in the middle of the action.  I love this ride.  Sure,  you don't get the loops and negative g's of a coaster.  But you do get the amazing effects, wonderful graphics and a near perfect thrill ride experience.  To me, This ride alone is worth the cost of the park and greatly makes up for the unintentional unfriendliness to people of larger size.

Islands of Adventures had a number of attractions that are worthy of mention.  The last time we went to Islands of Adventure, the Jurassic park ride was closed for refurb or repair.  This time however, We were able to go on the attraction.  It was fun but not of the same caliber as other rides in the park.   Jurassic Park is another ride that ends with a plunge into water at the end.  The plunge was kind of thrilling but after we had already done Dudley Do-right's Ripsaw Falls, we found the plunge a bit tame.  There were some parts that were exciting.  A huge box appears to be about to fall on the riders as they go past.  That got our attention.  and the Dinosaur Animatronics were fun but, to be honest,  Disney has the art of Animatronics down.  If you are a Dr. Seuss fan, like my wife and myself, Seuss landing is always worth a stop.  Those that don't care for Seuss will find the rides there a bit lame. However, we quite enjoyed the Cat in the Hat ride on the sofa and the Trolley ride above Seuss landing.   We also rode the Flight of the Hippogriff coaster in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  We didn't do the re-purposed double dragons coaster however.  The Flight of the Hippogriff was short and good for pre-teen riders. As for me, I thought it a bit lame.   All in all we enjoyed our day at Islands of Adventure and will go back there again sometime in the future.

We ate and watched and played and rode our way through our vacation on the West coast of Florida.  The seafood is so fresh and the beach and water are warm and inviting. We had a great time downtown at the Chihuly exhibition and watching the glass blowing.  My wife and I had a fantastic day in Orlando and at the Islands of Adventure.  We topped that day in Orlando off with a meal at Emril's restaurant in Citywalk.  the food there was amazing and might have been one of the best we had.  I loved the banana cream pie I split with my wife.  Defiantly i can see more trips to this area in the future, especially at the end of august when the crowds are non-existent. Think I'll start packing my bags now.