[buggyone]

Mrs. Buggy and I went with two of our best friends from The Villages to St. Pete Beach today. It is just about a 2 hour drive and we timed it so we got there around 11 am and left around 2:30 pm.

There is a little beach bar called The Undertow that has beer and drink specials until 5. We park in their lot, take our chairs and umbrella to the wide expansive beach - that has to have some of the finest and whitest sand in the world - and set up our stuff. Naturally, we have a couple of drinks at the bar since we use their free parking lot.

The water today was around 78 degrees (perfect) and was perfectly calm. The beach was totally uncrowded. Basically, it was a perfect day at the beach.

We left around 2:30 and got back home 2 hours later.

Living in Florida is WONDERFUL.

[Doro22]

Sounds like a great getaway today. We are going really really soon!

[TennDrifter]

Originally Posted by buggyone

Mrs. Buggy and I went with two of our best friends from The Villages to St. Pete Beach today. It is just about a 2 hour drive and we timed it so we got there around 11 am and left around 2:30 pm.

There is a little beach bar called The Undertow that has beer and drink specials until 5. We park in their lot, take our chairs and umbrella to the wide expansive beach - that has to have some of the finest and whitest sand in the world - and set up our stuff. Naturally, we have a couple of drinks at the bar since we use their free parking lot.

The water today was around 78 degrees (perfect) and was perfectly calm. The beach was totally uncrowded. Basically, it was a perfect day at the beach.

We left around 2:30 and got back home 2 hours later.

Living in Florida is WONDERFUL.

Have they got the NEW Pier Built yet ??

[dgammon6]

We love to get our beach fix over there, Caddy's on the Beach.

[janmcn]

Originally Posted by TennDrifter

Have they got the NEW Pier Built yet ??

I don't think they even know what they are going to build there yet. The original plan got scrapped.

[Gat0r]

Yeah it was as bad as the upside down pyramid.

[tainsley]

Sounds awesome!

[kittygilchrist]

thanks for the nudge. I could use a beach trip.

[mickey100]

As much as we enjoy our time in The Villages, its really nice to get away and check out other parts of Florida. We try to go to the beach every couple of weeks or so.

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

Yes, all of those beaches in the Clearwater to St Pete are great.

Some friends recommended Cedar Key Beach to us and we went there a few days ago. It was a complete waste of a day. There's nothing there. The beach is tiny and the water is not great. I thought it might be a bit closer than the Clearwater area, but it's not.

We'll make the drive to the Clearwater area from now on.

[senior citizen]

Originally Posted by buggyone

Mrs. Buggy and I went with two of our best friends from The Villages to St. Pete Beach today. It is just about a 2 hour drive and we timed it so we got there around 11 am and left around 2:30 pm.

There is a little beach bar called The Undertow that has beer and drink specials until 5. We park in their lot, take our chairs and umbrella to the wide expansive beach - that has to have some of the finest and whitest sand in the world - and set up our stuff. Naturally, we have a couple of drinks at the bar since we use their free parking lot.

The water today was around 78 degrees (perfect) and was perfectly calm. The beach was totally uncrowded. Basically, it was a perfect day at the beach.

We left around 2:30 and got back home 2 hours later.

Living in Florida is WONDERFUL.

We always will remember St. Pete as a beautiful wide beach; fond memories of staying there. Beautiful sand. Great waterfront as well.


Nice that you are so close for a day trip.


Another nice wide beach with white sand like sugar is Ft. Myers Beach, also on the Gulf of Mexico plus Estero Beach, ditto. Not too far from Naples either. Our ex brother in law and his wife retired to Ft. Myers Beach from N.J. and love it. They kept their N.J. home as well; so bounce back and forth. The grandkids love to visit them.....as well as their two sons........quite often actually.


We were just looking at condos for rent at St. Pete and Ft. Myers.....many of which are already booked into 2016. Popular spot.....at least for the two condos we just looked at.

[graciegirl]

Just like senior citizen, in our youth, raising our children, our destination was usually Florida for summer vacation. That would include Disney and a stay on the beach. So over the years we visited many places in Florida and liked them for vacation.

I never felt drawn to live in Florida, it was too touristy and there would be unequal care it appeared of homes in developments. Some looked nice and others not so nice. There were the hurricanes and the bugs. It just never felt like a place I would want to LIVE in year' round.

We loved the golf side best and we are so glad we can go there for day trips. Hmmmm we have lived here for six years and only visited St.Pete beach once, the day we drove our granddaughter to Tampa airport, we lunched on the beach.

