Good-Bye Bayou, Hello Tampa Beaches

The bayou water systems were very interesting.  We had great intentions of taking an 'Air Boat' ride and firing up the GoPro camera again but due to the cool weather we kept putting it off until it was too late.  That one stays on the Bucket List! 

The down side to West Central Florida was that there was nowhere to swim Kyle and did I mention that Florida is built on swamp land and ant hills.  More on that later too.  Every time I tried to let Kyle off the leash to chase a bird, Kaye kept reminding me that he couldn't afford to lose another leg.  Next on the list was to travel a couple of hours South to the Tampa Bay area in search of beaches for Kyle.  On our drive we passed an annoying series of huge billboards advertising a 'Topless Bar', when we got there, the bar had had a fire and it had no roof left...the billboard on the opposite side of the street was for; 'Custom new Roofs'.  No time for photos, 4 lanes of traffic, such poetic justice.

If you own a dog bigger than 20lbs forget about staying in the main Tampa Bay, Clearwater or St. Petersburg area in an RV park.  We were rejected by every single one. 

All for the best.  We found a lovely little spot named Fisherman's Cove, South across the massive toll bridge that separates St. Petersburg from Palmetto and right on the water. Super dog friendly and full of fun.  We arrived on St. Patrick's day and were treated to Karaoke at the pool while we soaked in the salt water hot tub.  Gave a whole new meaning to 'bad singing' but the crowd was having a blast and the laughter was deafening.  Kyle was an instant hit as usual.   We 'Googled' dog beaches/parks and found lots.

Our first day out was to explore the long island beaches of Longboat Key. It was a chilly windy weekday but the traffic to and from the island was still crazy, we could not imagine what it would be like on a warm holiday weekend (check out the map).  Can you spell 'money', well this strip of land, totally exposed to the explosive wrath of the Gulf Ocean, would be measured in millions of dollars per foot.  However, public access to the beaches is guaranteed and at regular intervals along the main road with tons of free parking.  Our dog friendly beach had only one other couple braving the gusty wind and cool temp.  Kyle chased birds until he was pooped but the heavy surf scared him off of swimming.  We drove the complete length of the island and left via the most southern bridge.  No toll but bumper to bumper and a snail pace.  Didn't matter, it was a great day.

That evening we met everyone around us in the campground.  There were Canadians who recognized our license plate and others who saw the Canadian 'Support Our Troops' plaque on our propane tanks plus many Americans from the cold states who had visited BC and just wanted to chat.  

When we checked in I was awestruck by the Indian Ink and Water Colour pictures in the office.  I posted this on Facebook awhile back but I have to repeat it:

"When we checked into this little RV Park, the walls of the office were covered with watercolour paintings and hand drawn comic strips. I asked about them and was told that the artist lived in the old trailer right across from our site. His name is Ken and when I stopped in to see him he was trying to fix an elderly lady's bike.  I told him about my Mom's love of painting with watercolours and ink and he told me about his Dad in the navy and so on and so on. Hours passed.  A day later as Kaye and I were packing the truck for a day out, he presented us with this painting. He even looked up Canadian Air Force aircraft on the Internet and put in our CF18s. His handle is 'Tin Castle Studios'.  He lives in his little trailer full time. We bought him Costco ribs and Kaye is marinating them as a surprise.  The story gets even better. After an evening together, coupled with talking about my Mom and painting, Ken presented us with a picture of what he imagined she might look like.  It has some amazingly accurate details that I guess only true artists can conjure up!  What a couple of great treasures.


Plan your visit to this area six months in advance.  There is a state park called 'Fort DeSoto' that is located on its own island and has three large full service campsites with spaces that back directly onto the beach, one of them is even dog friendly.  Couple that with miles of open beaches, museums, groomed walking trails, etc, etc and you have paradise.  The place was booked solid, even in the cold of winter!  We spoke with a couple who have been coming for over 40 years and reserve the full time allowed in advance.  I think it was $35 a night for full services.  We (Kyle) enjoyed the dog beach and then a picnic lunch under a treed canopy.  We named this our $8.75 day at the beach, $3.75 for bridge tolls and a $5 park pass.  Wow.  I still got too much sun as the breeze masked the strength of the rays.  Did not realize until we got home and I entered the hot tub.  Ouch.

We had great intentions of visiting the museum of history and culture in Tampa but we arrived a bit late in the day to be able to do it justice so we decided on exercise instead.  The downtown riverfront of Tampa has been transformed into a beautiful walkway linking museums, the coliseum  hotels, marinas, university and of course retail shops.  Very tastefully done.  Kyle entertained everyone and Kaye snapped shots of some really great yacht names.

 This is also the land of baseball or rather, spring practice in warm weather.  A quick check on the Internet and we were able to secure $10 tickets to a Toronto Blue Jays vs Tampa Bay Rays game in Port Charlotte (about 30 miles South of Palmetto).  Our boys won with three home runs but the Rays put many men on base and it could have gotten away from the Jays if not for some clutch pitching.  Maybe the boys will have a great season this year.  We forgot our camera so you will just have to imagine the sign saying: "Please don't feed the alligators" posted beside the sidewalk at the entrance to the stadium.  Kaye had a death grip on my arm as we passed.

Jo had her permanent cast put on back in Crystal Springs and when we called to check on her, the girls hatched another plan to go shopping, so guess who drove the two hours South to visit with us for the day.  The girls attacked the Ellenton Premium Outlet Mall (Yes there might be presents for the other girls in our lives) and the guys lazed at the salt water pool.  A fabulous meal at 'The Crab Shack' was the end of a great day (ps, the clam chowder was the best I have ever had).  We said our 'Good-Byes', hugs and kisses and then started to pack up for our next adventure to the Kennedy Space Centre, just a short hop over to the East coast of the state.