LiznJack

Hi all,

Fiance and I will be driving from Atlanta to Ft. Myers next month (down I-75). Rather than do it all in one day we were thinking about finding a fun town, on the beach, where we could stop in the afternoon, maybe go swimming, someplace with bars and restaurants within walking distance. I did a quick look on the map and don't see any obvious place like this. We don't want to drift too far from the I-75 because we have to be in Ft. Myers the next day at noon. So, we're basically looking for a short but fun stopover.

We'd really appreciate any and all suggestions. Thanks!

Liz

sweet_polly

There's really not much before you hit the Tampa, and at that point the beaches are about 30 minutes away. Anything between Clearwater and St. Pete Beach wouldn't be bad...however, at that point, you're only about two hours from Ft. Myers.

Cedar Key is kinda cute...and it's about 130 miles north of Tampa. I don't think there's any beach there to speak of, but it's a very quaint little "step-back-in-time" town, with a nice selection of cute shops and waterfront restaurants and bars. http://cedarkey.org/

Other than that, there's really little of interest in northern gulf-side part of the state. That leaves either Clearwater/St. Pete or Sarasota/Bradeneton. St. Armand's Circle in Lido Key (Sarasota) is very nice, and not too far off of the interstate...however, you will not be terribly far from Ft. Myers by the time you reach it.

LiznJack

Hi sweet polly,

Thanks for the info. We were thinking about Sarasota but then realized its so close to Ft Myers that it probably wouldn't be worth stopping. What's Clearwater/St. Pete like?

Thanks!

Liz

sweet_polly

Clearwater beach has gotten a little over-the-top tacky/touristy for my taste...it's mostly cheap restaurants, t-shirt stores, and souvenir shops. It seems to attract a lot of families and younger people.

St. Pete Beach is a little cleaner and classier, in my opinion, with plenty of restaurants and beach bars around (although the tourist element is still there). There's a really cute area at the southern tip of St. Pete Beach called Pass-A-Grille which is very cute, but mostly residential and not over built up...although it does have a little "nightlife" section at the very end on the beachside with a legendary restaurant and night club called The Hurricane. I have lived in this area for 20 years...if you tell me exactly what kind of environment you are looking for (classic Florida-tacky/ somewhat upscale/lower-key, but with a few spots withing walking distance/etc.), I would have a better idea of what to receommend here on the Pinellas Suncoast. The beaches are barrier islands, divided into several tiny towns from Clearwater to St. Pete...and each has its own "personality". The beaches will be lovely no matter which one you end up on in Pinellas county.

NeoPatrick

I haven't done that for a while, but are some of you suggesting you can get to the beach at Clearwater or St. Pete from I-75 in less than an hour?

Frankly, LiznJack, I'd forget about the beach on the way, or just plain continue on to Ft. Myers. Or if you wanted to stop for the night head to somewhere like Ybor City in Tampa for some nightlife and restaurants.

LiznJack

It doesn't have to be the beach. How far is clearwater and st pete from I-75?

What's Ybor City like?

Sweet Polly: in our heads we were hoping to find a beach "strip" type thing where we could walk out the hotel, walk down the road and find some bars and restaraunts. We're in our early 30s. The trip to Ft Myers is a family thing so we were hoping to have one fun night of eating and drinking with just us.

Thanks for any help/advice/suggestions. We really appreciate it!

Liz

sweet_polly

I would say St. Pete Beach, Treasure Island, or Madeira Beach (TI and MB are the two little beach townships just north of St. Pete Beach) would be your best bets. You may even like Clearwater Beach...but that one's hard for me to recommend because I don't. Any of those would offer a variety of restaurants and bars within walking distance. It will take you around 45 minutes to an hour to get to any of them from I-75, unless it's rush hour.

thurstonbb

I had to go to a meeting around there and stayed in Gulfport (next to St. Pete Beach) at Seabreeze Manor. It was very quaint, laid back, beach across the street and overlooks Tampa Bay. There are several places to walk to for food and drinks. I think this may be just what you are looking for!

Netwit2000

My daughter and I spent a week in Madeira Beach last June. It was the best vacation we've been on bar Hawaii. I found Clearwater Beach to be one of the prettiest I've seen. It was more crowded, but still lovely. I got great pics there. We stayed in a little unit across the street from a stretch of Madeira Beach. The water was so clear it looked like bathwater. And so warm the first week in June.

There were so many things to do and see along that area, although I don't remember the exact proximity to I-75. Caladesi Island, Clearwater, St. Pete's we visited them all and loved every one.

If you're going to Ft. Meyers, don't forget to go to Sanibel and Captiva. We were there the year before the hurricane attacked, so I'm not sure how it is now. But when we visited, the shelling on Sanibel was incredible. Ft. Meyers Beach was not as nice, a little red tide that year and some trash.

