This blog post is going to be a combination of the surprise birthday trip for my cousin back in November and then also the 2 night trip we took with Dustins parents last weekend. I never got around to writing the blog post in November and I feel like combining them is perfect! So this will be less of a travel diary and more informational! Which sometimes I like these posts more than travel diaries because they are more to the point when you are looking for some information on something specific!
WHERE WE STAYED
Back in November we stayed at Bellwether Beach Resort which had just been remodeled and was absolutely beautiful! It was newly remodled and the staff there were so nice. We actually ended up getting upgraded to a room with an ocean view for free which was amazing! They had free parking and free Wi-Fi, which was great. It was also within walking distance to literally everything that we needed to get to like the beach and restaurants. The amenities like the cabana and beach bar were so great, the person working in the cabana made sure that we had everything we could pretty much ever need sitting in the beach chairs all day long! They had towels for us as well which was very nice. We were able to just bring a cooler and drink on the beach, making it fairly inexpensive. The second day we were there we grabbed a drink from the bar and I believe it was around $12 which is pretty standard for a cocktail in Florida.
The second time we visited we stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn St. Pete Beach and it was equally amazing in all of the same ways as the other hotel. Again there was free parking and Wi-Fi and was also within walking distance to everywhere we needed to go. The room was very nice and so was the lobby. The food truck/bar had a couple of gluten free options which was nice. It was raining like crazy when we were here so I’m not able to speak on the beach cabana service because no-one was out there when we were on the beach, but again I think it had something to do with weather. The best part of this hotel was the bar that was next to it, it was called Jimmy B's Beach Bar and there was live music each night we were there that was so much fun!! Like I would honestly go back and stay just to be able to go to that bar, it was such good music!
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WHAT WE ATE
I should start off this whole “what we ate” by saying that I did not take one picture of any of my food the entire time {honestly both times} that I was there and I have no idea why! Also, these are all my experiences with a gluten allergy at each restaurant. If you also have an allergy please ask your server before ordering your food!
Breakfast
Kraft Cafe- I was SO HAPPY to find this place! I thought it was going to be a sit down breakfast spot but it was more of a quick service vibe. Nonetheless, they are a 100% gluten free facility and the food was SO good! I probably could have cried happy tears walking in there. They had everything from gf blueberry or chocolate chip pancakes, breakfast pizzas, pastries, sandwiches, different types of toast, omelets.. literally a dream! I got the bacon, potato, sausage and egg breakfast pizza… FREAKIN YUM. So good! I will 100000% be coming back to try more foods. They have two locations in St. Pete, the one downside is that it isn’t on the beach, its downtown. But totally worth the 8 minute drive to get there, I promise!
Frog Pond- This was another local place for sure, it was decorated with frogs and had this like old time-y beach vibe to it. There wasn’t a dedicated gluten free menu but I talked to the server and we decided that the omelet was probably my safest route. She also said that the home fries which were like breakfast potatoes were gluten free and even went back and talked to the chef to triple check. I got the Hangover Omelet that had onions, peppers, cheddar cheese and bacon inside and it was very good. I could have split it with someone thought, it was huge! I recommend this place for sure just make sure you’re in the mood for an omelet!
Lunch
Coconut Charlies - There was really only one time I have been there where it was lunch time and we were still sort of full from breakfast but dinner was still a few hours away so we decided to split the chicken tacos from Coconut Charlies which is the food truck/bar that is on the back of The Hilton Garden Inn St. Pete Beach. We also got a side of chips and salsa, honestly with the first bite of the salsa I knew it was Pace salsa that you can buy at the store but I at least knew it was safe to eat. The tacos were also good and had a yummy chipotle sauce and some sort of cabbage slaw on top of them! It was good but a little pricey for what we actually got.
Dinner
Shells Seafood - This place was surprisingly good. I’m not gonna lie I was concerned about how it was going to all go down because the waitress didn’t seem confident but I didn’t get sick and my meal was seriously delicious! I had a couple of oysters on the half shell which was good. For my main meal I got the Salmon Felix which was fresh salmon topped with jumbo lump crabmeat and roasted red peppers in a lobster cream sauce. That salmon with that sauce may have been the best salmon I have ever had! I got mine with parsley potatoes and asparagus and it was the perfect combination! The only thing I wish we would have done differently was eat outside, so definitely ask to do that when you go!
Snappers - If you’re going for a low key evening afterwards, this would be a good place. I found this on Find Me Gluten Free and I don’t know how much I would recommend it before a night of drinking if I am being honest. Don’t get me wrong, it was really good! I got the Fresh Spinach Salad and added on a salmon filet. But the options for gluten free were really just salads and that was NOT enough sustenance for the many vodka cranberries and green tea shots that would soon be entering our bodies!
RumFish Grill - Honestly, do not waste your time or money trying to eat here. I was so unimpressed with my gluten free meal. My meal alone was $36 and I got Grilled Ahi Tuna with a ginger carrot puree on an arugula salad, it was supposed to come with roasted potatoes but was told that they weren’t safe for a gluten allergy. SO I basically had ahi tuna on a bed of spicy lettuce. Idk, if I didn’t have an allergy it might have been good but I just think you should save your money and go to one of the MANY other good restaurants.
Drinks
MacNastys Sports Bar - This was on the beach strip and was definitely a locals bar. We walked in and I think the three of us were the only girls there with the exception of like 2 others. It was a pretty weird vibe, we had one drink and then decided to leave. I think it would have been more fun if we could have played pool or darts but they were pretty much used by the same people while we were there.
Jimmy B’s Beach Bar - This was such a fun place to spend time! It was like an indoor/outdoor bar with live music every single night of the year! We went there both nights after dinner with Dustin’s parents and had a blast listening to the live music! I would 10/10 recommend going here once while you are on your trip!
Ricks Reef - This place had really strong drinks which was honestly great haha but it took FOREVER for anyone to come take our order after we were sat and told we couldn’t grab a seat at the bar. We actually ended up going up to the bar to order and after we got our drinks from the bar was when someone came over to see if we needed anything.
Five Bucks Drinkery - When we asked someone at dinner where we should go if we were headed downtown, they suggested this place. We spent the majority of our night here. It was a good atmosphere and they had a fun vending machine with alllll sorts of things in there hahah!
Pour Judgement - We had a couple of green tea shots in here! They had fun music playing and the bartenders were a lot of fun to talk to! They also made really cool drinks, defiantly recommend!
Crafty Squirrel - Honestly, I can’t remember if we got a drink in here or if we just say outside for awhile after 5 Buck sort of making a game plan. But it looked cool inside and there were like three dogs outside so I was just happy to be there sitting by the dogs lol!
WHAT WE DID
If I am being honest, we mostly just hung out at the beach, ate food and found drinks in various places for both trips but the first trip I took there we found these scooters on the side of the road and we rented three of them and had a BLAST going up and down the main roads sidewalks for about 30 minutes. It was such a fun completely unplanned thing to do. We had to download the GoX app to ride. I think it was about $8 per scooter for like 30-35 minutes, totally worth it!
Both trips were so much fun and I will absolutely be going back. We love the shells on the beach and the soft sand and warm water. Its like a version of paradise just 2 hours from our house. Its a quick and easy trip! If you have any questions or think I left something out please let me know! Have you been to St. Pete Beach? What did we miss?! Let me know in the comments!