re: Tampa, Clearwater, St. Petersburg, FL

also in Ft. Desoto park theres a little excursion in which you take a boat ride to an island that used to be a city, you can tour the old buildings and lay on the beach away from everyone else. Pretty cool if you have the time for it. I second Columbia restaurant...we went to the Ybor city one...try the deviled crab. Go drive through Anna Maria Island and keep driving south through the other islands down to Sarasota.