Weekend Beach Getaway
 

Looking for some ideas for a 3 day beach getaway. Nice beach, casual beach bars and restaurants, casual shoppng. Any ideas for beach and hotel

thanks

Lots in Clearwater, *Sarasota and further south on the west coast Fort Myers and in between Englewood Beaches

Try the Bon Aire in St Pete Beach. Nice clean rooms, family owned, great Tiki Bar, and its right on the beach. You can take the trolley to up and down Gulf Hwy. There's a great Italian Restaurant across the street, and its off season so no crowds or traffic.

Have fun Len & Mary

We just got back from Maderia Beach on gulf coast. Stayed at the new Marriott courtyard on the bay...lovely views and great pool. Lots of restaurant's and shops.

Jax Beach is affordable and offers the things you are looking for. The last weekend in October is the Sky and Sea show featuring the Blue Angels. Rooms are pricey for it but nothing beats watching the show from your own balcony.

2015 Sea & Sky Spectacular Air Show Day 1

Anna maria island is the best of all for what you are looking for

We really liked Siesta Key, near Sarasota (about a 2 hour drive) Beautiful white sand beaches and lots of interesting restaurants and nite spots.

Try the Lido Beach Resort in Sarasota. It's a little pricey but on the Gulf, beachfront pool, outdoor bar/restaurant and indoor restaurant. They also have a free shuttle to Armand Circle which is filled with lots of shops and restaurants. I love it there!

I agree that Anna Maria Island has beautiful beaches. We were just there last week for a couple of days and we were practically alone on the beach. I don't find that many restaurants on the island for a fancy dinner but we ate lunch in our room because we were enjoying the beach and pool and in the evening we drove to St. Armand's Circle (tons of gorgeous shops there) for dinner (about 13 mi). Really nice trip. There are lots of cute hotels on the beach on Anna Maria and this time of the year the rates are great. Check out tripadvisor.com and you can read the reviews to take your pick. The shopping is mostly little stores that sell beachy items like shells and sweatshirts. We managed to find just a few higher end shops. Most not walking distance.

Amelia Island ....Marriott Residence Inn.... great hotel. 4oo yards from the beach. If you have a 4 wheel drive go right to the beach. Too far? Try St. Augustine, Castillo Real. 100 yards to the beach. Try their restaurant.....breakfast , lunch, dinner 4 star. Sunset Grille and Salt Life across the street. A great beach totally unpopulated right now.

I love Hilton Head Island.

Seaside on the Panhandle of Florida, beautiful white sand beaches, casual, not crowded in the off season (September thru May approx), very nice homes to rent.

Just got back from the Beachcomber in St. Petersburg with 45 of our friends. Had a great time, right on the beach, nearby shopping, live music, bars a plenty within walking distance besides 2 on property.Reasonable rates and prices.

Anna Maria
 

is our favorite too. No high rises allowed, Old Florida look. We found several nice restaurants, at least 2 right on the beach (but this has been a couple of years ago). Also like one called Water something right across from the city pier, I think. And there are some on the pier that sticks out into the intracoastal. From that side you can see the Sunshine Parkway bridge and the cruiseships and other ships/boats that go out from the port (limited #, so check your favorite cruise website to see when they will be going out to sea).

Bringing or renting bikes to ride all around the island and/or get from place to place is a nice option. We stayed once at Harrison House B&B which offered free bikes.

There's another place at the south end of the island where you can walk from the beach side to the intracoastal side easily. Look on TripAdvisor. Can also drive over the little bridge that connects to Longboat Key, take the first left, and find 2-3 more intracoastal side restaurants (and see the peacocks on the roofs along the way). Again, has been a few years. Hope everything still there.

Be sure to look for the Star Fish Cafe under the Cortez bridge - in the little fishing village of Cortez.

All this talk is making me want to go back for a couple of days!

Siesta Key is a convenient 2 hours away via I-75.....lots of rentals from motel like to villas like to individual homes.

Siesta Key beach is huge and gorgeous. Spectacular sunsets almost every single day.

Quaint, very walkable village area with many, many restaurant and entertainment venues.

Need a little more civilization? Ten minutes away is Sarasota.....almost anything you want is there.

And best of all there is not the usual crush of people.

The in between season is August and September. We were just there last week and it was about 50% occupied....DELIGHTFUL.

We go two or three times per year!