Florida Spring Training 2017 - Day 38

We traveled down to Pinellas Park, a community/city that is part of the St. Petersburg metroplex, to visit a nature park we had read about.  The park is called Sawgrass Lake, a Pinellas County park that is also home to an environmental education center.

Sawgrass Lake was originally a marsh land subject to tidal and watershed fluctuations. Over the years due to several agricultural enterprises, and water diversions, it is now a stable lake that has been saved as a nature preserve and environmental education resource.

The park is very nice with several trails along raised boarded walkways.  We walked out to an observation deck overlooking the lake.  We saw several different species of birds and a number of baby alligators. "Momma Gator" was nearby keeping her eye on the flock, but was avoiding the paparazzi while we were there, hiding under the observation deck.  It was a pleasant visit and an enjoyable walk in the "woods".

Day 38 Pictures - Sawgrass Lake Park

Our next stop was a trip over to the nearby Gulf Coast to visit another beach village, John's Pass, that is adjacent to a larger beach town, Madeira Beach.  We had lunch at a boardwalk seafood restaurant, The Friendly Fisherman Seafood Restaurant.  We had another great lunch, despite picking a restaurant we knew nothing about.

After lunch, we walked along the waterfront boardwalk.  The area seems to be a great place to come if you want to participate in water sport adventures, including dolphin/sunset cruises, kayak/jet ski rentals, and fishing charters.  Businesses along the boardwalk were typical Florida beach town staples - souvenir shops, beach attire, restaurant and tiki-style bars.

Day 38 Pictures - John's Pass Village

Our original plan was to then go over an visit another nature park and the Florida Heritage Village but we overplanned and ran out of time to do those two things today.  Plan B was to go up to Clearwater Beach and see if we could get on the sunset cruise on the catamaran sailboat, one of our goals for this year's trip.  Alas, they were full for today but we made a reservation for Saturday.  While there we did see a couple of fishing charter boats come in and unload their catches - very impressive.

We drove back to the RV through Tampa Bay rush hour traffic - also very impressive. Dinner was not needed again due to a relatively late and substantial lunch.  Back to baseball again for the next two days.