What "Lively" Beach Would You Go To For a Day Trip?

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  #31  
Old 06-27-2020, 07:26 AM
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Dr Winston O Boogie jr Dr Winston O Boogie jr is offline
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Clearwater Beach was named the number one beach in Florida for several consecutive years. Then a few years ago it was named the #1 beach in the United States.
Park in the big hotel and take the elevator down and walk across the street.

Great sand, and water. Easy access to facilities while on the beach. Outdoor showers when leaving the beach Plenty to do and great food everywhere.
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Old 06-27-2020, 07:29 AM
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Cocoa Beach, just 2 hrs and has Shops and restaurants. Easy parking at Shepard Park $2.50 an hr or $15 a day.
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Old 06-27-2020, 07:30 AM
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Originally Posted by J1ceasar View Post
Clearwater for the beach and a short drive to Destin for shopping and restaurants
Destin is in the panhandle on the Far west side Of Florida & about a 5-1/2hr Drive.
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Old 06-27-2020, 07:35 AM
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Johns pass
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Old 06-27-2020, 07:41 AM
DecaturFargo DecaturFargo is offline
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A lot of beaches have now been closed. Unless your cousin has been tested please tell her to stay home. We are spiking and I don't want to get COVID because outsiders have decided to visit. This is how it will spread quickly throughout The Villages.
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Old 06-27-2020, 07:50 AM
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Having spent years on a boat on both sides, it depends what you are looking for. The ocean is cooler than the gulf and the waves are bigger. Daytona is a great beach with lots to do but is also an epicenter. If you want sand beaches and baby waves go west to Clearwater or St. Pete, that whole peninsula has beaches and restaurants and shops but also has Covid.
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Old 06-27-2020, 08:14 AM
kiernan kiernan is offline
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Clearwater or St. Pete beach. Both have lots of shops and things to do.
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Old 06-27-2020, 08:15 AM
asiebel asiebel is offline
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Maderia Beach is close to St Johns Pass for shopping and esting. Lots of restaurants. You should spend the night! Just google all the different places!
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Old 06-27-2020, 08:24 AM
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Originally Posted by Rosebud1949 View Post
the beach and visitors.. NO WAY !!! Florida positives for Covid now are 5000+ a day..thanks to beach visitors. Please DO NOT bring it back to the Villages. We have the LOWEST POSITIVES on record.
Please. Going to the beach is much less dangerous than going to the supermarket or a crowded bar. As long as you social distance it's not a problem.
  #40  
Old 06-27-2020, 08:27 AM
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New Smyrna Beach.
Join the sharks!
  #41  
Old 06-27-2020, 08:37 AM
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the beach and visitors.. NO WAY !!! Florida positives for Covid now are 5000+ a day..thanks to beach visitors. Please DO NOT bring it back to the Villages. We have the LOWEST POSITIVES on record.
Wednesday or Thursday the new cases in Florida for the day was 9000[B]!
  #42  
Old 06-27-2020, 08:40 AM
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Please. Going to the beach is much less dangerous than going to the supermarket or a crowded bar. As long as you social distance it's not a problem.
Agree! Being on a beach is probably one of the safest places to be - plenty of fresh air and typically a nice breeze. The media has used scenes of crowded beaches as a metaphor for a hazardous Covid lifestyle. Nothing could be farther from the truth. It is just lazy, unscientific journalism. The hazard comes into play when you go off the beach and into an indoor crowded bar.
  #43  
Old 06-27-2020, 08:45 AM
Earlride Earlride is offline
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Default Smyrna Beach

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New Smyrna Beach.
Lively and you get to pet the sharks swimming with you.
  #44  
Old 06-27-2020, 08:54 AM
John_W John_W is offline
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My neighbor has taken up fishing in a big way the past year. Every week he tells me of where he fished that week, it's usually Venice, St. Pete Beach or Pine Island off Spring Hill (that's a county park). For Pine Island just take Hwy 50 all the way to the end. You'll pass Weeki Wachie Springs at Hwy 19 intersection. He either surf fishes or off a pier. He's leaving tomorrow for Destin and coming back Thursday night. He's very cautious, he even wears a mask when at the golf course around the club house and putting greens. He just got back last weekend from a week at Marathon, it's an island in the keys about 50 miles before Key West. They rented a condo and he said it was great.

I grew up in St. Petersburg, my parents moved there in '59 and I graduated St. Pete High in '68. I can remember when Treasure Island and St. Pete Beach were nothing a but a couple of motels. You could drive from St. Pete to Clearwater north on Hwy 19 and not see a building in the early 60's. There was a sign pointing west on Hwy 60 that said, "Clearwater Beach" and a gas station on the corner.

Something I found amazing was the Kapok Tree Restaurant in Safety Harbor went out of business. It was a huge restaurant that served 4,000 people a day at it's peak in the 70's during high season. I guess owners died, poor management, whatever. It's still there, but it's a Sam Ash Music Store and a hall that can rented for banquets and weddings, etc. It had beautiful gardens and was a sight to see. I only made it once in 1975.

To get there, instead of taking I-275 (Howard Franklin Bridge), take Hwy 60 Courtney Campbell Causey across Tampa Bay, you get on at the west side of Tampa Airport. After the causeway ends, look for the first overpass (McMullen Booth Rd) take that to the right (north) and it will be a 1/2 mile on the right.

The Villages Florida

Back in the restaurant days

The Villages Florida

Now if you want to buy a guitar, go to the Kapok Tree, it's Sam Ash.

The Villages Florida

If you want to see if Clearwater Beach is busy, here's a webcam. Turn off your ad-blocker after you get on the site, and click in the lower right and make it full screen. You might have to click on the image to get it go live. I can remember going there in the 70's and seeing buoys out by the end of the pier, and it was a shark net. I don't know why they removed it, maybe too much trouble.

Clearwater Beach Live Webcam

.

Last edited by John_W; 06-27-2020 at 09:02 AM.
  #45  
Old 06-27-2020, 08:57 AM
newgirl newgirl is offline
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Haha as long as you don’t mind swimming with sharks !
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beach, fun, day, suggestions, rural/quiet

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