A Surprise birthday trip! - Day 3 - NYE

[pho3nix]

Day 3 - St Pete Beach

31st Dec 2021

Todays is New Years Eve! I was really looking forward to this today - beach chills, food, drinks and fireworks!

We had already decided not to go to the party at our hotel tonight as we wanted to avoid catching Covid as much as possible as we were really looking forward to the Universal part of the holiday and didn't want to ruin this being ill!

I woke up at 4am this morning again with no chance of getting back to sleep - we had plans to go to Bongos for breakfast but this didn't open for a good few hour yet so I had a couple of oatmeal raisin cookies to tide me over.
Spent some time reading and then got up and ready for 8;15, heading out for Bonogos for 8:30 when it opened.

I had an omelette with cheese, sausage and pico de gallo - this was good but I didn't realise until half way through that there was no pico de gallo! The omelette came with breakfast potatoes and toast (I chose wheat) and I also ordered a coffee. Good food, good coffee, good company and amazing location - what beats breakfast with toes in the sand! After a not fantastic couple of days, this one was starting out perfectly!

We walked back along the road, popping in and out of the souvenir shops and the 7-11 for some water.
Back to the room, changed and heading to the beach - I had been waiting for this moment since we booked! We paid $30 for two front row loungers with an umbrella (middle row, no umbrella was free). We literally camped out here for the rest of the day- spent our time between sunbathing, swimming and just relaxing.

The sea was not quite as warm as I had hoped! and OMG the fog! It rolled in so quickly, and so thickly and then out again, it was such a strange experience.

After breakfast at Bongos we weren't hungry for lunch but decided to have an early dinner instead. We left the beach at about 3pm to go and get ready. We were hoping to eat at Snappers as I had seen really great reviews online but unfortunately on the website it had said that they don't take bookings and I had read that it could get busy so we decided to go early.

We walked down to Snappers along the road from the Postcard Inn and arrived just before 4pm when it opened. We waited outside and there was just one family to be seated before us. We did have a look at the menu while waiting and it looked great - it was a set menu all evening. From 4pm to 5:30pm it was $40 for 4 courses and the $80 for 5 courses from 5:30pm - I was glad were heading out earlier- 4 courses is more than enough for me and I just couldn't justify double the price for one more course!

The host did ask us if we had a reservation and said this was the one night that they do take bookings - interesting to know as I didn't see that online!

We were shown to our table where we had hats/beads etc.

Our waitress was fantastic - we decided as it was NYE we would order a bottle of fizz and she suggested one too us, which wasn't the most expensive but was an American one and it was so good!

First course we both ordered the lobster bisque- omg this was amazing! Plenty of large chunks of lobster and tasted great!

I think the second course should have been salad but this didn't arrive and to be honest we weren't to bothered so didn't say anything. For our main courses I had the lobster crusted grouper which was served with mash and béarnaise sauce and this was absolutely beautiful.

Sophie ordered the steak tips topped with shrimp and crab meat and served with a potato/pastry roll type thing - she said this was also amazing, completely not what she expected as this was two good sized fillet steaks which were cooked to perfection (sorry no photo!)

For dessert we both had the oreo crusted key lime pie - beautiful but I was so full I left half. I really should have asked for the rest to take away with me!

By this point I wasn't feeling 100% again and just wanted to get back to the room which was such as shame as the dinner had been amazing! We quickly walked back to the room and settled in for a little while.

The fireworks on the beach were at 8pm which seemed a bit odd - but as I wasn't feeling so great it worked well for me. We decided at 7:45pm that we would head out for the fireworks, unfortunately it was still foggy!

We settled down on the beach and had such an interesting experience of fireworks in the fog!

Back to the room and our NYE ended at about 9pm when I went to sleep!

Hoping to feel better tomorrow for our drive to Orlando and a day at Disney Springs...

[Posiesmum]

Great report, we are in Florida next NYE so loads of great ideas! Loving your pictures too. Last time we were in Florida for NYE I didn’t last beyond 9pm either. Husband had to watch the ball drop on TV on his own.

Intrigued by the fog - I think it’s the same phenomenon we get on the East Coast of Scotland - haar!
It happens when the sea is cooler than the air, and as you’ve said it rolls in and out quite quickly. Never expected to see it on the Gulf coast though.

[pho3nix]

Originally Posted by Posiesmum

Great report, we are in Florida next NYE so loads of great ideas! Loving your pictures too. Last time we were in Florida for NYE I didn’t last beyond 9pm either. Husband had to watch the ball drop on TV on his own.

Intrigued by the fog - I think it’s the same phenomenon we get on the East Coast of Scotland - haar!
It happens when the sea is cooler than the air, and as you’ve said it rolls in and out quite quickly. Never expected to see it on the Gulf coast though.

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Ah amazing! you will have the best time - do you have any plans?
I was so disappointed to go to bed so early but at least I managed to "see" the fireworks!

Yes the fog was so odd. Makes sense with what you said about the sea - it was pretty chilly although the general temperature was so hot!

[Posiesmum]

Originally Posted by pho3nix

Ah amazing! you will have the best time - do you have any plans?
I was so disappointed to go to bed so early but at least I managed to "see" the fireworks!

Yes the fog was so odd. Makes sense with what you said about the sea - it was pretty chilly although the general temperature was so hot!

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Not too much planned, it’s our first full day. Booked Cirque at Disney Springs, 5pm show. Hope to eat somewhere there beforehand. Then probably back to the hotel for midnight - if I last that long!