One day we decided to head for the beach as it was a beautiful warm and sunny typical Florida day.
On the east coast a few miles south of Clearwater is a place called Madeira beach that was recommended to us so we decided to give it a try as we had never been there before and it’s always good to do something different. We drove from our villa at Orange Tree near Disneyworld towards Tampa on the I4 and then onto Clearwater. It was an easy drive and we didn’t get lost once! We drove down the coast road heading south, taking in the scenery along the way.
Madeira beach was lovely, long stretches of clean white sand and clear warm water. We relaxed on the warm sand, and cooled off in the clear blue sea. After a few hours we had had our fill of the beach and decided to make a visit to a shopping village nearby called”St Johns Pass village and boardwalk” to get a bite to eat and perhaps a little bit of shopping!
On approaching it seemed a lively place, full of shops and places to eat and a Boardwalk with fishing boats. Parking was easy and we were soon enticed into the many shops in the village. One shop sold beautiful hand carved wooden ornaments and jewellery, another sold fine jewellery, and another sold fun jewellery and gifts. Among others there is a fine selection of clothes shops, shoe shops, gift shops, a wine shop, and interesting speciality shops such as Sinbad’s Treasure Chest (full of all types of curious items) and old pass spice traders. We picked up a map and directory from the stand so that we didn’t miss anything. These shops gave us well over 2 hours of happy browsing and we did have to part with our money and buy a few things!
On the dock were all types of different boats waiting to whisk you away on a dolphin watch, or a fishing trip, or a cruise or tour. Also available was parasailing and waverunners or you could even rent a boat and do your own thing. Fishermen, or women will adore this place!
We didn’t stay for the evening but there were lots of places to get a meal and we would like to go back and visit again perhaps next time staying longer so we could soak up the evening atmosphere, perhaps dining at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.
We had a really great day, and would recommend this to anyone wanting to visit the seaside in Florida.
On the east coast a few miles south of Clearwater is a place called Madeira beach that was recommended to us so we decided to give it a try as we had never been there before and it’s always good to do something different. We drove from our villa at Orange Tree near Disneyworld towards Tampa on the I4 and then onto Clearwater. It was an easy drive and we didn’t get lost once! We drove down the coast road heading south, taking in the scenery along the way.
Madeira beach was lovely, long stretches of clean white sand and clear warm water. We relaxed on the warm sand, and cooled off in the clear blue sea. After a few hours we had had our fill of the beach and decided to make a visit to a shopping village nearby called”St Johns Pass village and boardwalk” to get a bite to eat and perhaps a little bit of shopping!
On approaching it seemed a lively place, full of shops and places to eat and a Boardwalk with fishing boats. Parking was easy and we were soon enticed into the many shops in the village. One shop sold beautiful hand carved wooden ornaments and jewellery, another sold fine jewellery, and another sold fun jewellery and gifts. Among others there is a fine selection of clothes shops, shoe shops, gift shops, a wine shop, and interesting speciality shops such as Sinbad’s Treasure Chest (full of all types of curious items) and old pass spice traders. We picked up a map and directory from the stand so that we didn’t miss anything. These shops gave us well over 2 hours of happy browsing and we did have to part with our money and buy a few things!
On the dock were all types of different boats waiting to whisk you away on a dolphin watch, or a fishing trip, or a cruise or tour. Also available was parasailing and waverunners or you could even rent a boat and do your own thing. Fishermen, or women will adore this place!
We didn’t stay for the evening but there were lots of places to get a meal and we would like to go back and visit again perhaps next time staying longer so we could soak up the evening atmosphere, perhaps dining at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.
We had a really great day, and would recommend this to anyone wanting to visit the seaside in Florida.