April 2021: Dude is that a Bronco? A Florida Beach Trip: Day 5

Day 5: Wednesday April 28, 2021

We were awake relatively early this morning, so we got ready for the day and headed back to Maggie Mae’s for breakfast. We were once again able to get a table outside, which made me happy. There’s just something about breakfast outside by the water. I had the California benedict (english muffin, spinach, their house roasted turkey, avocado, egg, and hollandaise), and Nick had...some combo thing. Eggs and meat and pancakes probably. We were both, once again, happy with our meals. Seriously, if you’re in Clearwater, check out Maggie Mae’s.





After breakfast, we went back to the resort. Nick napped or played video games or something. I went for a morning walk on the beach because I could. And obviously, I spent some time just chilling beneath the palm trees, again, because I could.













When I’d had my fill of sun, I headed back upstairs, and eventually we got ready and headed out. Our first stop was Surf Style, this time the one closer to us, not the giant one on the Beachwalk. I really had not had enough time to explore earlier in the week. I was glad we stopped. I got a shirt, a sticker, and some post cards for whenever I finally put a photo album together.

Shopping complete, we found a parking spot on a side street, figured out how to use the parkmobile app, and made our way to lunch at...Taco Bus. Guys, this place really is THAT good. If you’re in the Tampa or Clearwater area, try it! Nick had the shredded pork quesadilla again, and I got ground beef tacos. And once I’d finished my tacos, I had what I’d really come here again for, a dole whip float! Taco Bus makes their own agua frescas, including a pineapple one. They use this with dole whip (swirl in my case) for their dole whip floats. I hate to say it, but it was amazing, and I might have enjoyed it even more than the pineapple juice floats served in Disney. But don’t worry, I’ll re-test that theory in Disney in August, since it’s been kind of a long time since I’ve had one there!







After we had enjoyed our lunch, we headed across the street to an ice cream place for Nick. We had tried to get him actual ice cream the night before, but hadn’t been able to find parking in the shopping plaza, so he had “settled” for a Nestle chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich from the hotel store. So, it was time for actual ice cream. He got some blue raspberry marshmallow thing. I was very happy with my dole whip float choice!

Desserts consumed, we headed back to the hotel, where we enjoyed the air conditioning, and I actually took a NAP. Woah. I’m sure Nick napped too.

Naps complete, it was time for dinner. We’d decided that we needed to finish vacation strong, so it was back to Crabby’s! Rum buckets for both of us, the key lime fish combo for Nick, and a grilled grouper sandwich for me. Food was excellent, we ate out on the patio, and the service was great too. She even offered to rinse out our buckets for us, so we could take them home (they have since joined our growler and local moonshine mason jar collection on top of our kitchen cabinets). If you are in Clearwater, you need to go to one of the Salty’s or Crabby’s! Personally, I think the Crabby’s on the Beachwalk is the best option since it’s open-air and outside, but they’re all the same group, so I’m sure they’re all great.








Once we’d finished dinner, we headed back to the hotel. At the hotel, I liked the idea of a picture of the rental car under palm trees, because how often am I parked under those, and it worked to give you all a picture of the namesake of this report. Ok, Nick had taken a picture earlier in the week to show his pal at Ford, so that’s here too. And yes, we had heard “dude is that a bronco” about 10 other times not mentioned in this report.







We went back to the room for a bit of packing before I headed out for one last sunset. It was another beautiful sunset, but I spent the time a bit frustrated because our super cold room (NICK…) had led to my lens on my big camera being fogged for ALL of sunset. So...cell phone pictures once again.

















After sunset, I went back to the room, showered, and then really got serious about packing. We agreed on a time to get rolling in the morning and then crashed, for one last night of uninterrupted sleep on that very comfy bed.

April 2021: Dude is that a Bronco? A Florida Beach Trip: Day 4

Day 4: Tuesday April 27, 2021

As usual, I was awake pretty early (albeit, after sunrise, surprisingly) so I got ready for the day and went for a walk, taking pictures of the resort exterior, the ocean, and even slightly into the park our hotel was next to (Sand Key Park). It was a beautiful morning.

