Clearwater Beach: Beach + Dolphin + Deep-sea Fishing Adventure

Adam's parents rented a condo in Clearwater Beach, Florida for the month of February. They were so kind as to invite us down for a visit.

My parents went and visited them the week before, and got me really excited about our trip with all the photos they texted. It worked out well, because we picked them up at the airport Tuesday night, and then they took Chester home with them for the week.

Our flight left at 5:30 on Friday. Despite the Snowpocalypse (10+ inches of snow) and our cancelled taxi due to the horrible roads, we made it to the airport and out on time! 

 We were greeted in Tampa by crazy fog and humidity. But it was warm, which was glorious. Curt and Robin nicely picked us up at the airport and brought us back to the condo. It was an hour later due to the time change, so we didn't stay up long.

On Saturday morning, we slept in a bit, had breakfast, and then Adam and I wandered down to the beach for about an hour and a half. It was foggy but beautiful. 

We enjoyed the sand and waves on our feet, 

and I had fun collecting interesting shells.

We walked back to the condo at 11 and were excited to see that the sun was coming out. 

After changing, we all set out for our "deep sea fishing" adventure. There was a mix-up on the time, and we were an hour early, so we grabbed a drink and some apps at Crabby Bill's.

At 1, our four hour fishing adventure began. We went on the Above Average 2 with Captain Mike, which was the same trip my dad and Curt did on Monday morning.

It was really foggy out, which made the 40 minute drive out into the Gulf pretty creepy.

The highlight was when a dolphin followed our boat, jumping in the wake, for a while. It was very cool to see so close up!

I hadn't really wanted to go fishing, but it was the same price whether I went or not, so I decided to give it a try. I'm so glad I did! Once I got over the killing the fish part (okay, I never really got over that), I had a lot of fun. The fish were so beautiful that it made me sad to see them thrown in the cooler instead of back into the water. I was always happy when one was too small to save!

We caught grunts, red grouper, porgies, and hogfish. I even caught a pufferfish! It was so cute!

My best fish was a big gag grouper. It was really hard for me to reel it in. I didn't think I was going to do it! 

The guide said we couldn't keep it because it wasn't the right season - this made me ecstatic! It was too cool to not let live on.

Adam caught a really cool red grouper.

And Robin caught a keeper male hogfish.

The last hour we were out there, the sun decided to come back out and the fog disappeared. It was so peaceful.

Back at the docks, the guide laid out all the fish before cleaning it.

I was surprised at what a production it was, with random tourists stopping by to check out our catch.

I made sure not to watch, and took photos of birds instead.

We walked back to the condo, and then Adam and I left immediately to watch the sunset on the beach. We didn't quite make it in time, but I got off a few clicks before it disappeared completely.

On the way back, we stopped at Surf Style to get me something to drink for the condo. I couldn't believe it when we found Bud Light Mang-O-Rita! This is a flavor I've been hoping for ever since Lime-A-Rita was introduced. It better make its way north soon! We also saw Raz-Ber-Rita, but there wasn't enough time for me to consume a 12-pack of each. As it was, I needed a lot of help from Adam over the next few days!

Back at the condo, Robin was feeling tired so we stayed in for the night. She made up some of the fish we caught, and we enjoyed it with haricots verts. It was pretty neat to eat the fish we had just caught.

It was a great first day in the warmth of Florida!

Highlights:
Stef -Walking along the beach, the dolphin!
Adam - Deep-sea fishing, walking along the beach