When you are lucky enough to live in St. Petersburg, Florida, USA, where you’re surrounded by spectacular beaches and calm waters, well aside from those pesky hurricanes, you can get a bit spoiled. And with the stress of these days, viruses, civil strife, economic uncertainty, spending time at the beach, walking, swimming, sunbathing, and enjoying the gorgeous sunsets, are the perfect medicines to relieve our stresses.
Even with the near-perfection of our local St. Pete Beach offerings, it’s nice to take a quick 30-ish minute trip south, over the Skyway Bridge, to explore their beaches. Today, a stormy afternoon in July 2020, we head down to Bradenton Beach, Florida.
Our first stop is a bit further south, past Bradenton Beach. Coquina Beach, named after the cute, tiny Coquina clams that wash up all over our beaches. Sadly, so many less than when I was a child, water pollution hurts everyone and everything.
There was a typical Florida afternoon storm, where it rains, and is windy and often accompanied by thunder and lightning, for 5 minutes to a few hours, then BINGO it’s back to clear and sunny. Or not. Mother Nature always runs her own show. Today decided to storm, then stay partially cloudy, which is nice to keep you cooler in the HOT HOT JULY HOT summers.
After a delightfully refreshing swim in the lightly-stormy afternoon, it’s time for a change and some dinner! Walking in the sand, and swimming against the stormy current are both excellent exercises AND a fabulous way to work up a strong appetite!
Heading now to our final destination, Bradenton Beach, we discover a modern fish house, a perfect place to grab a drink, dinner, and enjoy the sunset. Of course, fresh Grouper is on the menu here at Beach House Waterfront Restaurant.
I hope you too are lucky enough to visit our world-class beaches here in St. Pete / Clearwater / Bradenton / Sarasota, Florida (West Central Florida, USA). Well, that’s only if you think drinking margaritas, eating fresh grouper, swimming with the dolphins, and watching breath-taking sunsets can be called ‘being lucky’. I certainly do!
[ Note: All images here are unedited, shot on my Samsung Galaxy Note 10. ]