But now the area around Madeira Beach, I can't recommend enough. We're probably going back again this year. If you want some pics or links to where we stayed just drop me an e-mail with "from Fodors" in the subject line.
[email protected]

birder

It's going to take you longer than 45 minutes to get from I-75 to St Pete. However, the good news is, from St. Pete to I-75 wil not take as long. You can just cross the Sunshine Skyway (a tourist attraction in its own right, IMHO) and I-275 takes you right to I-75 in a few minutes. So you might spend some time detouring TO St. Pete but it will take less time getting back to I-75.

OO

I know someone disagreed with this, but I did the drive enough times to know for certain that it's 40 minutes just from the airport area of Tampa to Clearwater Beach--the pier, or our favorite parking lot just north of that. It isn't that far, but the stop lights are not coordinated and traffic is a mess especially in March! I recall a couple of times in March where we decided to go to the beach for the day, drove all the way out, then could not for the life of us find a parking spot so turned around and drove home. It is far easier to go to St Pete Beach, staying on I-275. As birder says, getting onto 75 again is a snap over the Sunshine Skyway, and one of the prettiest stretches of interstate in FL, IMO.

Gulfport, mentioned previously, is really a cute little town with little bars and restaurants...one quite good, scattered around. Although we've moved, we still have our sailboat in the Gulfport marina so get back. That water is not the Gulf, but Boca Ciega Bay, and I would not swim there, although plenty do. It's not the nice Gulf...and I'm still freaked from the shark attack that killed the poor guy who jumped off his dock into Boca Ciega as he had done every day he lived there. I know, I know...a freak accident...but the water isn't clear in the bay and I'm not gettin in!

SiestaLinda

It seems to me that what you want is one nite alone to have fun, before you do the family thing. So even tho Sarasota is close to Ft. Myers I think it would be perfect. The beaches are a direct 6-8 miles off of I-75 so you do not have to leave the next morning til like 11am to be in Ft. Myers around noon.

I am suggesting either Lido Beach--which has more hotels/motels that you can book into for just one nite on the beach or across from the beach. then you can walk to St. Armands Circle which has a ton of restaurants, including Tommy Bahamas. I am thinking 30 years olds would like that it is a fun place.

Or something on Siesta Key which has more bars/restaurant type places and a great beach. However Siesta is more limited in motels--no hotels on Siesta.

But you can be at either beach very quickly from I-75

sweet_polly

I don’t know what route you folks who are driving over an hour from I-75 to get the beach is, but I currently live about 7 miles east of I-75 in Brandon, and it never takes me longer than an hour to get to either St. Pete Beach, Clearwater Beach, or any of the beaches in between (and I have to get through a densely populated suburban area with about 12 traffic lights before I ever hit 75). I would certainly never jump right onto I-275 at its northern junction with I-75…it’s torn up always a mess. There’s a new toll road (the Crosstown Expressway) which runs super-smoothly, connects with I-75 near the Brandon exit, and gets you from there to the downtown area in about 7 minutes. At that point, you’re at a good place to jump on 275 (close to the Howard Frankland bridge), and it’s a very easy shot from there to any of the beach exits. The poster who suggested taking 75 down to the southern 275 junction and backtracking north to St. Pete also had a good idea…it’s much faster than taking 275 at the first junction.

Now, if they hit during rush hour, all bets are off…I’m talking about moderate traffic here.

NeoPatrick

about rush hour. If they are driving from Atlanta leaving in the morning, I would suspect their arrival in Tampa would be very much IN rush hour. No?

sweet_polly

Good point, neo. I guess that would depend on the day of the week and what time they leave. It takes around 7 hours, so if they left early and didn't dally they might be okay.

sweet_polly

7 to Tampa, that is...then there'd be that extra time getting out to the beach.

How do you kids feel about leaving home at around 6:00 AM?

LiznJack

Hey! I'm so sorry for not responding sooner. I got side tracked. Our wedding is in two weeks (yikees!) and there's still a lot to do. Planning for the Florida trip got put on hold. After reading your posts we've tentatively decided to spend the day/night in Tampa. Not the beach, but it should be fun. Thanks again and I'm sorry for being so lame and not acknowledging your good help sooner.

Liz

Samsaf

Hey, LiznJack, you had also asked about Ybor City. My husband and I stayed there for one night before a cruise out of Tampa. We enjoyed the area. We stayed (I think) at the Hilton Garden Inn. We walked to restaurants, etc. It was good for a one-night stay.

LiznJack

Hi Samsaf,

Thank you for the note. We're actually going to be staying close to Ybor City. Can you recommend a restaurant or any fun things in the area? Thanks!

Liz

sweet_polly

Some restaurant recommendations for Ybor are The Columbia (a Spanish classic), Bernini (for Italian), and Acropolis Greek Taverna. There's also a great Muvico in the heart of Centro Ybor if you want to catch a movie. Ybor City is interesting, yet gritty, rough, and not really pretty...can get rowdy on weekend nights.