I was expecting to hear myself squeal. I didn’t. The ocean water wasn’t frigid at all. Compared to San Diego beaches where the water is always freezing cold even in the middle of the summer, the Gulf of Mexico felt like cool bath water. The waves were much gentler, the water a light blue-green, and the white sand felt like unbaked sugar cookies between my toes. I would soak in this stretch of salty, sunny paradise for three days.
Clearwater, Florida was good to us. My husband and I drove three days from San Diego, California to Clearwater, Florida and put about 2500 miles on the trusty Honda.
This was taken at dawn from the passenger seat. Coincidentally, the radio was playing, “Here Comes the Sun”.
Tail lights on our way to dinner.
We got a parking ticket on the first day at Clearwater Beach North. Apparently, we overstayed by 20 minutes, but who could blame us? This beach town was vibrant even on a Sunday evening. It was the livelier of the two beaches that we visited. Live music from a bar and grill on the beach carried out to the wooden beach chairs where we lounged under a yellow beach umbrella.
The next two days were spent on Honeymoon Island. No, it’s inhabitants were not all newlyweds, but it did feel like we were in the Caribbean islands, complete with palm trees and a cool breeze. This was my favorite beach in Clearwater because it felt peaceful both on the shore and in the water- the only disturbance the voracious seagulls fearless enough to swoop in on your sandwich mid-bite.
Three consecutive days swimming in the warm waters of the gulf of mexico, eating locally-caught, grilled grouper sandwiches, and sipping raspberry mojitos with my favorite human being in the world was lovely. We then piled back into the car, hit the road and headed to New Orleans, Louisiana eleven shades tanner, with Clearwater in the rear view, our backs sun-kissed by the Florida sun.
Rex and I had a romantic dinner at restaurant called, Caretta on the Gulf. Our table had a great view.By dessert, lightning and storm clouds started to roll in.This was taken with Rex’s iphone while we enjoyed the sunset with a cold red ale at a local brewery.
I’ll be blogging about our adventures in New Orleans soon. Be sure to visit my Facebook page and hit “Like” to become a fan and get updates. Thanks for showing your love!
The beach looks and sounds amazing! I thought I was your favorite human? 🙂
HAHA You’re my favorite female human. 🙂