Bel13ve- Day Three, Clearwater here we come!

[walt4it]

Bel13ve, In the magic! OR ...and Bruce came too


Trip Index


Previously @ Discovery Cove!


Apologies for wait for this one! I had invested an hour and a bit into first version and then computer outage resulted in a lot of bad language and a general overall sulk!
Plus too much work and not enough play

Ok you are now
Day 3

In writing this I can not only apologise for lack of TR activity for too long but also aware that for how great a stay we had at a really good place - we failed to take any photos!
Except this one



As I was messing with camera settings

Anyway - DAY 3

We woke up early - as was expected so early in the holiday.
Coffe and a pastry in the hotel shop saw us readily on our way. We were so early that we knew we knew that we need to slow the day a little as we could arrive in Clearwater without a room to dump our things in.

We did something that I always swore I would NEVER do...

We packed up the car and stopped at Premium Outlets

Having read a few trip reports when people had noticed that cars had been 'done' at a variety of places in Orlando( it is a rare event but even on holiday never let your guard down, has been the usual advice - leaving all your luggage in the back of a parked car has never been high on my agenda nor on the advice given on all those trip reports I had read)

My only saving grace was that the hire car - with the Virginia plate
(that was still causing some ,or was that mighty, amusement in the pronunciation stakes - the Joy of Phonics! Made even worse as they actually sounded American when saying the word)

... the car had a roll back parcel shelf, now these are a close to historic relics in any hire car I have ever been in, so was glad that at least nobody could see we had the family jewels, four bags and so many electronics we could have actually opened one of those stalls they have at premium!

Where am I going with this...

Well half way round Premium we found that the TAG watch shop had been busted - have looked repeatedly at many Orlando news sources and still to find what had happened and never found an answer - but a worthy reminder that, even on holiday, things we know happen at home still go on.
We headed back to the car and headed West.

Journey to Clearwater Beach was a simple one, well sign posted yet worth noting if you have an old SAT nav map,as we do, there are a number of upgrades in Tampa - trust the signs not the sat nav!

We arrived here

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and headed straight for the beach!



White warm sand was such a magnificent contrast for us

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which was so exciting as simply a matter of months it was...

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At this moment in the trip I was so clear as to the picture I was taking the sand was so white, it was like the Scarborough snow the warmth was something else- it was amazing.

So where did the body boards come from?

Well within minutes of arriving on the beach an American family who had watched the boys having a laugh in the water simply came across and asked if they would like to have them as they were off home to Atlanta - they did not refuse such a kind offer. Massive thank you exchanged though and they simply thought that the boys would get some fun out of the boards
That fun lasted three hours today and more would follow.

We had a great time and ended only as we realised we had not eaten since a quick Subway stop en-route to Clearwater.
In true beach style we washed , changed and went out for a walk, not knowing where we would end up!
We knew where we wanted to go ... but made that fatal mistake of turning the wrong way on leaving the hotel!

We walked into the main part of Clearwater and it was beautiful - we followed the promenade as far as it was possible and saw a lovely beach front bar, a bar I now know is one of the best in Floida and I now know I would not be able to afford to stay the night!
How do I know, I bought a round of drinks for the family, now flagging after a long afternoon in the sun - the price of a couple of beer and a couple of sprites was laughable!

$27 LOL no I didn't !
At least they had the Baseball on inside and a nice view on the outside and we had the chance to take a few pics!
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Sunset was fast approaching , we needed food but also need to see a beatiful sunset!

[walt4it]

After a walk back to where we started we watched the sunset from our hotel balcony!
Food was then a must - we ended up at a place that has been mentined on the Dibb and Trip Advisor, and to be honest we loved it!
Gondoliers was as good a meal as we had all holiday and the pizza I had was as tasty as I have ever eaten It really was that good - black olives goats cheese and loads more- bliss!



Alison had this ...


...yes a sharp knife in order to ensure my fullest of attention to the food conversation ...



which was about a beautiful flat bread with chicken with greek and italian roots - amazing flavour. I'm never one to try to post pics of food usually because I can never get a decent picture of it/ or it has been finished before I finally remember But this is one meal that we still talk about just for the quality of the food.


As for the boys - they were the centre of attention, by nearly every member of staff - fussed over and given a super pizza. Nothing was too much trouble , the service really was that good along with the food.


It was getting late , we had had a long day and the short walk back to the hotel simply reinforced what a wonderful start to a holiday we had enjoyed. Yesterday and the beach today along with the shock of the hotel beer prices were catching up with us
Anyone for Busch in the morning?


BRUCE song of the day - Seaside bar song - and no it does not mention the price of a pint

Day Four, Clearwater, Busch and anniversary

[joanna23]

The beach looks amazing and it's so nice to read about the boards. Great pizza too!

[Reetser]

Never yet made this trip out to the coast but seeing your pictures and hearing your description along with others I now know this is a must!

I'm also detecting that after DC yesterday and now this stroll along the coast this is really turning out be one of your most memorable trips?!

[walt4it]

Originally Posted by Reetser

Never yet made this trip out to the coast but seeing your pictures and hearing your description along with others I now know this is a must!

I'm also detecting that after DC yesterday and now this stroll along the coast this is really turning out be one of your most memorable trips?!

See more...

It is/was and we have not even got to Disney yet

[vanlou]

how lovely of the American family to give your sons the body boards. Looks like a nice relaxing day.

[mossyflossy]

What a nice family to give your two the boards...gondolier looks good, yikes at leaving your bags in the car, and the price of those drinks though! Which bar was it?

[walt4it]

Originally Posted by vanlou

how lovely of the American family to give your sons the body boards. Looks like a nice relaxing day.

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We were taken aback by their generosity - such a lovely touch and it made such a difference to our time there too.

Originally Posted by mossyflossy

What a nice family to give your two the boards...gondolier looks good, yikes at leaving your bags in the car, and the price of those drinks though! Which bar was it?

See more...

Bags in car

Gondolier was superb ( it may get another mention)

and the bar in question was the beach bar at the Sand Pearl Hotel

Thanks for your lovely comments everyone

[Jacko5]

Sounds like a lovely day. Is that a picture of Pelican Point? If so, how did you find it? We're booked in there in the summer.

Looking forward to reading more

[walt4it]

Originally Posted by Jacko5

Sounds like a lovely day. Is that a picture of Pelican Point? If so, how did you find it? We're booked in there in the summer.

Looking forward to reading more

See more...

Great spot from the picture above More about Pelican Pointe coming in day 4 , hopefully over this weekend.
Found using a random Trip Advisor search