Clearwater Beach

So, we sort of accidentally ended up at Clearwater Beach the past two weekends. This most recent one we had originally thought it would be need to go to the Keys since Kirby had a four day weekend. But then we found out how much hotels are marked up on Memorial Day weekend--on top of already more expensiveness--so we opted for somewhere closer and a little less pricey. :)

Here are the pictures from our first trip!

Take a good look at those shamelessly white knees--because they aren't white anymore. But more on that later...

We ate at Crabby's. The food was mediocre. But I tried gator for the first time. And cod. Kirby went off on some economics principle regarding how restaurants who's main source of income is from tourists don't have any incentive to have good food because they don't rely on customers returning. Definitely the case here. But it was cool to look at the beach while we ate! And Emily had her first experience with a high chair. 

She is clearly thrilled beyond belief.

The family from the pier. A super nice younger couple we met in the bait shop took it for us. Mainly because they fell in love with Emily. :)

For our second trip out we thought it would be fun to make it a two day excursion, and splurge a bit to stay at one of the hotels on the beach. It was really cool to be able to leave our shoes back at the room, walk out of the hotel doors, and right onto the warm white sand. 

Ooh! And I brought my nice camera this time. :)

On the way to Clearwater you drive on this waterlocked bridge thingy, with the gulf on either side. It's mostly going slightly upwards, but then you come around a corner and reach the top of the hill part and you see it. Gorgeous. I tried to capture it, but the photo doesn't do it justice.

Here we are just before hitting the beach Friday night. Our room had a huge mirror, so I thought it might be fun to attempt a self portrait. Not the best, but fun all the same!

And yes--I pulled my hair into a PONYTAIL! One! Oh the possibilities...

The first night we swam a little bit, but mostly wanted to experience the "Sunsets at Pier 60" which happens every night. The pier was lined with vendors (lots of jewelry! AH!) and artists (there was a guy who could make crazy cool art with spray paint...). There were also these two break dancers who put on a show. They were lots of fun. 

We got back to the hotel, put Emily to bed, and then watched the new Alice in Wonderland. I'm still not sure how I felt about it. I found myself sympathizing with the red queen, and hating the white queen. Funny. But I did like the Mad Hatter. I thought he was sweet and endearing. Bravo Johnny, Bravo.

The following morning we just took it easy. Woke up when we felt like it, and then got all beached out, and then checked out. We got a killer parking spot in the public parking, dragged our cooler out to the beach and rented an umbrella and two chairs. I regret not getting a picture of the setup now. It was pretty sweet. Totally worth it. 

Kirby, of course, opted to read one of his fabulous Patrick O'Brian books (it's a series all about Captain Jack Aubrey--think Master and Commander, for those of you who have seen the movie--and his friend Stephen--the doctor from the movie...) This picture is also funny because it documents the "before" state of our skin. :) Well, Kirby's at least.

Emily LOVED the sand. She would lie on her tummy and pick up handfuls and let the sand run out of her hands. And then she would proceed to load additional handfuls into her mouth.

Or she would opt for the "coat-my-linky-toys-in-sand-and-THEN-put-it-in-my-mouth" method.

Or the "coat-my-thumb-in-sand-and-then-insert" method. She wasn't picky. ;) You can see her coated thumb here as she tried to invade our fabulous cooler. This thing is amazing. There are little flappy doors on the top so you can get to the stuff inside without completely dismantling the cooler! AND--the inner compartment is separated into two halves, so if you want half of it dry (no ice) you totally can. Did I mention it's fabulous? :)

Some of the expressions I get from Emily seem way to mature for her age. It happens all the time at home. She'll look at me and I can tell there is something brilliant going on in that brain of hers. Something beyond what we imagine babies think about. This isn't necessarily one of those expressions, but it reminded me of them. But still--what do YOU think she's thinking here?

And this one? Totally looks like she's mid-sentence here. Like how an adult would look mid-sentence. So weird. And so cute.

This one's just plain funny. 

Funny expression + double chin = AWESOME.

It was a blast. So glad we did it. It was relaxing and fun--even if we did return home a little bit crispy in places. :)