luckygreen

I'm considering about bringing my son with me to an October conference in Orlando. Since airfare into Tampa seems to be much cheaper, I was thinking about coming down early and staying a night or two on the beach. I'm not familiar with the west side of Florida. My son has had a difficult year and I'm hoping the time together will help us reconnect. Is there plenty to do in St. Pete's for a "too young to go to the clubs, too old for the kiddy pool" guy and his mom for 2 days? (Believe it or not, one of the enigmatic things about this kid is he isn't embarrassed to spend time with me.) We don't have unlimited financial resources.

jon

A really neat thing to do is to go parasailing. You can sit side by side or one in front of the other. It's an incredible experience, and the view is unmatched. The cost depends on how high you go. I think it should be $40-60 per person, but maybe cheaper if you ride together.
There are deep sea fishing trips that are kind of cool for all ages. One in particular out of Tarpon Springs is inexpensive, about $30 a day (The Two Georges), but you are on a boat that holds 100 people, so it might be a little tight. I really liked it, and you bring your own lunch. The fee includes rod and bait. Tarpon Springs is about 45 min. north of St. Pete.
You could rent a kayak to see the waterways up close. In Dunedin, there's a place to rent kayaks off the Dunedin Causeway (Sail Honeymoon Inc.), and I think a 2-person kayak is around $45-50 for 4 hours. Kayak to Caladesi Island, which is always ranked in the top 10 beaches in the country. Bring a lunch and relax on the beach before your paddle home. Dunedin is about 30 minutes north of St. Pete.
Downtown St. Pete has great museums, like Salvador Dali, and the Pier has a dolphin sightseeing cruise that goes out. There are also 2-person bikes you can rent from the Pier, $8 for 1/2 hour, and tour around the area. The top floor of the Pier has Cha Cha Coconuts, which is a great restaurant with an island feel and is outdoors with a great view of the water. Baywalk is a courtyard mall a few blocks away and has nice stores and a movie theater.
Hope you have a nice time with your son, and that these ideas help you out. Good luck!

joan

jon has posted some great ideas... That said, I wanted you to know that St. Pete Beach is a separate city from St. Petersburg. You can tell which one has the beach! Anyplace with an address of St. Petersburg, will NOT have a beach, no matter what their website says. Anyway that is off-season here, yet the weather should be lovely (although it's the end of hurricane season, we are rarely subjected to them in this part of the state). Check out the Tradewinds Resort - it is right in the middle of the hotel strip on SPBeach, and lots of restaurants, shopping, stuff to do. You may be able to get a good bargain at this time of year. And I love the parasailing idea! Have fun!

puddin

Luckygreen,
I just returned from a trip to Tampa/St. Pete. The above suggestions are great, and I'd like to add a couple of my own.
My husband and I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED a little restaurant in Pass-a-Grille, right near St. Pete Beach, called Sea Critters. It's got an island/Key West feel to it, the food is great, and it's just a cool restaurant to go to. Basically you go past the Don Cesar (you can't miss this old beautiful hotel on St. Pete beach. Go past the Don with it being on your right) and head south into Pass-a-Grille, Sea Critters cafe will be on a corner on your left. Boats can pull up and dock, so sit on the dock, on the patio or inside. Try the conch fritters. YUM!
Also, why not consider a Tampa Bay Devil Rays game at Tropicana Field? Okay, they're not the Red Sox (although unfortunately they did just beat them recently 15-9) but the field is indoors so you will not have to tolerate the heat and humidity outside. Go early and watch batting practice, eat hot dogs til you get nauseated, all that good stuff. Have fun!! Hope this helped!!

puddin

Luckygreen,
Check out the Sea Critters web site at www.seacritterscafe.com. Also, a nice thing to do is to go to the Don Cesar, go to their pool area out back and watch the sun set. You'll get a chance to see some of this great old hotel; my husband and I did that one night even though we weren't staying there (just walk in like you own the place, who cares) and it was beautiful.

joan

Puddin's right, Sea Critters is great - and kids of all ages enjoy feeding the catfish that congregate at the dock there!

Re the Don CeSar: Don't just watch the sunset - the food at the Sea Porch Cafe, in the pool area, is excellent and reasonably priced. A great value compared to their high-end restaurant, called the Maritana Grille, which I didn't think much of.

RLA

luckygreen, you are to be commended for choosing to get away and spend TIME with your son rather than throw some material thing his way to try to make things better as some do. Your time away won't necessarily be the miracle fix-all, but you should be confident that you are making a huge stride in the right direction. Your caring and efforts will be invaluable and make a difference in the long-run. Have a wonderful time and best of luck to you.

bluestructure

Best place to stay would be on the beach. You also want to stay in a better/safe area and i dont recommend St pete area at all (no offense anyone). Stay in Clearwater Beach....Sheraton Sand Key is the only hotel on the Beach/gulf directly with the best sunsets. There is also parasailing, you can jet skis, main drag in Clearwater Beach all with 10 min away. Also you can drive to Tampa attractions in about 35-40 min. and Orlando is about hour/30min drive away. Its worth checking it out, Im 25 and enjoy the area.