We made our way up the Gulf Coast slowly staying at Ft. Myers for a few days over Christmas and then up to Tarpon Springs to finish out 2024. We loved the Cypress Tree RV park in Ft Myers with a beautiful pool and hot tub, pickle ball courts and great walking trails. We found a bowling alley to keep up the Christmas Eve tradition and drove up to Venice one day to catch up with Cynthia and Frank Bioteau in their home.
Then it was up to Clearwater/Lake Tarpon KOA to set up camp and cruise around Dunedin and St. Petersburg. The Sunshine Skyway Bridge going into Tampa Bay was so fun….huge yellow steel rays in two peaks spanning the beautiful waterway! We loved both Dunedin and St. Pete….Dunedin is quaint, great shops, fun breweries and an amazing bike path that goes miles. We walked the town, stopped for lunch and to listen to some live music and ventured over to Honeymoon Island to see the views from there.
I went on a kayak tour through Shell Key and then met Tim in St. Petersburg where we found a fabulous rooftop bar (The Birchwood Canopy) and then wandered out the St. Petersburg pier. The kayak tour was about a 3 hour adventure across a small bay/preserve and through several mangrove tunnels to a sandbar on the Gulf of Mexico. We saw tons of wildlife…the cormorants diving into the water right by us to chase fish, white pelicans, a yellow crowned night heron, a stingray, a sea hare and several different mollusks. There were even two bonnethead sharks that our guide pointed out, but that I wasn’t able to find in the water. It was a calm, peaceful tour with a quick dip in the Gulf.
St. Pete’s downtown and pier area was AMAZING. Highly recommend. It is a beautiful park area with a great pier designed as fun, free, open space for families to play. It has a Putt on the Pier course, musicians playing, Adirondack chairs for chilling and several restaurants to choose from. We were there on a Monday night and it was so lively and fun. Everyone was out, skating, dancing, playing, fishing, etc…and the views from the end of the pier were gorgeous! I was so taken by the town and the way it drew folks in to experience fun and build community…for free. Tons to do without costing a fortune….would definitely like to go back to both towns for a bit longer to dive into them with more time! It helped that we were there during the holidays so all the trees were decorated and it was seriously festive.
Now we are heading up to the panhandle for a few days to check out two Florida State Parks right on the Gulf and then heading to Gulf Shores AL.
Here’s to a fabulous 2025…..Happy New Year!!!