Once my roaming was complete (and I was thoroughly pissed because I’d left my fitbit in the room!), I went back to the room to get Nick moving towards breakfast. Thankfully, he was a good sport about being woken up for food.

When Nick was ready we drove over to Crabby’s. At this hour, we easily got parking in the small “south beach” lot where we had parked the first night. Apparently people don’t really hit the beach before noon in FL in April. There were 5 other cars in the lot when we parked (and one of them had NH plates!).

Needless to say we had no wait for breakfast at Crabby’s. Breakfast was just as good as dinner the night before had been. I had a mimosa and the “country benedict” (amazing biscuit, fried chicken strip, poached egg and southern white gravy) and Nick had some adult beverage involving milk and chocolate, and the “pigs in a blanket”, which was essentially sausage links fried in pancake batter. We loved breakfast, and knew we wouldn’t need to eat again until dinner, which worked very well with our intended lazy day.

 
After breakfast, we headed back to the car, stopping for a palm tree picture along the way.

When we got back to the hotel, we lounged for a bit, and then I changed into my swimsuit and headed for the pool. At this hour, I actually was able to find a lounge chair truly at the pool. I read for a bit, then got in the pool to cool off, then read for a bit, then went down to the ocean to cool off. The ocean felt AMAZING. It was super shallow and calm too, and the water was stunning today, so in some ways, I sort of felt like I was at Serenity Bay at Castaway Cay. I was definitely missing the Konk Kooler though!

Eventually I made my way back to the room, stopping for pictures in the hammock with palm trees in the background along the way.

 

Once back at the room, I did some sunburn analyzing, and chilled in the air conditioning for a bit. Then it was time to get ready for dinner.

We drove back to the North Beach parking garage, where we easily found parking. Then it was off to Frenchy’s OG, because lunch the day before had been so good. Today the open seats were either in the sun, or at the bar, so we sat at the bar. Dinner was just as excellent as lunch had been the day before. I went with the Island Mojito (x2) again because it was just that good. Nick went with the special of the day, which was margaritas for $3 something (x3). We split the really fun shaped pretzel, because when a place does their logo as a pretzel, you have to do it, he got the Super Grouper, fried, and I had a grilled grouper sandwich. Excellent meal!

After dinner it was off to Pier 60 to check out the sunset celebration. The celebration was a bust, but, we got some great views, and I got a picture with another one of those painted dolphins.

 
Having wandered as much as we wanted, we went back to the car and drove back to the hotel, where I actually convinced Nick to watch sunset with me. Three days into our time here, and he still hadn’t made it to the backside of the hotel. Needless to say he was a bit amazed by the size of the place and all the hotel offered. We were extremely disappointed, however, that the pool bar did NOT stay open until sunset like the paperwork about restaurant hours during Covid said it did. Sunset was wonderful, but some pictures of fruity drinks at sunset would have been fun too!

After sunset, having decided that the next night would involve another round of rum buckets to end vacation strong, we headed out onto the balcony to enjoy the last bit of light with the White Claws that we’d purchased the day before. Now here’s a story I forgot in the previous chapter. We bought these White Claws in the hotel store Monday morning on our way back from breakfast, when we stopped for some bottled water. It was say 8:30 in the morning. In NH, we buy beer, wine and things like White Claw in the grocery store, and then actual liquor is sold in state operated liquor stores, most of which reside on the side of the highways, to supply our southern neighbors with cheap alcohol, after they pay our tolls. If a store, grocery or liquor, is open, you can buy alcohol. Apparently that’s not the same in FL. When we went to cash out, the cashier had to check the time, to make sure it was late enough (after 8 am if it’s not a Sunday...after 11 on Sundays) to sell us the cans of White Claw. You learn something new each time you travel? So anyway, we enjoyed the last of the light, the view, and the White Claws.

 
And then we crashed for the night, because all of that sunshine makes a person tired!