Tuesday 14th August

It was 7am when I got up to go out onto the balcony today after a really good nights sleep This morning though everything was back to normal and I was greeted with clear skies and another spectacular sunrise.

Scott joined me and we chatted about how we’d enjoyed our time here but we were excited about going to the coast for a couple of nights.

Once everyone was awake we had our breakfast then packed up the last few things up. It was 10am when we finally left the Blue Heron, what a great time we’d had here.

Before we set off to Clearwater I wanted to nip into the Premium outlets to have a look in the Character Warehouse. This time we managed to find a few good bits and bobs, probably because we arrived there just after opening. Even got myself another t-shirt, not that I haven’t got enough already!

The line to pay was really long and you could see people with baskets full of stuff. It does seem that the stock is better when the store first opens and the big bargains get snapped up quickly.

Happy with our little stash of Disney goodies we had a quick look in the Kate Spade shop and I bought myself a new purse and some earrings as there was 70% off.

We all had a restroom break before leaving the outlets, filled the car up with petrol then started our journey down the I4 towards Tampa.


The journey down was pretty uneventful. Before we knew it we were nearing Tampa, at this point Poppy said she was desperate for the toilet. I noticed a sign for McDonalds which was just off junction 5. We pulled in and headed straight for the restrooms. Of course it would’ve been rude for us not to have eaten in here and whilst Scott and I weren’t hungry the kids didn’t want to turn down the chance of some food. They had their lunch we had some coffee then went back onto the road.

It was all pretty straight forward again driving through to Clearwater.




The traffic was kind to us and we arrived at our hotel just before 2pm. Quite pleased that we managed to find the hotel easily too!
Valet parking only at this resort at $27 per day, thankfully we knew of these charges beforehand.




I’d made a request on our booking for a water/harbor view if possible. We were given the keys to our room and we were very pleased to see that we’d been given a room with a lovely view. The room was really modern, quite a new resort, and was spotless. We were so very happy with the hotel.








Extremely keen to see what the beach was like we grabbed some towels from the pool and headed to the beach. We had to walk through the big surf shop to get to the beach, well it just made it easier and quicker to do this. The shop had everything you needed in there so we knew we’d be using this place a lot over the next couple of days.

The beach was fairly crowded but we managed to find a spot to lay our towels. It looked as beautiful as the last time we’d visited in 2010 but it was just busier.




Went into the sea in fact that’s where we spent a lot of the time. It was lovely to see Hayden and Jamie having fun just jumping over the waves. Poppy played in the sand and then we explored the beachfront - what a lovely chilled and relaxed couple of hours we had, couldn’t wait for more time on the beach tomorrow!











On our walk back through the Surf shop we picked up a few cans for the room, so convenient!







Once back in our room we all showered and changed then headed on out for some tea. We didn’t walk far before we spotted the café Frenchy’s - the menu looked good and we were seated straight away out on the patio.





The food was really tasty and the place had a nice relaxed vibe, just perfect for here.







It had gone quite cloudy as the night had gone by so it did mean there was little chance of a sunset that night. Still it didn’t stop us from having a wander across to the beach which was looking really beautiful. There were lots of other families, friends and couple’s doing little photo shoots and selfies on the sands. Of course we had to do the same!






Afterwards we walked along to the Pier 60 and watched the street entertainers. Walking along the Pier we looked at the little stalls there, so interesting to see what people had made and were selling here.


We walked around a bit more soaking up the atmosphere and we had an ice cream form the beach shop at the bottom of the pier. It was still quite busy when we left and we were back in our room for 10pm.

The kids watched some Youtube whilst we had a drink on the balcony. It was a lovely view to look out to and this part of the street was also very quiet.



We made Poppy’s bed up which was a pullout from the sofa but it was really big and very comfy too.

What a lovely day we’d had in Clearwater.

Thanks for reading

What a lovely day. Looking forward to more. We had our first overnight trip to St Pete's this year with the family, and we absolutely loved it.

Aaah that’s a lovely day 🙂
Love the beach, and your room/view just perfect 👍

I am determined to go there next year when we go, looks fab

Lovely view from your room

We've not been to St Pete's, it looks beautiful too glad you enjoyed your family beach time

We loved everything about it
Thanks for your lovely comments.

I hope you manage to visit sometime


Thank you, it was so pretty looking out to the marina

Hi

Which hotel did you stay at?

We stayed at the Hilton and Grand Plaza Beachfront Hotel in St Petes. Both fab hotels.

We have also stayed twice at the Blue Heron! Fab location

But yours looks super fresh!

AnnMarie

The Blue Heron Resort looks fab, what a great location.

Nice easy drive to Clearwater and your hotel there looks really nice. Would you mind saying which hotel it is as we're thinking of a Clearwater overnight stay later this year but haven't booked anything yet.

Lovely afternoon on the beach, and some great photos. It's a shame you didn't get an amazing sunset but hopefully you will before you leave.

Absolutely love Clearwater! Where are you staying Julia?

Blue Heron was brilliant for us, would definitely go back.

Sorry did i forget to mention the hotel name, its the Springhill Suites Clearwater Beach. Great location!

It was the Springhill Suites Clearwater Beach, also the Marriott is next to it so both are in a good location. Ask for harbour view though.

I think you're already away Lynda, hope you managed to sort something out.

Sorry i must have forgot to say, Springhill Suites Clearwater Beach