Getaways to the authentic Florida
In Dunedin, we love bicycling the Pinellas Trail, but this charming Tampa Bay area town has more to offer, with eight breweries plus great restaurants and coffee shops in its walkable historic downtown. Twenty minutes away are two excellent state parks with award-winning beaches. Plus it’s a great place to catch a Spring Training game.
Emerson Point Preserve is an exceptional county park, off the beaten path on the southern end of Tampa Bay. There is excellent hiking and kayaking, and the real gem is the Portavant temple mound.
The big draw to the state’s most popular festival is a stellar entertainment lineup on the Wish Farms Stage.
Who doesn’t love the Florida State Fair, its magical midway, and food that is not very good for you — which, of course, is the appeal of a state fair!
Honeymoon Island in Dunedin has a big, natural beach where you can get away from people, but also offers a cafe and bikes and kayaks to rent. Its history involves actual honeymooners drawn here during the Great Depression in a real estate scheme.
The Pinellas Trail is a long, well-marked paved bicycle trail that connects St. Petersburg to Tarpon Springs along Florida’s Gulf coast.
Visiting here, I found myself happy that places like Anna Maria Island survive — a low-rise beach town with quaint cottages and a spectacular beach. Daytrippers will be happy to learn they can skip the weekend traffic and parking hassles with an affordable ferry service from Bradenton.
An open-air Thai brunch and market draws throngs every Sunday morning to this beautiful waterfront temple in Tampa. The food is very good and moderately priced. The exotic gold-trimmed temple is worth visiting just because it’s beautiful, set among shady live oak trees decorated with orchids.
Myakka River State Park is one of Florida’s oldest and largest state parks with three main campgrounds, backcountry campsites, endless hiking and biking trails, kayaking and canoeing, and, oh, the wildlife.
J. B. Starkey Wilderness Park flies under the radar for most people planning Florida trips. It’s not a state park and it’s not near a population center. But this vast water-management preserve offers tent sites in the woods and rustic cabins you can rent quite cheaply. There are miles of trails, including an excellent paved bike trail.