Our trip was by car and we stayed one night down and one night back on the road. We choose the Fairfield Inn both times and were pleased with the cleanliness and really good complimentary breakfasts.

VRBO provided us with a three bedroom condo on the beach with awesome sunsets. Our condo was maintained perfectly and had a woodburning fireplace that we used every night. This being the last week of December, the days were in the 80's but the evenings were cool.

We did our own cooking except for a couple of nights at Caddy's on Gulf Blvd. We love this place! It's directly on the beach and you can take your chair to the water's edge. The sunsets are just great and the grouper sandwiches wonderful. We also ate once at J.R's in Indian Shores and it reminded us very much of Ed Debevichs (sp?) in Chicago.

Most of our days were spent on the beach with drinks in hand. We spent one day at Johns Pass shopping. We also took the Pirate Boat for a two hour tour on the intercoastal. You can catch it at John's Pass and kids love it! Of course we were four adults who also loved it as they give you all the wine and beer you want, included in the price, which is $20.00 pp and children get free pop.

A very relaxing and restful trip.

I'm glad you had such a nice relaxing vacation, cd. Where is Indian Shores, more or less? (I know it must be East Coast, FL, but not sure where.)

I think it has to be West Coast, since there is Gulf Blvd. and the sunsets are so featured. I'm in love with sunset hitting the water too and just love that feature of West Coast FL.

Suki
Actually it's on the Gulf between Clearwater Beach and St Pete Beach. The water is clear and the sand soft white.

We are heading to that area in March. Is this a suites hotel? Is it on the beach? We are travelling with a 2 1/2 year old, would this be appropriate? Looking forward to your reply, and thanks.

sorry, one more question - what is VRBO?

I think it is Vacation Rental By Owner.

we stayed there a few years ago at the Holiday Inn, which was very very nice.There was a great seafood restaurant by it that had a fun piano bar with lots of locals sitting in. There is also that huge strectch of bike trail right there which is great for families

Aha - I don't know why but I thought the intercoastal waterway was on the east coast of Florida.

Canalgirl
VRBO is Vacation Rental By Owner. We use owner properties often. We have found them to be well taken care of. Go to: www.vrbo.com and just click on the state you want and take it from there. You will see lots of options for cities and beaches. The property will be shown with all it's amenities. The unit we had is rented all winter but there are many to choose from all the way around the Gulf and I think a condo or cottage beach vacation with a pool is perfect with a 2 1/2 year old. Have fun looking!

Hi cd! Glad you had a great time, and happy to see you once again found some great accommodations. Missed seeing you at Mid Peninsula! Next time for sure OK?

LLindaC: The Holiday Inn is now a Doubletree
http://www.doubletreebeachresort.com/
(izda local in the bar watching the sunset)

Suki: you are correct; the Intracoastal (note spelling) is on the east coast along the Keys, up the coast-But splits to cut across the state a little north of West Palm (through Lake Okeechobee) to the west coast past my house to the Gulf of Mexico; and coming close to shore near Tallahassee.

Joan, Hi!
We had every intention of doing so and before we knew it, it was time to leave for home! DH and I spent some time in land management offices getting information. He will be retiring in a year so we want to rent an efficiency for 2-3months in the winter. Problem is our budget is $1000.00 a month. Do you know of any? Thanks!

tampatramp, I don't think that's the same property. The one we stayed at was on the Intercoastal , not the beach and the 2 look nothing alike. Here's the one I'm talking about:
http://tinyurl.com/y4vymp

Hey CD....I'm trying to get away for a few days in Florida with my husband. As you may remember, I followed your advice two years ago and stayed in the Island Inn in TI (the Island Inn was a good option)!

Treasure Island was nice enough (we had all our meals and drinks at Caddy's , we loved the water, but hated the sand! It was the coarsest sand I've ever set foot on in Florida! I sort of complained about it the whole time (to my husband, who just shook his head). Is it really soft on Indian Shores?

Hey, sometimes small things make a big difference. Although I liked TI, the sand problem was enough to make me look elsewhere the next time I book a beach vacation in Florida!

(I think I need a vacation......)

cd, I will keep you in mind if I hear of anything. My neighbor rents out his waterfront home to a retired couple each Jan/Feb/Mar...it would be a steal I think, but of course they would have first dibs. There is a gulffront condo near my home that is very very basic, it is called Sunset Chateau. Might be too high.

Here's one, but I'm not sure which condo they're talking about:

http://www.gulfcoastrentals.com/flor...ure-island.htm

BuffaloGirl, LOL, my feet are testament to the truth in what you are saying. But we do have fabulous shelling as a result!

BuffaloGirl
The sand is probably all the same as it's not that far from TI to IS. I thought it was soft but then we had our son with us who lives in Houston and spends a lot of time in Galveston on that brown hard stuff so he commented over and over how beautiful and soft the sand was! I guess it's all relative.

Thanks Joan for the website. It sounds like what we want. I'll get more information from them and keep it in mind. Thanks again!

LLindaC: You're right different Holiday Inn.

a lot of visitors here ask me where the Holiday Inn is. one was torn down and is now a condo & one changed as above.

BuffaloGirl: the beach in TI is very, very wide unlike most other beaches along the gulf so in summer is too far to the water to walk barefoot. The sand is replenished periodically (both by the state of FL and naturally) so it might not be the same year to year.

cd: "The water is clear and the sand soft white." In the summer the water is anything but clear; but you can just walk right into the 90 degree water! [living here, for vacation I like course black sand].

Thanks cd, Joan and TampaTramp for verifying the sand conditions for me! I've been to a lot of Florida beaches, so I was rather surprised at the coarseness. It was nothing a few rum punches at Caddy's couldn't make up for !

That is SO funny. I've heard all these sand grade and beach grade discussions and I am always laughing LOL. Really!

I think my biggest problem with FL over all is not just the heat but the sand. I try to get into the water and stay there, because I dislike sand overall.

We are all so different. I prefer a beach like Italy's. ALL rocks, no sand!