Florida Easter 2000
 

We are flying to Orlando and will rent a van to drive to the west coast of Florida for a "beach" vacation. Family of 4 adults, three little boys. Don't want to drive too far. Considering Clearwater, Sarasota, St. Pete's,on advice from this forum. Would like to stay on the beach but not in a cluster of high rises. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks Judy

Didn't you just ask this question a day ago? You received several responses under the heading Clearwater/St. Pete ??'s.

5 general responses do not "several" responses make. Now I am narrowing it down. Sorry..you could just skim it...I need some specifics...Thank you.

What more do you want? For Fodor's forum folks to plan your whole vacation blow by blow?

Judy, I'm sorry that I can't give you advice, but I feel that I have to apologize for the previous posters. Most people on this forum are very helpful and not as hostile. If I am correct, you are asking for opinions on which of the three areas you have chosen in order to narrow it down. You are not asking to have your entire itinerary planned. Hang in there. Helpful Fodorites will soon arrive.

Ilisa, <BR>I can't speak for the second poster but there is no need to apologize for me. <BR> <BR>I was not trying to be unhelpful, just trying to point out that -- at least it appeared to me -- that her questions had been answered (I was one of them). I thought she might have overlooked it as it got pushed further down on the list. <BR> <BR>Sorry the responses weren't specific enough for you. If you look through this site I think you'll see I've been pretty helpful to a lot of people. <BR> <BR>That clarified -- Judy if you can swing it I would suggest trying to get booked into the Don CeSar, which is a beautiful hotel on St. Pete Beach. I would also suggest doing a search on this site under either Clearwater or St. Petertsburg to get the address of a few websites that will give you more information on hotels and activities for you and your family. I would also revisit your other post because I think you got some pretty good information about restaurants and activities in Tampa/St. Pete/Clearwater area.

Sarasota is very nice, as is Clearwater, and I agree that if you do searches using the words of the cities you're interested in you should bring up threads with hotel recommendations. Or if you pick up a Fodor's or Frommer's Florida guidebook at the library or bookstore they will have recommendations too. P.S. Your question brought back some memories for me -- when I was little my family went to Florida for Easter one year. One tip based on our experience: Don't leave Easter candy in the car in Florida! I have vivid memories of chocolate puddles in our rental car...

Judy, <BR> <BR>Good to see this posting. Sorry you caught some negative waves from other posters. I did make some restaraunt suggestions on the othe thread. But I wanted to add some thoughts. You mentioned that you whittled you choices down to Sarrasota, St. pete Beach, and Clearwater Beach. May I suggest taking Cleawater off your list. I just don't think it offers anything that you can't get from the other two. Also, I want to suggest that if you stay in the St. Pete Beach area, try going to Silas Dent's Restaraunt. It has a comfortable atmospher and good food. I liked the original location better, but it caught fire. Also, check out Fort De Soto which is in the sourthen most point of Pinellas County about 15 minutes from Don Cesar area. Also, as far as staying at the Don, I wouldn't. Sure it's a luxury hotel and has a lot of history, but you can have very comfortable and clean lodging anywhere up and down the beach without paying those prices. But even if you don't stay there, walk through it and get a sense of the place.

I was reading my last post and realized I didn't explain what Fort De Soto was and from they way I mentioned it, it sounds like a restaraunt. It's not. It's a fort that is really old and has alot of appeal, both archetectually and interactive for the kids. By interactive, I mean you can walk through the prisoner quarters and see the cannons up close. The fort sits on Fort De Soto Beach which isn't the prettiest beach but is convenient to the Fort and offers picnic tables and grills. It makes for a nice way to spend half to a full day. Enjoy!

Thanks to all of you for your help and support. I like using the Forum, as it has enabled us to enjoy great vacations, while avoiding many of the pitfalls of traveling to unknown places. <BR>Thanks for the "votes of confidence"! :)