Day 4 – Dunedin, Largo, Tampa

Thankfully the neighborhood wasn’t too crazy with New Year’s Eve fireworks, and we were able to sleep. After a busy day yesterday, we knew we wanted to keep things a little simpler today.

We ate breakfast at home and then drove out to Honeymoon Island State Park. If we’re near the ocean/Gulf, we always make sure to take a walk on the beach. Being New Year’s Day, it was a little busy but not crowded. We walked the beach looking for shells and then visited the nature center.

Another beach tradition that I have was started by my college bestie, Shannon, years ago. Any time one of us is at the beach we write the same love note in the sand using our college nicknames and text a picture to the other. I always write “Jomama loves SheaShea” and she writes “SheaShea loves Jomama.”

It was such a beautiful day, so we continued our walk through nearby downtown Dunedin. Not much was open because of the holiday, but it’s a super cute town with lots of shops and restaurants. We did manage to buy Percy a treat from Bark Avenue.

Lunch was soon calling and Cecil found a great restaurant in Dunedin – Fusion Street Eatery. I had two arepas and fried plantains and Cecil had the birria burrito and a guava turnover (shocking, I know, lol). It’s a small place but the service was great and food was excellent. Cecil also bought a bottle of their homemade hot sauce to take home.

After lunch we explored The Book Rescuers in Largo and grabbed an iced coffee from the Foxtail Coffee Co. We took a different route back home so we could drive across one of the bay bridges – Howard Frankland Bridge, which carries I-275. It opened in April 1960 and is a little over three miles long.

After a rejuvenating nap, we enjoyed a dinner of scachatta pizza and our second desserts from Alessi Bakery. Perfect way to end our time in Tampa.

Day 5 – Tampa; Bluffton, SC

We loved our AirBnB stay and highly recommend it if you’re ever traveling to Tampa. According to the reviews, many people stay there before leaving from the nearby cruise port. It’s a 3-bedroom, one bath bungalow with off-street parking (a big plus). Everything was clean and tidy when we checked in, and we always felt safe there. It’s at the end of a row of three bungalows but we never heard the neighbors.

As sad as we were to leave, we were looking forward to getting home to Percy. We stopped for breakfast at La Segunda Bakery one more time (I still miss that bread!) and hit the road. This time we took I-4 across the state to Daytona Beach and picked up I-95.

We have never visited a Buc-ee’s so we thought this would be the perfect time to check out the one in Daytona Beach. NOPE. That place was a ZOO and even with their ginormous parking lot there was nowhere to park. We gave up and went to the shopping center across the street for lunch and a stretch break.

After lunch at Fat Boi’s Gourmet Potato Restaurant, we started the long trek up I-95 to my aunt and uncle’s home near Darien, Georgia. We enjoyed a quick visit with them and made it to our last stop in Bluffton, South Carolina. We stayed at the Candlewood Suites – Bluffton/Hilton Head and had dinner at the Okatie Ale House.

This was another restaurant that Cecil had come across on his work travels. He realized that they served a seafood pot pie and had always wanted to take me. Needless to say, I ordered the seafood pot pie, and it was delicious. My only complaint, if you can call it that, is that the puff pastry was difficult to cut through without pushing the soup over the edge. I ended up having to tear pieces off to eat it, but the shrimp, scallops, and crab meat mixture was delicious. Cecil had the Low Country Reuben, a reuben sandwich with grouper instead of corned beef.

Day 6 – HOME

We stopped for breakfast at Nosh New York Bagels in neighboring Ridgeland and then headed home to Percy.

It was an absolute whirlwind of a trip, but we loved it. The Tampa area is a beautiful part of Florida and I’m so glad we had the chance to explore parts of it.

Happy Travels!