Episode #2 -- Honeymoon Island State Park

Hello budgetary adventure seekers.
I promised one of my students I would actually "get out of my car" on my next episode. Sadly, I picked one of the coldest and windiest days in Florida, so, no, I didn't actually record outside of my car because of the wind. But I did actually get out of my car for a walk along a fairly deserted beach.

And not just any beach. My favorite beach in Florida, Honeymoon Island State Park in Dunedin, Florida.

Why is this park my favorite beach? Mostly because of how quiet it is. Back in 2008, Dr. Beach ranked this beach along with Caladesi Island as the number #1 beach in the United States.  White sand beach, pink shells, dolphins and manatee have been seen off the island... but my favorite thing about the beach are the swings that face the water.


What I don't like... the signs that say "Rattlesnakes are common on island" Eeek!
The Amount of money I spent: food $6 fast food (nothing exciting)
Gas: $30
individual park entrance: $4



How to get there from Disney World/I-4: Take Interstate 4 West to Tampa until it ends in downtown Tampa at 275 South towards the airport. Take the highway 60 exit toward the airport/Clearwater. The highway goes over the Courtney Campbell Causeway to Clearwater. At Clearwater, take Alt 19 North to Curlew Road, turn left on Curlew Road and take it to the end.

Gulf Coast Central on Dwellable

Episode 1

Howdy,
A few weeks ago, I met my friend Suzanne at the stationary shop on Park Avenue in Winter Park, Florida. It was a beautiful winter day pre-Christmas and we were going to finalize her seating chart cards and then go to lunch at my favorite Orlando restaurants -- Bosphorus Turkish cuisine.  http://www.bosphorousrestaurant.com/

Some day, I'll go into more detail about Park Avenue. It's one of more ritzy neighborhoods in Orlando. Along the cobblestone streets are parked BMWs, Mercedes and  other brands of cars shiny and expensive. And the people getting in and out the cars were even more interesting.  I saw a man dressed all in white linen walking two perfectly trimmed white poodles.  Women with such large diamonds on their fingers that I could see them glimmer from across the street. 

I walked down the Avenue to St. Margret Catholic Church and walked into the nearly empty sanctuary. I sat in the last pew, listening the organist practice for the coming week's service and watching the sunlight stream in blues, reds and yellows through the stained glass windows.  Of course, it's a good time to ask the Big Guy for more funding for my podcast project for ipilgrim podcast. 

I walked to the end of the block, and stood in front the shop and waited for Suzanne. It struck me, I should podcast about this place. All these strange and nifty places in Florida that many tourists don't really know about. I always end up going somewhere interesting in Central Florida. Even in Kissimmee where I currently life, there are plenty of quiet, free and picturesque places to visit.   I'll call it "Lost in Florida."  It's a bit of a misnomer since I'm almost never lost physically (mentally is another story.)

I thought my first episode should pay tribute to Kissimmee.  My plan was to go down to the waterfront on Christmas Day and do a little walkin' and talkin'. One little hitch I didn't expect is that the entire waterfront near downtown Kissimmee Lake Toho was fenced off and under construction. Bummer. Maybe some other time.