Category: Happy Surprises

We were desperately in need of a vacation – the goal was somewhere warm, beachy and fun – so the Sunshine state immediately came to mind (with the help of Karen, our travel agent).

We couldn’t of timed it better – we departed from Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, CT on a rainy, dreary Sunday morning in mid-May at 720am and arrived to sunny Tampa International Airport in Tampa, Florida less than 3 hours later.

Our destination was the Sirata Beach Resort in Clearwater, Florida a half hour from TIA airport (but it took our shuttle service over an hour and a half to get there due to heavy traffic and multiple drop-offs).

It was worth the long wait when we saw that the resort (although not as new as the promotional video pictured it) was nonetheless cute and quaint (smile).

After we checked into our City View (as opposed to Ocean View) suite at Sirata Beach Resort, we headed out the door for some much needed grub and a walk on St. Pete’s Beach.

Our first stop at the resort for grub was Harry’s Beach Bar because we were starving and because it was literally right in front of us (smile).   The food at Harry’s was okay, nothing to write home about, but the peek-a-boo views of the pool and the beach were inviting…

After lunch we went for a long walk on St. Pete’s Beach, touted as the number 1 beach in the U.S.   The breathtaking beauty of this beach reminded me of vacationing in the Caribbean- – white sand, baby blue water and lots of big waves.

While walking the beach we could not help but notice how it was sectioned off by   resorts in that each individual resort (over the 13 acres of premier beachfront!) had it’s own matching cabanas, beach loungers, chairs and umbrellas perfectly lined up on their own property.   Sirata Beach Resort property provided 2 complimentary beach loungers per room per day to their guests.  If you wanted front row access (prime real estate) you had to head to the beach by 8am and pay the the attendant $20 for a Sirata Beach umbrella.  This reservation ensured that your beach loungers and umbrella would be placed in the front row and that no one could move into your spot for the entire day.  Nor could anyone park in front of you.   We made front row reservations every day over the next 4 days (smile).

Sirata Beach Resort is a lot of things  but it is not all-inclusive.  However there are  a total of 4 restaurants at the resort which are all decent.  One of our favorite casual dining restaurants on the resort was Rum Runners Bar and Grill which also featured live music in the evenings.

And since Sirata Beach Resort is situated on Gulf Boulevard, there are a ton of good restaurant choices – most within walking distance.   We discovered a really good seafood restaurant called Crabby Bills 5 minutes from our resort a few days before we departed.   It was sooooo good we ate there two days in a row (smile).

As far as night life, we stumbled upon a beautiful hotel while walking along Gulf Boulevard during the day.   It had a rooftop deck for drinks and apps and a fine dining restaurant below called Spinners (it literally spun while you dined).  This hotel was called the Grand Plaza Hotel.   We went there that same evening and sat outside on the rooftop deck for drinks and apps.

While reading about daily activities at the resort I saw that there was a free service called Beach Rides.  These vans provide free local rides to resort guests but ask that you leave a tip since this is how they make their living.  We called Beach Rides to take us to another local beach called Madeira Beach on our 3rd day.   We chose Madeira as were interested in seeing the marina, stopping in the boardwalk shops and taking a dolphin watch tour.

Our dolphin watch tour was for 1.5 hours and we found it was a quick and easy way to learn about the residents who lived around the bay as well as information about dolphin life.   There were a lot of dolphins out that afternoon and we even saw a baby dolphin that the Captain told us had just been born 24 hours ago!

Afterwards we ate outdoors at The Hut Bar and Grill while we watched lots of other tours and boat activity.

The following day we were back at our resort.  Oh, I forgot to mention that every night during the week the resort offered free drinks at the tiki bar from 730pm to 8pm.   You had your choice of beer, wine or rum punch.   It was here that we met a nice couple that happened to be Clearwater locals.  They were telling us where to go in the short time we had remaining on our trip.

What stuck in my mind was when this couple told us about going to downtown St. Petersburg at night.  From the way they described it, it sounded like our kind of town so we took their advice and caught a Beach Rides van to St. Petersburg, FL (15 minutes from Clearwater).  We paid a flat fee of $25.00 since it was out of the beach zone and enjoyed seeing the following:

We loved our time in St. Petersburg and will definately plan on heading back  when we have more time (smile).

Our final day at the resort was spent packing up, spending time on the beach for a last walk and eating out at Crabby Bills.  Here is a picture of Clearwater from the balcony of our City View suite: