July is the month of our family beach trip. This is our 3rd visit to the gulf coast of Florida. We have loved the calm and clear water of the gulf coast and keep finding ourselves going back.
Our last 2 visits to the gulf coast had us in high rise condos with great views of the ocean from our balcony. This visit was a bit different as we leased a duplex about 2 blocks from the beach. We lost our balcony with a view but gained the walkable landscape of small town with local restaurants and great public spaces. No big high rises here – just a small beach town.
Our first day the water was a bit rough for the gulf and there was seaweed that wrapped around your legs. The remainder of the week the water cleared up and calmed down making swimming, floating and paddle boarding very pleasant.
One of the beautiful things about the gulf is that the beach faces west making the most beautiful sunsets.
One thing that I was practicing was taking photos with my iPhone but I did forget to take photos of many things such as our duplex and the town which are both amazing and would add so much context. I’ll do better next time.
One day we went up to Tampa and took a boat tour on the bay. I don’t have photos from this but there were many celebrities’ mansions to see and it was a nice way to learn about the waterfront area.
Small beach towns are great. We love clear and calm water.
So now our debate begins for the next trip – another city on the gulf? Do we change it up and book a cruise? What do you think we will do? Where would you recommend?
Seek adventure and get busy living.
-Ben