Dairy Rich

One of the things I love most about visiting with my friends in Pinellas County is driving Alt 19 along the coast to stop in at all the funky little eateries and produce stands, many of which have been around for years. Dairy Rich is no exception – a family-owned ice cream stand in Palm Harbor, looking just like the 50s drive-in that it’s always been, and still serving up tasty shakes, burgers, and ice cream sundaes. Cap off a visit to the beach with a cool treat here.

Observation Tower at Wall Springs Park

Along the Pinellas Trail in Palm Harbor, Wall Springs Park is a perfect escape for folks who like their wilderness tamed and safe. The namesake springs – which do bubble up fresh water within a few hundred feet of a mangrove-lined bayou – were a popular natural swimming hole and spa for more than a century, but like many such places in Florida, fell out of popularity and into disrepair. Pinellas County brought the property back to life with a host of urban amentities, including a paved trail system more than a mile long, a boardwalk for birdwatching along the spring and its outflow basin, several fishing piers on the Gulf of Mexico, a massive playground with a sun canopy, and the one surprising addition that blew me away – the largest open-air observation tower I’ve encountered yet in Florida.  It’s built like a giant Lincoln Log structure of telephone poles, and the multiple decks are big enough to hold an entire classroom of kids. From the top, you get a sweeping view of the Gulf, including distant Anclote Key and Honeymoon Island.  Stop in for your own personal panorama!

Osprey at Honeymoon Island State Park

The busiest beach in Florida has a secret that only birders and hikers know. Get past the beach at Honeymoon Island State Park – and I do mean that literally, just drive into the park and past ALL of the beaches – and you’ll find a quiet corner with a picnic area, playground, and “Nature Trail” sign. This is another of my hikes in “50 Hikes in Central Florida,” where a revisit confirmed that very little has changed along the Osprey and Pelican Trails, save a few changed kiosks and a LOT of new benches. But the highlight of a summer’s afternoon spent in this virgin slash pine forest was seeing not one, not two, but two dozen or more osprey going about their lives. This is a major nesting area for osprey, and the chicks are in the nest. The sounds of the birds, the closeness of the nests, and the constant hum of avian life in the forest – beyond these grand raptors – made it an unforgettable walk.

At the table at Ted's Luncheonette

For pancakes and just-perfect eggs, Ted’s Luncheonette has become a favorite along Alt US 19 south of Clearwater. Given the name, I’m sure it’s busy at lunchtime, but I’ve stopped here several times over the years because I love a good hearty breakfast, and that’s what they do. Inexpensive, too, and with that Greek flair you come to expect when traveling in Pinellas County.  A great hometown diner that shouldn’t be missed.

North Loop boardwalk at John Chesnut Park

Two shores, two parks: Lake Tarpon’s a big place that most visitors don’t even know exists, hidden as it is by businesses and residential areas along US 19 north of Clearwater. On the western shore, in Tarpon Springs, A.L. Anderson County Park is a large county park where you can drop a boat or kayak in to putter around the lake, or enjoy a picnic under the cypresses along the shoreline.

For more extensive recreation opportunities, John Chesnut Sr. County Park in Oldsmar grabs a large chunk of the eastern shoreline and offers it up as a wild place to play. I revisited the park to update “50 Hikes in Central Florida”  to discover efforts in progress to replace all of the boardwalks along the lakeshore. The birding is superb here thanks to a screen of natural floodplain forest along the shoreline.

The Peggy Park Nature Trail is at the south end of the park, offering up a quiet walk under the cypress and a stroll along Brooker Creek. Nearby, boardwalks lead from the boat ramp along the shoreline to hidden niches with picnic tables,  a tall observation tower, and covered decks along the lakeshore, perfect for catching a breeze while reading a book or watching the gallinules in the shallows. Thanks to Barbara Bowen, who met me for this visit, I discovered a whole section of the park I’d missed on my first visit, complete with dog park and large playground, picnic pavillions around a large pond, and another hiking loop with a boardwalk through a floodplain forest where birds are bountiful.

Picnic pad at A.L. Anderson Park

Along US 19 in Tarpon Springs, A.L. Anderson is one of those parks that thousands of people whiz by every day and probably never stop to see what it’s all about. I was going to a meeting a couple of miles away and thought hey, why not stop! I’m glad I did. The park hugs the western shore of Lake Tarpon, offering plenty of picnic pavilions for big groups. On a weekday, it was rather quiet, save for the boaters putting in and taking out at the slip. I was delighted to find a marked nature trail that starts at the first pavilion on the left and leads you through a cypress swamp festooned with non-native but cheery philodendron along a boardwalk to the shores of a cove on the lake. I scared up two osprey pretty quick, and saw a young alligator cruising the shallows. The walk continues near the lakeshore, with side trails to private picnic pads amid the cypress, reminiscent of the ones I encountered at John Chesnut Park years ago on the far shore. Grab one for solitude and enjoy your lunch!