Hey guys....my family is headed to the SPB area next week for vaca.   What are the “must see” things in the area....and the things to avoid.

How Busch Gardens ?
Good restaurants in area ?
Shopping malls ?

Typical tourist shit.

Thanks !!

Heat index is pretty high right now.  It was over 100* yesterday while I was at the range.  Keep that in mind when you want to head to Busch Gardens with the family.  

As far as fun stuff to do-nothing, this place sucks.

Clearwater beach is excellent and you can fish off Pier 60 there and maybe catch a shark if your lucky. Nice little restaurants and shops there too.

Excellent beach with enclosures and chairs too.

Hell, I’m us d to that.   Shot a match today with 106* heat index.

So, it's not in St Pete, but yes, Busch gardens is for sure worth a visit; they have some excellent roller coaster rides.

If you need an escape from the heat, the Dali museum in downtown is worth a visit. There are also a number of well liked breweries like Cigar City that are worth a visit (if you like that).

As for beach side fun, Johns Pass Boardwalk is a nice area with good shops and food, and dolphins are commonly sighted there. Of course any of the beaches along the Clearwater / St. Pete area area great, but I have the most success at Sand Key beach; just south of Clearwater Beach. It doesn't have all the restaurants around it, but it also is way less crowded (tends to be more of a locals beach, despite the fact it is the same water as Clearwater.. go figure).

There are also a ton of beautiful nature preserves in the area, and you can rent kayaks and have a good day pladdling around the interesting springs and mangroves.

The Frog Pond on St Pete Beach for breakfast

https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-frog-pond-st-pete-beach

For a high end mall, International Plaza in Tampa

https://www.shopinternationalplaza.com/

Lots of Museums in downtown St Petersburg, including The Dali and a new one call the James Museum, which is all about Western art and wildlife, a bit strange it is there but it is.

https://thejamesmuseum.org/

If you enjoy fine dinning, great steaks and wine there is no other place then Berns in Tampa.   One of the best in the world.

https://bernssteakhouse.com/

Thanks guys....keep the info coming !!

Don't forget Ft. DeSoto park, maybe ride the ferry to Egmont Key

My fiance and I just moved to Tampa from TN a year ago so we've been playing tourist the whole time.  The guys have already covered most of the spots that are on the top of our list for the Tampa / St. Pete area.  But I'll include our whole list with some notes so there will be some repeats.

Bern's Steakhouse - Eclectic atmosphere but fantastic steaks and deserts as well as like 2.5 million bottles in the wine cellar.  Make a reservation or you won't get in.
Noble Crust - Kind of an upscale pizza joint with great service and beer selection
The Moon Under Water - One of many good eats in downtown St. Pete but the Brit pub theme kinda stands out
John's Pass - Touristy and tons of shops and restaurants but some gems in there if you look
Honeymoon Island - State Park with great beaches
Fort DeSoto - County park with great beaches . . . they have a dag section where we bring our furry herd
Lowry Park Zoo - Pretty damn nice little zoo
Cigar City Brewing Co. - One of a ton of local brew pubs
The Tampa Riverwalk - Tons of restaurants, pubs, museums, etc.
Ulele - Upscale place close to downtown Tampa.  Make a reservation if you want to get in.
SS American Victory - Restored Victory ship just outside downtown Tampa
The Florida Aquarium - Right next to the SS American Victory
Big Storm Brewing Company - Lots of great in house brews

We have a ton of other places on our list that we simply haven't had time to visit.  The local brew scene is pretty big here.  You can find them all over the area.  Be sure to check some out.  We've been to St. Pete Beach a couple times and really liked downtown St. Pete and downtown Tampa's restaurant and bar selections better.  YMMV

PM me and maybe we can link up to play tour guide.

Just got back from a week in SPB.
Avoid the RumFish grill. My burger was burnt,heard the same complaint from my sister in law and my wifes aunt mentioned whatever she had was burnt as well. They brought the kids food out so much earlier than the adults food that they were all done eating before we even got served.
And maybe Im spoiled from the tanks we have here at our local Bass Pro but their big fish tank was very underwhelming.
Other than that we enjoyed everything else.

If you like craft beer, then you can head south to Brandenton, and there are 3 more.  Motorworks, 3 Keys and Darwin's.

Motorworks

Darwins

3 Keys

Darwins and Motorworks are within 10 min's of each other, and 3 Keys is probably 15 min's from Motorworks.  3 Keys and Motorworks serve food.

We're going to Bradenton Beach in the next couple of weekends to let the future Mrs. E-95 get a taste of snorkeling at that reef 100 yds. offshore.  We'll have to try one of those out.

Haha....Just saw you post.    We were there the 10–17th.   Actually did eat at Rumfish, and I was pleasantly surprised.   None of the problems you encountered.    We all had one of there seafood selections, so maybe they just don’t offer good burgers ?

We stayed next door at the Trade Winds, sister resort to Guy Harvey.

Thats where we stayed too. Just missed you by a couple days. We checked out on the 7th.