Caladesi Island - America's #1 Beach!

I hope if you are reading this you will be lucky enough to visit Caladesi Island, just 2 miles from Dunedin. Dr. Beach just announced Caladesi is the #1 Beach in America! It has the most beautiful sand I've ever seen, clear waters, and lots and lots of shells.

http://blogs.tampabay.com/breakingnews/2008/05/caladesi-named.html

Dunedin in May

What a beautiful time of year to spend in Delightful Dunedin. The daytime temperatures are around 85', and nights are around 70'. The Gulf of Mexico water temp is 80' - warm enough to play and swim in.

Friday I flew in from Boise to Tampa - great flight, enjoyed the movie and iPod podcasts I had downloaded. Easy trip and just 6 hours from when I took off in Boise until I landed in Tampa. Got the rental and headed to the condo. Opened the door and instantly fell in love all over again with our pink little paradise of a condo!

Saturday morning I got up and ran errands, stopped by a yard sale to scour for bargains, and I ended up selling two sleeping blow-up mattresses to a lady in the drive-way for $10! I was headed to donate them to the youth ranch and ended up with ten bucks in my pocket! Hope the person having the yard sale wasn't upset that I sold my stuff at her sale - I did donate a coffee maker and body pillow to her sale so I wouldn't have to drive to the Youth Ranch. I think she was cool with that. Picked Darlene up at the airport and we headed straight to the Old Palm Harbor Arts and Crafts Faire. We went to a jewelry booth, and chatted with the artist for a minute. She mentioned her mom was from Ohio, we asked where, she said Springfield, we asked her mom's name and she said THIEM! I asked who her parents were and she said Skip and DoDee Thiem! Unbelievable! We go to a crafts fair and meet someone we are related to! Skip Thiem is the brother of Mike Thiem, our sister Gloria's husband who was killed in a sky diving accident in 1967. The Thiem's moved to the Tampa area 40 years ago, and we meet Barbara Thiem in 2008. Barbara is FIRST cousins with my nieces and nephew, Tami, Mike and Suzi. What a tiny tiny small world. The three of us were just shocked our paths crossed.

From there we headed to our favorite garden center and walked through beautiful tropical plants and yard creations. Working in a garden center in FLA would be a beautiful job huh? After the little Palm Harbor tour we headed to Frenchy's Rockaway Grill on Clearwater Beach for a bite to eat and watch the sunset on our first Saturday night on the Gulf. Life doesn't get much better.

Sunday was spent at a new beach for us...Siesta Key and Siesta Beach. Wow - what a gorgeous white sandy beach and crystal clear water. The waves were crashing and I felt like I was 10 years old again playing in the water, riding the waves and having the salt water go up my nose. It was a quiet day for a Sunday and not as many people as I thought. Had lunch in the local village and then headed to the Outlet Mall in Ellenton. Found a few treasures and then headed back to Dunedin. If you travel to Florida, make sure Siesta Beach is on your list of places to visit.

Monday evening was awesome. Darlene and I took our beach chairs along with a small table and flamingo glasses and wine to watch to the sunset on Clearwater Beach. Many women walked by us and commented on how they would like to join us! It's quite different to sit and watch the sunset and relax..... typically we walk the beach and and wait....this time was different knowing we had a special spot all to ourselves to enjoy the close of the day.

Tuesday morning the rain showers came just as I got in from my morning bike ride through Dunedin. We headed to the Galley for lunch, then put on our swim suits and sat at our pool from 2-4 pm. Met a new neighbor and then headed back to watch Oprah on how to cut 10 years off your looks (hint, stay out of the sun!). Then showered and dressed for dinner at PJ's Oyster House in Indian Rocks. Dined on grouper and shrimp, and Darlene had two HUGE crab cakes. Yum!

Wednesday...the skies were clear so we headed to Honeymoon Island. Honeymoon is a State Park in Dunedin that happens to be an island. The waves were fairly intense today - as I was trying to float on my orange noodle in very shallow water, a BIG wave came calling and threw me to the bottom which was filled with rocks. Have a little "wave" rash on my leg but it was SO worth it! I found a man of war on the beach, poked at him with a shell and left him to sun himself. Honeymoon Island was quiet today but wait until school is out. It will be packed with families, boaters and sun lovers. For dinner we went 1 block from the condo and ate at a cute little family owned Italian restaurant, Little Italy. Talked with Joe our server who told us that the new owner is his uncle Julian, and they've owned it about 3 months. Food is great as ever, had Veal Scallopini and Darlene had Chicken Marsela.

Thursday brought more showers which is much needed in Florida this spring. We ran some more errands ( a never ending quest to get the right curtains for the kitchen, 2 hours later and about 75 miles - geez). I bought pavers for the back yard and this afternoon we spent weeding and thinning out the plants that seem to have never ending roots that grow in the sand down here. It's so different than the hard baked sun dried soil of Idaho. Guess that is why we can grow potatoes in Idaho, and they grow huge beautiful flowers in Florida! This evening we drove across the Bay to Hard Rock Cafe in Tampa, had dinner and played a few slots. After losing $10 give or take a buck, Darlene and I decided we are TO cheap to enjoy throwing our money into slot machines so we booked it back to Dunedin. Drove through Safety Harbor which is on the Old Tampa Bay and then back to the condo. Tomorrow the handy man is coming to fix a few things, and then we will walk around downtown Dunedin in the evening...for the sites and dinner of course!