West Coast of Florida - WOW

OK, we're in Tampa and this is such a beautiful area so we set out to look at this highly rated RV Park, Bay Bayou in western Tampa - just get off the interstate on Hillsborough Avenue and head west - way west. I've been to Tampa many times and didn't know it went this far. Bay Bayou was a beautiful park on water and you know when you see it that the ratings are in line. Before we decide where we are going to go, we consult several books, the internet, our Tiffin blog and then my software on my computer which has all the RV Parks in the US. Another helpful way is to drive directly to the park and see if this is the kind of place you would feel safe staying - and it was.

We rode until we found the Dunedin Causeway that goes to Honeymoon Island State Park...and then you can catch the ferry to Caladesi Island. We didn't, but we would love to come back one day. It kind of reminded you of getting to Key West - maybe even driving around in Hawaii. People were on both sides of the Causeway fishing, swimming, etc. It was amazing. We decided we couldn't go into Honeymoon Island (voted #1 in State Parks in the USA) right now so we returned back over the Causeway and turned right on 19A - WOW. Dunedin is beautiful but then it starts to get a little commercial - kind of like Daytona - but newer - Clearwater - Bellair Beach - Indian Rocks Beach - Redington Beach - Madeira Beach - Treasure Island - St. Pete Beach - one of my favorites - John's Pass. Notice how fast I said all those places - well that's how fast we seemed to be going.

We weren't in any hurry but we both definitely felt this was our first day of vacation for the rest of our lives. We stopped in Indian Rocks Beach and ate lunch at a neat little restaurant - Guppy's - which really exceded our espectations. (pix) Then we stopped at St. Pete's Beach at a Tastee Treat for an ice cream. Like the sticker on our bus says, "Life Is Good". We came back the long way - the Sunshine Skyway..... it was amazing they are using the old Causeway as a fishing pier of both sides.... there were even RV's on the bridges. They've set up several permanent restrooms on all sides. It is very big. I think you could go deep sea fishing and never get in a boat! We both kept saying - "This is a part of Florida we didn't know existed. Unbelievable!"