We're taking a family trip down that way in 2 weeks and will be staying pretty much smack dab in between Clearwater and St Pete. Any spots down there we won't want to miss? I'm really looking forward to having some good seafood.
It'll be the wife and our 3 little boys so looking for family friendly type stuff.

Tarpon fishing!!!!

Boca Grande and Naples are/were some of the best places I've been in Florida so far. Fell in love with Naples and look forward to my return someday.

BROTHER!

https://hogansbeachshop.com/

I’ve been trying to get my spousal unit off her arse to make a Florida vacation trip. I hope y’all enjoy it

Clearwater Marine Aquarium was fun for the whole family.

Church of Scientology has a big campus there in Clearwater. Pretty wild people watching to just drive around it.

We also spent a morning fishing with Captain Jimmy Bennett, fishing for snook. It was a blast.

Commercial grouper fishing is open, get some!

Skyway Bridge Fishing Pier… even if you’re not planning to fish.. Most beautiful bridge I’ve ever seen and pier may be the longest in the country.


https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/skyway-fishing-pier-state-park

We are headed to Port Lucie in a few weeks. I will also be fishing Okeechobee.

Spent the summer of 1985 working on a tugboat pushing barges around during the construction of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. We were on overtime by Thursday noon and worked 6 days a week. For a poor boy that was good money back in the day.

These restaurants were enjoyed by my family:
Salt Rock Grill, Indian shores beach - fancy
Ted Peters Smoked Fish, St Pete’s Beach - not fancy
The Sea Horse, pass-a-grill beach- breakfast/lunch - not fancy
Walt’s Seafood Market, Sarasota-not really fancy


Some restaurants are total tourist traps and stick a family of four for $200 when chic-fil-a would have been better.

The Lobster Pot, if it’s still there and a Greek restaurant in Clearwater

We spent a month at St. Pete Beach in 2019. Good food and especially seafood is easy to find. The vacation rental we had was down the block from www.shrimpysbluesbistro.com, so we ate there many times. Carino's Northern Italian Cuisine was right next to it and good food as well. Downtown St. Petersburg is full of great restaurants and the Salvador Dalí Museum, which was interesting. We also spent an afternoon up in Clearwater. The Scientology stuff was pretty crazy to see. If you have access to bikes, riding along the beach roads is a fun activity.

We had a boat with us, but fished from the shore right across the canal a few times. If you are looking for an easy spot to catch a snook with live bait, try the Sunset Beach Dog Park. This Google image must have been taken during a really high tide. There is normally a sandy beach exposed on the west side of Blind Pass that people fish from.

I like the look of this. We'll be there for 7 days so I'm sure I can make some time to get a little fishing in. Looks like I can rent everything I need from there too.
We went to Gulf Shores a couple years back and I spent a couple hours one morning fishing off the pier there and came home with about 10 spanish mackeral that we cooked up for lunch.

My in-laws went to Clearwater 2 weeks ago and mentioned a Greek restaurant in Clearwater as well. They don't venture out on food much but said they really likes the place and the staff helped them make some good choices. Definitely on my list!

JP's suggestion of the Dali museum kicked my memory of Dale Chihuly. If you like the arts, also check out the Dale Chihuly exhibits down there. Amazing things they do with hand blown glass.

Chihuly collection