Florida, Febraury 25, 2012

Hotel Isis from the beach

We started the day today with a walk on the beach. It was about 2 miles roundtrip from the fishing pier by our hotel, to the next pier south. The sand was hard and the water warm where we walked. It was a good start to the day.

After breakfast ready for the day

Today after the walk and breakfast, we explored the area north of our hotel with stops in Clearwater Beach and Tarpon Springs. We took the slower but more scenic way up on Highway 19A through all the coastal towns.

We first headed to the CVS parking lot on Poinsettia Avenue, the sight of the apartment court where Karen lived the first year of her life, while her dad was stationed at Drew Field in Tampa. The first time we were here in 1985, the court was still there. It's been long gone.

Karen on the beach at
Clearwater Beach

Karen standing where the apartment court was
(as close as we can tell)

We then wandered the area and went over to the beach. It is a broad open white-sand beach. We even found what must be the access Karen's mom used to take her to the beach that first year. It is just one block from where they lived.

A walk along the main shopping street through town finished our exploration of Clearwater Beach. It looks about the same as the last time we were here, with a few new condos.


Our next destination was Tarpon Springs, a Greek sponge fishing town about 20 miles north of Clearwater Beach. It is very interesting with the active sponge fishing fleet still working. For linner (dinner nearer lunch time) we went to Hella's Bakery & Restaurant. It is a popular and busy spot, but the service was quick and good. And the food was excellent. It is on the main street by the sponge fishing harbor, which has become more touristy since we were last here.

 Our next stop in Tarpon Springs was a city park with a channel which connects to the gulf. It is a favorite spot for Manatees to gather and stay in warmer water in the winter. We found the area where several Manatees were lazily swimming around. Since they are mammals, they do need to come up for air regularly--and they can't hold their breath as long as whales. There were about a dozen in this group. It was very interesting to see them, the first Karen had seen. Dick saw a few a couple days ago at the Space Center, which were brown. These were dark gray mostly. A very interesting addition to our wildlife sightings list.

Manatee tail fluke

pair swimming

coming up for air

pair swimming

 After the Manatee viewing we headed "home" to the hotel in Redington Shores. This time we took the highway instead of the scenic route through all the towns. It was a much quicker drive.

Back at the hotel we headed out to the beach to watch the sunset. It was not spectacular, but interesting. Then we had a "snacky" supper on the patio.

Another day in the Florida sun. Tomorrow it's supposed to rain. We'll see.