My West Coast of Florida Itinerary

This was our itinerary for a month long road trip pulling a travel trailer to Florida. You may want to make changes depending on your situation so this is in the first person.

We left home on December 18, 2008 and eventually stopped at the horrible Comfort Inn, St. George, NC RV Park.

On December 20 we arrived In Jacksonville and stayed at the beautiful Kathryn Abby Hanna Park. This campground is on the ocean and has a nice lake with two great playgrounds. You can bicycle, mountain bike, hike or walk. I highly recommend this campground located at 500 Wonderwood Drive.

December 22 we stopped at Bay Bayou RV Resort at 126222 Memorial Highway in Tampa.

December 23, 2008

Whatever you do even if you say you are not a museum lover go to the Dali Museum. What a treat this was. It is small so you won't be overwhelmed and there are tours on the hour. Definitely take a tour or you will miss the best of the brilliant and crazy Salvador Dali. You should find coupons in the various magazines you'll get. We paid $13.50 each.

December 24, 2008

We found the Upper Tampa Bay Trail which is just shy of an eight-mile long each way path for biking, walking, etc. It is hard to find because it is in residential northwest Hillsborough County. There were restrooms along the way; lots of marshes; and a peaceful environment. We saw two turtles and at every rest stop there was a water bowl for pets and a water cooler with cups. It was beautifully maintained with plenty of parking at various trail heads; picnic tables and benches along the trail. Believe it or not even in flat Florida we encountered some challenging hills and curves - at least challenging for us.

This same day we went to Honeymoon Beach where they have a pet beach!

If you are watching your weight beware of Dairy Queen's every where.

December 25, 2008

We got up at 3:30a.m. to swim with the manatees and arrived on time at Mike's Sunshine Tours located at 5297 S. Cherokee Way in Homosassa. We were given a wetsuit in his well equipped little store, cookies, coffee, snorkels and a mask. We watched a couple of videos where they showed manatee behavior. Then we got on a bus for a very short trip to the boat. It was pitch black. There were a dozen of us - 3 kids; two young men and the rest adults. Captain John didn't do the kind of talking about manatees as I would have liked in fact he did no talking but he did give us hot chocolate during a break.

We must have spent a total of an hour in the water with these amazing creatures. We touched them and actually sort of played with them. The boat was not as nice as advertised. There was no heat; no place to change so we were all wet and frozen; uncomfortable seats and a toilet no one wanted to use! It was an adventure and we are so glad we went. Cost $40 per person.

December 26, 2008

We visited family who introduced us to Leverock's Seafood House.

December 27

In this area flea marketst are not lacking as is the case on the east coast of Florida as well. On this day we went to Olds Mar. Note that this one is only open on weekends.

December 29, 2008

It was time to leave Bay Bayou. We headed to Clearwater Travel Resort located at 2946 Gulf To Bay Boulevard in Clearwater.. We liked it here. There was a pool, clubhouse, shuffleboard and an area just for RVs with pets.

On this night we went to one of our many buffets. This was one of three Chinese buffets we went to.
December 30, 2008

We headed to one of the many trailheads for Pinellas Park. We had been on this terrific bike trail several years ago and knew we wanted to go back. Each trailhead was really pretty. One had a beautiful lake; swings; some kids' toys; lots of grass; and benches. You will be going over bridges which is really challenging but the other option is crossing a major highway.

We went to the Pier 60 in Clearwater where you'll want to go to see the sunset. If you feel like a slice of pizza we found Little Italian Pizza at 1261 Gulf Boulevard which had great pizza. It's small, cute and clean. If you have a pet and ride by Fluffy Puppies at 1447 S Fort Harrison Avenue stop by. Your dog might get some free cookies.

December 31

Wherever we are on New Year's Eve we look to see if there is a first night. There was in Clearwater and it was great so don't miss it if you are in the neighborhood. There were firework displays several times that night; fries and a funnel cake; ballet dancers, and wonderful African ballet dancers.

January 1, 2009

The three of us went to Fort de Sota to a leash free dogs beach.

If you feel like pancakes I was impressed with Perkins located at 2626 Gulf To Bay Boulevard in Clearwater.

January 2, 2009

We went to Indian Rocks Beach without our dog. The beach was made up of shells. It was beautiful. At the campground there was a motel in which there is the comedy club called Coconuts. I wasn't all that impressed with the comedians but they change. Coconuts Comedy Club is located at 2950 Gulf To Bay Boulevard, Clearwater.

January 3, 2009

We went to wonderful John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art at Sarasota Bay. We first went to miniature museum where we walked around then to the circus museum where we had a great tour by a male docent. We then we went to the art museum where the docent wasn't quite as good but it is so helpful because otherwise we'd have no idea what we were seeing. We then went to Ringling's house which wasn't very impressive. I'm glad we didn't spend $5.00 each for a tour. We spent 15 minutes in this small though opulent residence. Our entire time was over 4 hours and I highly recommend this museum.

We went to Paul's Chicago pizza which was excellent.

December 4, 2009

We spent the day at Wagonwheel Flea Market 7801 Park Boulevard in Pinellas Park which was the largest I have ever been to.Tonight was another Chinese buffet which was very good.

December 5, 2009

We moved to the campground at the Fort De Soto Park. It was wonderful. We saw an Ibris right in our back yard. You can ride your bikes around the campground very easily. I noted several playgrounds and very clean, large sites some of which were on the water and then rode on the beautiful bike trail which was just outside the campground.

December 6, 2009

Another day at the dog beach at Fort De Soto and for the second time we saw dolphins. We stayed until 5:00 and then went down to the part of the beach that in 2005 was listed as the nicest beach in US. This is another beautiful place to watch the sunset.

December 8, 2009

We took out a 2 person kayak at a little shack located right inside the Park called The Topwater Kayak Outpost.

We got out at about 10:00a.m. and were alone except as we headed back in. We saw giant pelicans and fish jumping out of the water.

December 9, 2009

Our next to last stop was at Mill Creek RV resort located at 2775 Michigan Ave, Mill Creek was just alright. It had a lot of seasonal or full time people living there. We had no patio, table or ring. The site was small and we had a lot had a bit of trouble getting into the spot. There was a pool and shuffleboard. The people in the office were very nice. We could hear trains which aren't unusual since it seems that RV Parks are put in low rent areas meaning trains tracks nearby.

We headed to yet another Chinese buffet that was recommended by the office.

December 10, 2009

We went to Epcot and had a super day. The weather was ideal. The crowds were small and the lines were non-existent. We first did the Future and then the World. We have been to Epcot several times but I never tire of it. The fireworks were terrific. A tip: We learned that one rider gets on before a group so if you have people and want to split up you'll get on a ride much quicker. The one ride that had about a 20 minute wait my husband got on in less than a 10 minute wait.

January 11, 2009

You will find a couple of very good flea markets in this area so if you like them you can choose. We went to CiCi's Pizza and Pasta Buffet which was terrific and ate all the pizza we could!

January 12, 2009

Our final night on the road was at South of the Border. We have stayed here many times. It is just a place to park for the night but if you have kids you'll want to walk around during the day. This may have the noisiest trains of all the campgrounds in which we stayed this trip.