I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to write this, but I wanted to share all the fun places we explored for a 3-day trip in St. Petersburg and Tampa!💕 It was such a fun trip for Evan and I, and the perfect Summer getaway. Plus, the beaches we visited were absolutely beautiful!
Our Vrbo was located in Clearwater, north of St. Pete, so it was perfect to split our time between the city and beach! I really enjoyed doing it that way because we could spend the morning/afternoon at one place and drive down to the other for the evening.
We then spent the latter part of our trip in Sarasota for a couple days. There is definitely a contrast between St. Pete/Tampa and Sarasota. St. Pete and Tampa were very chill yet upbeat while Sarasota is definitely a sleepy beach town. To emphasize on this, we couldn’t find any restaurants or bars open past 7pm on Sunday! With that being said, Sarasota wins on the small beach town vibe, which I’ll get to in just a bit.
Beaches
Don CeSar Private Beach
Okay, I had to start with the beach that’s in this post’s main photo. The Don CeSar is a beautiful pink hotel that you can’t miss, located towards the bottom of the beach strip. I believe you typically need to be a guest of the hotel to access this beach, however we bought drinks at the outdoor bar and laid out, and no one seemed to care. Looking back, I would have LOVED to stay at the hotel, even just for a night. The sand is so white and there weren’t a ton of people and kids running around. Plus, they already have lounge chairs laid out on the beach, so you can literally just lay down and soak up the rays. Plus, they have a bunch of cute spots for photo ops!
Pass-a-Grille Beach
This beach is probably where we spent the most time at and was voted one of the top 5 beaches in Florida. I loved that parking was right outside the beach entrance (you literally walk maybe 30 feet and you’re at the beach!) and it wasn’t very crowded when we visited in the early afternoon.
Siesta Keys
This beach is located right off of Sarasota and WOW! I felt like it was the ultimate beach town. There are little shops and restaurants lined up across from the beach, which made it a lot of fun to grab coffee and brunch and then drive a couple minutes down to the beach. It was very crowded when we went, but the water was so clear, the perfect temperature, and the sand was very clean.
Sailboat Cruise
Definitely the highlight of the trip! Evan found this awesome sailboat cruise where you and a few other groups of people board a sailboat and they take you along the island! We had so much fun. It’s BYOB and you get to choose where you’d like to sit along the boat. We grabbed some canned wine at Trader Joe’s right before, which was so nice to sip on. The crew was super friendly and chatty, which was a huge plus. They also have bluetooth capabilities on the boat, so I was nominated by the rest of the folks on the cruise to be the DJ, so I played a Yacht Rock playlist I found on Spotify. The crew also throws out a few random facts and, if you’re lucky, you’ll get to see some dolphins! Book your cruise here.
Coffee / Food
Paradeco
This coffee shop was by far the cutest one we visited! The style and decor was beyond amazing and the ultimate stop for Insta photos. As for my order, I grabbed a chia pudding bowl and my typical iced vanilla oat milk latte.
Buddy Brew @ The Oxford
I originally found Buddy Brew through some Tampa bloggers and saw they have numerous locations throughout Tampa and St. Pete. I had another one of their locations in mind to visit, but we originally wanted to go to The Oxford Exchange restaurant for lunch and they were packed with a long wait (we’re talking like 3 hrs long). Since we were already there, we saw there was a Buddy Brew right around the corner and decided to have brunch there! They have a small selection of sandwiches and great coffee. This location is super cute and there’s a lot of areas to sit, but as mentioned, there’s many other locations if this one just isn’t your vibe!
Naked Farmer
This is a fantastic spot for a quick, healthy lunch! There are also multiple locations throughout Tampa and St. Pete, but we decided to go to the one located in downtown St. Pete. This is a build your own bowl/salad spot with lots of choices, recommendations, and fresh, locally sourced food.
King State
I always love a cute renovated, retro place! This definitely used to be an old gas station, and now it’s turned into a drink, coffee, and food spot.
Sweet Soul
One thing that’s awesome about Tampa is they have many açaà bowl places! And being in Florida in the summer just screams for a nice cool treat. After looking up many places, I thought Sweet Soul was a cute spot with many different açaà bowl options. What’s super cool is you’re able to select your base, toppings, and drizzle to make a custom bowl!
Lucky Cup Co.
Figuring out how to get to this place was such a mystery! We parallel parked and Google maps told us we were at Lucky Cup Co., but it was nowhere in sight. After pacing back and forth on the block, I ended up calling the shop to ask where they were. I felt so dumb when I realized you just had to walk inside the building and 3 flights of stairs and it was located at the top. If you decide to go here, I hope you’ll remember this (or maybe not, I’d like to not think I’d be the only one to do this!). Aside from the confusion, this was a super chill spot with great coffee and a fun rooftop vibe. We only grabbed coffee, but it would be a super cool spot to grab a bite too.
The Overton
Such a cute brunch spot! Located in downtown Sarasota, I found this place on Instagram since it looked like an awesome place to grab food and chill outside. I got the Salmon Avocado toast which was fantastic. They don’t make a bad latte either!
Mojo Risin
It’s Mr. Mojo Risin’. I love the name. This was the perfect place to grab a latte (or other iced drink!) and an açaà bowl before heading off to the beach. I didn’t get to spend much time at the restaurants or shops close to the beach, but I wish I would have! I think the only way this place would have been better is if it were located on the actual beach. I’m on a mission to find a place like the on a beach one day, but until then, walking to here from the beach will do 🙂
Luv Child
Looking for that club vibe without going to a club? Look no further! Luv Child was a fun place for dinner and drinks. I can’t say what this place is like in the day, but at night they are playing all the music you would hear in a club and have a turn-up yet chill vibe to offer. They mostly serve Cuban food, which I thought was really good! They also made a very good Sangria. Not to mention the Gucci inspo is on point.
Salt Shack on the Bay
Chilling in the sand is always a good time, and this the best place to have an actual dinner or drinks while hanging out in the sand! I loved the low-key shack vibe this place had to offer and the food wasn’t bad either. We came here at night when it was nice and cool outside, the string lights kept this place bright, and you can hear the calm waves. It was the perfect way to end a day out on the beach.
Dairy Joy
Last but not least! This was one of my favorite places we visited. I have to say I really enjoyed the area this ice cream spot is in and loved the history behind it. Dairy Joy has been around since 1958 and has a drive-in like vibe. They have so many different ice cream options and I knew I had to get a dipped cone when I saw it on their menu. The coolest thing is they have different dipping flavors, so I was actually able to get a cherry dipped ice cream cone! If you do come here in the Summer, make sure you eat your ice cream super quick as it melts FAST if you don’t!
