The Journey Begins

ST. PETE BEACH

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton

Great weekend getaways are some of the best vacations we take and when we are blessed to have our good friends with us, well it just makes it all the better! We love to just getaway to the beach, and one of our favorite places to visit is St. Pete Beach, just a short hour and a half from our home. Pack a small bag and take a few days or a short weekend and just relax on the beach and have some drinks, get some sun, and forget about work or any other stress you may be carrying around with you. We recently took a four day weekend trip with my best friend Athena and her fiance Jim, to St. Pete Beach and stayed at the Howard Johnson Resort Hotel by Wyndham with great location right on the beach. The price was $150.00 night on Wednesday and Thursday but the Friday and Saturday rate was $200.00. The hotel staff were pleasant but the room was not what we booked so we were not pleased and were finally moved to another room which was fine, but we expected a more updated hotel from the pictures we saw online. The bed was rock hard and pillows small. I am a very easy going traveler but I am one who looks for the bed and pillows along with my location to be perfect for me to truly enjoy my stay. If I wake up with a bad back or neck because my bed was uncomfortable and my pillows were few and flat, it is not a relaxing vacation and my day is started out miserable.

I like a good night sleep and I am sure everyone does, but that is not always easy to find when traveling. The room was dated, but a good size so we accepted it. The location and pool area with bar made our stay relaxing and we enjoyed it even more because our good friends were with us. Sitting by the pool under the tiki huts enjoying the ocean breezes was wonderful. The days were long, sunny, and great food at the beach bar, and next door at the Guy Harvey Outpost, a Tradewinds Beach Resort. The food there was amazing, the fish tacos were the best I have ever had. The staff there at the grill restaurant on the beach at Guy Harvey Outpost were so nice to us and welcomed us even at the end of their shift, literally five minutes before they planned to close we sat down after a long day in the sun and they gave us the best service with a smile and the best food and great prices. Eric and I spent only 40.00 for our dinner and we took a cuban sandwich home with us for later. You really need to go eat here if you are on St. Pete Beach.

During our stay we were invited to a beautiful timeshare our friends recently purchased just a few hundred feet down the beach. This was our first visit to the Tradewinds Island Grand Resort and it was amazing. The rooms were gorgeous and beautifully decorated with fabulous view of the ocean. This resort was so big, with multiple pools, restaurants, a huge slide on the beach, and yes we went down it! That slide was great fun and something you should certainly try at least once. The beach is of course fabulous and white and the water was wonderful and refreshing. So many beach activities to choose from and the resort has wristbands you can purchase to use these amenities. This resort will make you want to buy a timeshare! We didn’t, but we are definitely looking to purchase a timeshare in the future. Look at some of these pictures we took of this resort and the room with wonderful views.

What a great weekend getaway. We always love to visit St. Pete Beach. This is not our first visit here of course, but it was definitely one of my favorites! If you were going, I would definitely recommend staying at the Tradewinds or Guy Harvey Outpost. I will surely be back! I hope you enjoyed our pictures and information. Remember so many things to do on St. Pete Beach, from renting a jet ski , taking boat rides, banana rides, and plenty of great beach shops to buy anything you may need for the beach or home. You never have enough beach hats!