Thursday 17th October 2019
Clearwater Bound
We left by 9am this morning and drove North to Clearwater, this involves going over the massive Skyway Bridge. Oddly, we should have driven over it on the way from the airport, but as I discovered this morning, my settings in Waze (my sat-nav application) was set to avoid toll-roads. As the Skyway Bridge has a $1.50 toll, I was routed around it - probably adding 30 minutes to our inbound trip - doh!
Sea Screamer
On arrival, we were lucky to get a good parking place in Clearwater's central harbour parking area. From there we went over to the Sea Screamer power boat and booked a trip at noon.
Travelling not so light
As the trip was only 50 minutes away. We returned to the car to unpack the cold-box and grabbed a quick bite to eat. It was very warm, so I sat under the raised back door to keep in the shade as best we could.
Dolphins Galore
We headed out on the boat, luckily we got to the back of the boat as we like to do. Not long after we left, we picked up a pod of three or four dolphins. They were happy to play in the wake of the boat which is the Sea Screamer's main party trick.
Not So Much Screamy
On our past rides on the Sea Screamer (I think we've been on it five or six times now) the last part of the ride is an exciting fast ride along the edge of the Gulf. This usually results in lots of spray and a potential to get equipment wet. So we'd gone prepared with plastic cases for phones and I had a bag for the camera.
But once we'd finished with the dolphins... the boat just sailed back to dock. Hardly any speed and certainly no screams. :(
Cooling Down
Once back on dry land, we headed to the ice cream shop on the pier for a two scoop ice cream. It was melting fast though.
On the Pier
We then had a walk over to the Pier and spent some time on there. It was wonderfully cool under the shady part so we were quite happy to sit there in the cool and watch the bathers. I took some slow-motion video of some guys practicing their wave surfing. Yes, they are better than I'd ever be, but still.....
Back Home
After the pier we drove back home. It's about a hour to drive so we were both glad to get back in the cool of the apartment when we returned. We headed down to the pool soon after as was intending to watch the sunset, but to be honest, it was a very cloudy day and the sunset was almost nothing, one of the poorest we've seen.
Meal tonight was at IHOP for an omelette, but I was most looking forward to their Swedish Crepes, but would you believe it, IHOP had run out of Crepe Batter mix :( :( :( so no crepes for me.
WalMart last minute
On the way back from IHOP we stopped at WalMart to pick up the last few things we need, mainly to go home with on Saturday.
< This is part of their Hallowe'en display.
Wet Weekend
Looking at the forecast tonight, they are predicting a 'sub tropical' depression to being wind and rain to NW Florida over the next day or so. Looks like the worst of the weather will be Saturday - just when we're driving to the airport! We're only on the edge of the bad area but it'll make the next day a little windy and could impact our journey to the airport. It's the start of a tropical storm (which could develop into a Hurricane at some point) but it won't be organised enough to affect us in any severe way.