We visited The Villages quite by accident and we both felt it was TOO good to be true. Well it isn't.

[senior citizen]

SANIBEL ISLAND on the Gulf of Mexico, accessible by causeway from Ft. Myers area, has been listed in the top 10 Florida beaches. Entire island is a nature preserve, complete with alligators. Known for its Ding Darling Preserve.

It is beautiful, quiet, non touristy, and is one of the top shelling beaches in the world.

We always had the beach to ourselves........great for long morning/evening walks.

Everyone knows about the "Sanibel Stoop".......from picking up all the seashells.

Connecting to CAPTIVA ISLAND at its tip........Captiva is another great "step back in time" kind of empty place.........there is a resort at the tip of the island. Obviously, we always went the month of April.....not high season in the winter.......

CASPERSEN BEACH, FLORIDA:
There are numerous beaches up and down the eastern Atlantic Ocean seacoast of Florida, as well as the western Gulf of Mexico seacoast of Florida that are gently kept secrets and not touristy at all.

We have explored both coasts of Florida and found many empty pretty beaches........as well as many great "busier" beaches. Hope someday to visit the Panhandle beaches.........only part of the Florida seacoast we have not explored these past 50 years.

Caspersen Beach Florida was a pristine natural beach near Venice Beach** Florida (**a flat refurbished beach which unfortunately at times was visited by the "red tide") I still remember everyone walking on Venice beach on Christmas Day afternoon (which seemed more like Easter Sunday weather wise); it was enjoyable to join the flock after a nice brunch out at the hotel. Again, Christmas brunch seemed more like Easter (In Venice, Fl.)

Caspersen is definitely known for it's SHARKS TEETH. "SHARKEYS" IS A PLUS. Great burgers.

Once upon a time we chose Venice as our relocation destination, age 49. It was designated a Florida Main Street Community with a beautiful historical side, attractive parklike downtown leading up to the esplanade and the beaches/jetties........unfortunately, for a myriad of health reasons we had to sell our beachfront condo. Looks can be deceiving.......until you actually live in a place (as beautiful as it may seem). We visited it over half a dozen times and never once experienced the "red tide bacteria" in its most devastating form while vacationing there until we actually moved there fulltime. This is why total research is so important. Anyway, great pristine beach, right down from Venice's main beach. By the way, it was ALWAYS EMPTY when we'd walk on it........so the crowds mentioned below must have been a holiday weekend.

Note: One can check to make sure the "red tide" is not present when planning a visit.

From: Trip Advisor....re Casperson Beach, Florida

"""This is a beautiful, out of the way, natural habitat area. Great for walking, bird watching, dolphin sighting, etc. Some areas are really rugged but you can walk to an area that is good for relaxing. There are places where you will see the artist set up with canvas and easel painting. Other areas with lone sunbathers. There are bathroom facilities and water fountains. It is a great day trip and place to read a book, take a swim or just sit quietly alone. Please take the drive and enjoy. "" Reviewed May 2014.

Reviewed May 29, 2014
""One of my favorite beaches. We come here to look for Sharks teeth. Always find parking and it's always so clean and the beach is in it's natural state. On top of that Sharkey's is down the road for drinks at sunset ""
Visited May 2014

""Add this beach to the top of your bucket list of best beaches to go to find shark teeth. My wife and I started looking for shark teeth on this beach 40 years ago when I attended Ringling School of Art. Back then we were just about the only ones on the beach and found some real beauties along with a lot of fossils we found in the back fields. Over this past Memorial Day weekend we returned to the beach with my niece and her boys. Man have things changed, and not necessarily for the good. The parking lot and beach were overflowing with hundreds of people looking for shark teeth. It was bad timing on my part to pick the busiest day to go there. This is still a beautiful beach and I’m sure you can find some decent sized shark teeth if you look there after a strong storm. ""
Visited May 2014
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http://www.travelchannel.com/interests/beaches/articles/top-10-beaches-in-florida
TOP 10 BEACHES IN FLORIDA: TRAVEL CHANNEL

http://www.southseas.com/photo-and-videos-en.html
South Seas Island Resort at the tip of Captiva Island, Fl.
A bit of luxury on an otherwise "step back in time" kind of narrow strip of old Florida.

Captiva is connected to Sanibel by a short bridge which you hardly realize with all the foliage along narrow road leading from Sanibel Island to Captiva Island. Pretty drive to the BUBBLE ROOM restaurant. Very quirky place.




　
　
　
　
　
　
　

[NottaVillager]

Love the Don Cesar Hotel and a little place called Sea Critters Café.