Even if, when visiting Florida, you are spending the whole of your vacation in Orlando it may be worthwhile having a day at the Beach. My choice for a daytrip would be Clearwater Beach,
At just over an hour away it is quite an eye opener and quite different from Orlando. The Beaches themselves are gorgeous the sand is powder like and as white as sugar! The beaches do get a little crowded at weekends but as anyone knows who has been to Spain, I don't mean that crowded!! Sometimes the town fills up with football fans when the Tampa Bay Buccs are playing at home so accommodation can be scarce and expensive if you decide to stay overnight. I always like to visit midweek.
The pier is a nice place to visit if you want to do a couple of hours fishing they hire the rods out and you can get some live bait all for around 18 USD. It doesn't matter if you are not an accomplished fisherman it is quite easy to catch a few fish without a great deal of effort. Just be careful what fish you handle though! There is always a few locals on hand to give you advice etc. I may post another story about handling Catfish another time. As our son learnt the hard way!
If you want to take a trip out to sea then I can recommend the Sea Screamer. It is the world's largest speed boat and they take you out to play with the dolphins, which by the way, can be seen playing out at sea quite often, they come quite close to the shore sometimes, they love to play in the sea screamer's wake you can really get a spectacular view of them from the rear of the boat. If you don't get to see any they give you a free pass to try again another day.
Plenty of great places to eat all along the main streets of Clearwater. Two that I can heartily recommend are Reno's and Gondoliers. Both serve excellent food at reasonable prices. As the Sun goes down the restaurants fill up and people gather on the beach to watch the spectacular sunsets. The Pier 60 area comes alive with street entertainers and craft stalls. It is certainly a fun place and well worth a visit if only for a day!
