|
|
Beaches offer inexpensive treats, for shore Saving your sand dollars
By JANIS D. FROELICH of The Tampa Tribune
INDIAN SHORES - The orange globe of the setting sun teeters on the horizon as it's about to dunk into the shimmering water.
It's a sight that's replayed daily, depending on the weather, on the Suncoast beaches.
The blazing sunset is an integral part of the Pinellas County beach experience - one that continues to lure and intoxicate visitors as they stand at the lapping shores.
But if you're just that - a visitor - there are other waters to navigate. The challenge is finding the best place to go and not shell out tourist-inflated dollars to enjoy this spectacular natural meeting of land and water.
Why is a cheap beach guide necessary? Can't you just jump in your car on a hot Hillsborough Saturday morning and escape westward across one of the three Tampa Bay bridges?
Yes and no. From the southernmost point at Fort DeSoto Park on Tierra Verde north 30 miles to Clearwater Beach, two elements dominate: parking meters and development on top of development.
Both have a nasty way of messing up the quest for a relaxing Gulf of Mexico excursion.
Most beach parks have parking meters, requiring the constant feeding of quarters. If it's any comfort, this isn't the doing of Pinellas County. Park director Joseph Lapardus explains that because the county has purchased so much prime real estate along the coast, the individual beach towns are losing revenue. So the small cities install and maintain parking meters to recoup some of their lost tax money.
That's why the parking fees vary so widely at each beach access parking lot. For example, at Pass-A-Grille, meters are operational seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and one quarter buys you 15 minutes of beach nirvana.
At Tiki Gardens, a parking lot at Indian Shores, the rate is 50 cents an hour and parkers deposit their money (in advance) in envelopes. At Clearwater Beach, the two lots charge $1 an hour ($7 maximum), payable upon exiting. If you snag a spot on the street, the meter rate is 25 cents for 20 minutes.
But hey, here's the good news. There are two large free parking lots along the beaches on Gulf Boulevard. One is at 104th Avenue in Treasure Island, across from Winn-Dixie, and the other is at 182nd Avenue West in Redington Shores, about a block south of the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary (also free!) at 18328 Gulf Blvd. in Indian Shores.
Some of the lots have dollar-bill changers so you can get a handful of 25-cent pieces, such as Sand Key (20 minutes of parking for a quarter).
But the moral here is: Always travel with a roll
of quarters when coming to a Suncoast beach. And wear a watch because these meters have time limits (such as four hours at Sand Key) so you can plunk in only so many quarters at once.On to the ugly vs. the beauty dynamics in Pinellas County.
``We're very proud of our beaches,'' says park director Lapardus. ``They're the backbone of Pinellas County tourism.''
The parks, both city and county-owned, do sparkle - clean rest rooms, just enough posted rules (like no dogs on the beach) to remind users to not make a mess or nuisance of themselves and litter- free sandy shores.
So it's a shame that so much commercial tackiness and residential sprawl divide the divine landscape along the water.
``It's a concrete jungle,'' laments Ybor City coffee icon Danilo Fernandez about the Pinellas County beaches. And he lives there.
But obviously Fernandez and his wife, Millie, who own the Naviera Coffee Mills and El Molino, a coffee shop at 2012 E. Seventh Ave., have sifted out enough of the beauty of the beaches to be willing to make the 45 minute-plus commute daily to Ybor City from their Indian Shores home.
Fifteen years ago, they sold their 5,000-square-foot north Tampa home to relocate to Fernandez's grandfather's cottage, which was built in 1946.
Fernandez regrets that the beaches and surrounding streets are no longer a continuous pattern of sea oats, sand and sloping shore. But he can tolerate the condos and convenience stores because he feels relaxed during his daily swim in the Gulf. ``I've always been a beach person,'' he says, ``so I figured why wait until I retire to move there?''
His wife, a vigorous beach walker, lingers over conversation about the way the setting sun changes its colorful hues and duration of hovering over the horizon through the varying seasons.
``It's a different pace at the beach,'' she says. ``People are on vacation. So those of us who live there have learned to slow down.''
Yes, but there are things to do at the beach. Ask Lisa Cassidy, co- owner of Tierra Verde Boat Rentals, 100 Pinellas Bayway, where equipment is available for fishing, snorkeling, skiing, cruising and wave jumping.
``People come over from Tampa,'' Cassidy says, ``because our water experience isn't the same as what they have there.'' She lists the clear water (often gorgeously turquoise), the many barrier islands such as the popular Shell Island and the miles of sandy beaches as being big draws.
But if a relaxing day at the beach is what you want, it's on the Pinellas agenda as well. Lifeguard Chip Hall, stationed at Sand Key, says he prefers working at this quieter area, south of boisterous Clearwater Beach.
``You can get away from the younger crowds, away from the hecticness,'' he says of the wide Sand Key beach, which has a lovely border of sea oats dotted by yellow flowers.
``People seem to respect what we're doing here.''
