This trip we’re headed towards the Gulf side of the state…I love this part of Florida! We drove through Tampa towards Dunedin & parked the truck at Walls Park right next to the Pinellas trail; about a 2.5 hour drive from our house. This paved multi-use trail goes from Tarpon Springs down to St. Petersburg. We were just going on the northern end up to Tarpon Springs.
Danny’s right…all these trails are kind of looking the same…a canopy of trees with no views. But, it was a gorgeous sunny day to be on the bikes.
Danny pointed out this cell phone tower we passed made to look like a tree. He’s seen them before, but I don’t think I ever had.
We rode up the trail to the Tarpon Springs sponge docks. Greek divers, back in the early 1900’s developed a new technique for diving for sponges creating a booming sponge industry. And, now this touristy town is all about sponges & all things Greek. This section is really quite small, but something different. We locked up our bikes & walked around town.
We ate at the most popular Greek restaurant, Hellas. Danny had a Gyros & I had Spanakopita & Tirpota. We both passed on the ouzo. It was ok food, but not fantastic. But the atmosphere was fun & we were able to score a table outside.
The few blocks along the water are lined with tourists shops…a lot of sponge stores, cigars booths (which are everywhere near Tampa all the way to Miami), candy, fudge & ice cream shops, & several booths with employees shouting out how affordable their dolphin excursions & sponge diving excursions are & that they are all “leaving in 10 minutes!” It was kind of funny, but it must work, because the boats we saw leaving, all looked full.
We biked back down to Dunedin & loaded the bikes in the truck. Then we drove around the town a bit & went to the Dunedin brewery…Floridas very first micro brewery.
The beer was good & the weather continued to be perfect. We are loving this Florida winter weather!
The one place I’d wanted to take Danny hiking, was Honeymoon State Park. I’ve been there a couple of times & it’s a gorgeous beach but also has some good trails & a giant eagles nest. But, just like so many many state parks on the Gulf side of the state, most all of those trails were closed due to Hurricanes Helene & Milton. So, we headed farther south. We skipped our next stop, Indian Rocks beach, because it was closed. We were seeing quite a few business’s & condos closed up as well from storm damage. Moving farther south, we found a parking area near a beach & took a long walk. I love beach walks. The gulf views, as always, were fabulous. But it you looked back toward the beach, it had several large excavators & construction equipment & lots of boarded up windows.
We continued our drive south, trying to catch a sunset tonight. We pulled over at Madiera beach. Sunsets & sunrises are always hit or miss & the clouds came in to make this sunset less than perfect.
But look at that sky…still a pretty palate of colors!
We drove the strip all the way to St. Pete’s beach. We took two drives by the Don Cesar hotel…the big pink gorgeous one. But, the front of it was covered in scaffolding, windows were boarded up & it was getting dark…which took a lot away from the “pink” hotel I kept bragging to Danny about.
Our next stop started with a bit of trepidation but ended up being the most fun of this trip. I’d read about “the Saint” speakeasy…noting that if you made reservations, you had to secure it with your credit card; there was a loose but still rule driven dress code; lots of stuff on their website that made me think “snobby” or at least maybe just not for us. But we went open minded. & having changed in the truck, appropriately dressed (we usually always take a change of clothes & shoes on these day trips anyway).
I had an address, but of course, there was just a teeny tiny sign right by the door…as it should be with a speakeasy (or no sign). And the door had a bright red light above it so I knew we were here. As per one of the instructions on the website, you were let into a ‘confessional’ & you had to say what your sin was (changed daily but updated on their website). And so I confessed to the ‘bouncer/priest’ & we were let inside. Everything was red!!
I thought this was fascinating & fun. We were welcomed like the place had no rules & from the moment we sat at the bar, we started having a great time. Our bartender was super cool, the decor was snarky & ecclesiastical (this might be offensive to some people). This is not the first time I’ve seen this type of decorating. Check out this whole amazing house I stayed in Merida Mexico.
Look these ornate tap handles.
My first ever drink that was served smoking (you should see the video).
Then we were told we were lucky enough to be there on Burlesque night. Another first for us. And it was super fun. The Saint is a small place…3 or 4 booths, a couple of high top tables, & a bar that probably seats about 10. The place was probably half full on this weekday early evening (early enough we scored Happy Hour prices). And so this pretty woman came out kind of dancing around, slowly shedding her beautiful silky costume pieces….all onto me. I was definitely the oldest woman there, & probably because I usually always have a big smile on my face, I looked like someone who wouldn’t mind this. And I didn’t. I think I giggled everytime a scarf, a cape, a new piece of clothing was draped over me.
We’d have loved to stay for another drink…because they were really good & unique, but we had other plans. But, I’ll definitely be back…I’m sure I won’t run out of sins to get me in the door. And, on our way out, we were absolved by the bouncer. Just awesome.
So our next stop was Doc Fords Rum Bar & Grille. I’ve been to Randy Wayne Whites restaurants before…the original on Sanibel Island, where I met him for the first time; the one in Ft. Myers beach & the other one in St. Petersburg called Jungle Terrace where I saw him earlier this summer. This was one I had not been to before. Randy is the author of the Doc Ford books & one of my favorite Florida authors. I’ve read all his books, including his children books & given those to Claire. Danny is working his way through the series since retirement, so we wanted to have dinner here. The food is always really good.
After dinner, we headed back north. We’d come as far south as we would on this trip. We had one more stop to make & that was to the Angry Chair brewing company. Danny has tried some of their beers in Orlando, & so we went to the source. I’d been to Angry Chair before, but not to this new building which was really nice.
We closed up the place having a great visit with bartender. He was telling us all his favorite Orlando & Florida places to visit as I typed all his suggestions into my phone. Then, we headed home & landed back in Orlando around midnight. What a fun day trip & I loved experiencing the Saint!