Back in the Bay

Back in Orlando, while trying to figure out what our next few days were going to pan out to be, Katie got in touch with one of her friends who now lived there.  As it turned out she was busy for a few days which gave us some time to waste, hence the trip back to the east side of the state even though we knew we would be shortly heading back to Orlando.  When we

woke up that Tuesday morning, we had no idea what was in store for us, only that by the end of the day we had to had back toward Orlando.  The main reason for coming back to the East coast was to visit Fort De Soto Park at the mouth of the Tampa Bay.  My cousin Angela had recommended this place to us back in Michigan over Christmas and we were all too eager for an excuse to visit another beach, especially one that came so highly recommended and was previously voted best beach in America.  We reached the beach around 9 a.m. and found it to

be a virtually unspoiled oasis of natural beach. Before exploring the natural wonders of the park, we decided to stop off for a history lesson at the parks namesake, Fort De Soto, located on the southwestern tip of the peninsula.  To Katie's happiness, the fort was currently closed for restoration, so instead we headed to a nearby fishing pier where we watched fisherman of all ages and species go to work.  From elderly snowbirds and downtrodden Mexicans to energetic children and wild dolphins, everyone on the pier, and in the water for that matter, was cleaning up on fish of all kinds as we walked up and down.  All of the action and excitement made it hard to leave the pier, but eventually we moved on to find greener pastures and took the road north to the end of the key.  To get to the beach we had to walk

through a small line of trees that perfectly hid the water and sand making a grand entrance as the beauty of the natural scene unfolded.  Unlike most Florida beaches we had been to, this one was mostly deserted since the north end of the key was still mostly in its natural state leaving little room for spreading out your towel and sunbathing.  The more populous beaches were further to the south, leaving the untamed north alone for those who desired to experience it.  We did, and were not disappointed.  Along the sea-soaked beaches we found

everything from sharks teeth and sea shells to sand dollars and live conchs.  We even saw 2 different water snakes along an inland stream, one as we entered the beach and one as we exited.  After walking a couple miles along the beach, we hopped back into CJ in search of some nourishment.  After a lunch of peanut butter and granola, we headed back north along the eastern coast of Florida in search of Katie's Grandmothers old house in the small town of Treasure

Island.  Katie had not visited this house in over a decade, yet all of her memories of Florida stem from here and as we approached she recounted them with relish until we stood in front of the house.  Since she had no desire to knock on a stranger's door and ask to snoop around their property in search of memories, Katie contented herself with an outside view and we headed on.  We continued northward in search of a land based way to get around Old Tampa Bay, purely for the reason of not wanting to backtrack over the bridge back to the city.  This lead us through some of the most densely populated, small tourist towns we encountered on our whole trip.  The traffic was horrible because the roads were only 2 lanes

and it seemed like everyone from the north had converged on this small seaside town for the winter.  Once we got a little further north, the madness dissipated but did not disappear.  We decided to get off the road for a bit and found the perfect spot in the small downtown area of Dunedin.  By now, it will come as no surprise that it was at the Dunedin Brewery.  We shared some appetizers and some drinks, generally agreeing that if I were to start a brewery one day it would look very similar to this one.  Finding our northern land bridge back to Tampa, we made it back to the city with time to spare and spent a few hours on an outdoor patio at the Tampa Bay Brewing Co.  Satisfied with our night, we drove half way back towards Orlando, staying at our trusty halfway point rest stop once again.