After the first half of the trip to Disneyworld, we headed towards the Gulf Coast and Clearwater Beach. While driving out there, just after we passed downtown Tampa, we saw a restaurant on the bay called Whiskey Joe's. Sounds a little corny but it was actually really neat! (It's about 15 minutes before you get to Clearwater and we were too hungry to wait until we got out there). First, we ate up on a deck above the bay. Avery loved searching for worms in her "dirt and worms" dessert item:
The fish tacos are yummy there, and they have two dollar beers too! Then, they have a separate area called the Barefoot Bar. It's got covered cabanas
And you can play corn hole
Avery was really good at it
There is also a really shallow beach there that goes way out into the bay, and Avery met a friend there
The water on Tampa Bay was even warmer than the ocean and very comfortable, even for February!
We had a few beverages and then we drove out to Clearwater. Wow what a great beach there, we were impressed! Our hotel was pretty cheap, called the Beach View Inn,
and on the outside looked a dive compared to the 20 story new Hyatt next door
But our room's view was perfect
And we even had a little balcony too
On the other side was we could see Clearwater Bay
The sand on the beach was perfect...very white and fine like sugar or flour. They have cabanas you can rent for $20 all day too
We ate a few restaurants with ocean views, one of the best was called Jimmy's Crow's Nest, about 15 stories up on top of a hotel
The photos don't do justice of course, but it felt really high up
On Friday Avery and momma did yoga on the beach
And Avery enjoyed walking in the warm gulf water and playing in the sand
During a break that Avery wanted (she loved saying "let's go the hotel room mommy and daddy), she enjoyed a key lime pie on a stick...yummy!
We enjoyed spectacular sunsets from our balcony
Friday evening we went to downtown Tampa to the convention center for a race expo for the next day's 15k race that was part of the Publix Gasperilla Race Weekend we were running. (They had a 5k, 8k, 15k, and half marathon, but we were going to fly out before the half marathon Sunday so we chose the 15k-about 9.4 miles).
The next morning, Saturday, we work up early and left Avery with Grandma. The 15k started at 6:45am so we had to leave long before Avery woke up. For more on the race, you can see Colleen's post here from her Live Free and Run blog. It was a bit of a disappointment. Even though the course was along the bay, it wasn't laid out too well, and it was highly disorganized for such a huge event. Tampa was experiencing above average temperatures in the upper 80s, and even with the early start it was a very hot race. The race started in the dark, here's Colleen ready to go:
Here's Jim very sweaty after the race.
We both said even though Florida has great vacation and beach weather, we could never live there because you never get a break from the heat and humidity at all...there is no good "racing season" with high temps in the 50s and 60s. Then we drove back to Clearwater, checked out of the hotel, and spent the rest of the day back at Whiskey Joe's. It's close to the airport so we could maximize our time on the sand until right before our flight. There was a kid's birthday party there, and before it started Avery got to use their bounce house!
Jim had one last Pina Collada before heading out
Colleen and Avery dipped their toes in the warm water one more time
and Colleen and her mom had one more laugh at the bar
At the airport Avery enjoyed their kid's play area. Here she is flying like a plane on top of a plane
On the plane, we were lucky to have TVs. Perfect for flying with kids
Our plan was that Grandma Woods was flying with us to DC on Saturday night, and then fly back to Manchester, NH on Sunday night. However, we saw the New Hampshire forecast showed lots of snow for Sunday
But DC was supposed to be 50s. So she pushed her DC-NH ticket back until Wednesday and got to spend more time with all of us!
It was sad to end the vacation, but it was nice to be home and sleep in our own beds, and eat some homemade food though! After we got back, we picked up Kylie who was happy to see us
And Jim ran another race that is part of our winter race series here in DC. 24 hours after running the 15k in Tampa he ran the 10-Mile Club Challenge in Columbia, MD. Here he is after finishing much more refreshed in the 50-degree crisp weather
Also, Avery played a little Tee-Ball and hop scotch in the backyard
During the next few days, Grandma Woods and Avery got to spend some quality time together
The extended stay was a nice surprise at the end of the trip, and Colleen's mom surely enjoyed not having to shovel 12" of snow!
No comments:
Post a Comment