St. Pete Beach April 24-May 1

My wife and I are making our first visit to St. Pete Beach for a week. I am staying in a condo on the beach. What should we see and looking for places to eat, entertainment, etc. We love to dance and see what sights there are in the area. Hope you can assist.

Thanks!!

St. Pete Beach April 24-May 1

Hi, mcdonapa,

A few things you definitely should see are the sunset from the beach (! - and it%26#39;s free!), some type of boat ride (maybe a dolphin watch or a fishing trip), and Fort De Soto State Park, which has one of the top rated beaches in the country, as well as a wealth of recreational options, like kayaking, biking, fishing, etc.

A visit to downtown St Pete is fun, too. The Pier is a dining and entertainment complex with a great view of Tampa Bay and lots of things to do. There are lots of museums, too. The Dali Museum is amazing, even if you don%26#39;t usually like museums!

Places to eat - well, for local flavor, try Dockside Dave%26#39;s for grouper sandwiches, Bella Havana for Cuban, and Ted Peters%26#39; Smoked Fish. Some other favorite casual places are Sea Critters, the Wharf, Agave for Mexican, Sloppy Pelican, Philthy Phil%26#39;s, and Sea Hags. Finer dining is great at Snapper%26#39;s or Madfish.

Several of the local beach bars have live music for dancing. Jimmy B%26#39;s, behind the Beachcomber, has live music daily from mid-afternoon til late evening. The Undertow has live reggae occasionally, and canned dance music at other times (the crowd here tends to be mostly 20-somethings - don%26#39;t know how old you are, but just letting you know). Other places with live music and dancing are Blue Parrott, Philthy Phil%26#39;s, Drunken Clam, and the Swigwam. (I%26#39;m probably forgetting some!) But our very fave place for dancing is Wednesday night at Woody%26#39;s Waterfront. It%26#39;s Motown night, and everyone is Always having fun!

All of these places are very flip-flop casual! No dress-up dance clubs in SPB. For those, you would need to go to downtown St Pete, Clearwater or Tampa.

You have picked a nice time to come! The weather is generally perfect then!

More specific questions, just ask! It%26#39;s hard to help while being so general.

St. Pete Beach April 24-May 1

Thanks for the info. We are in our 40%26#39;s and like to get out and have a good time. Boat trips-any recommendations? We will for sure hit the Motown night and head to a Rays Baseball game and Busch Gardens as well. Any other ideas, let me know. We are up for just about anything fun.

Hi,again,

My favorite boat trip is the Dolphin Racer. It is a speed boat that circles the island, passing through Boca Ciega Bay and cruising along the beach. The dolphins really like to play in the wake behind the boat - they ';surf'; along behind. Sit in the back for the best view.

A sunset sail is nice, too, but, really, it looks exactly the same as from the beach! And, speaking of boat rides, save yourselves some money and don%26#39;t be tempted by the Starlight Princess dinner cruise, unless you really enjoy the mass-produced food and something-for-everyone music of your average wedding reception. Think luke-warm food and the hokey-pokey!)

And Rays tix will be going on sale the week of Feb 23!

You will Love Motown night - the group who performs are fabulous! And Busch Gardens is a blast, especially if you like roller coasters. But even if you don%26#39;t, the new Jungala viewing area is awesome. Tigers and orangutans, up close.

Is there a website for the dolphin racer? Where should we go for a good meal around the stadium before the Rays game? Appreciate the info thus far. We are staying in a condo at 66th and Sunset Way. Are we close to the Motown night and other places you mentioned? Thanks

Hi,

Website is dolphinracer.com. Also ,when you arrive look around at businesses for the free Guide to Tampa Bay. It always has coupons.

For food near the Trop, the popular, busy pre-game spot is Ferg%26#39;s Sports Bar. Everyone there is on their way to the game. Very good, typical bar food. Another option, for a nicer meal, but still not too fancy, is Savannah%26#39;s. Excellent Southern-style food.

You will be Very close to Woody%26#39;s, the Motown place - it is also on Sunset Way, which is a pretty short road. Other walkable places are Philthy Phil%26#39;s, Beverly%26#39;s, Frog Pond and Sloppy Pelican. But, really, SPB is not that big, so you won%26#39;t be really far from anything!