St. Pete-Clearwater ideal

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — If you want to visit Florida’s Gulf Coast, there’s no oil in the water or on the beaches near St. Petersburg and Clearwater.

Not only that, but seafood is plentiful and tasty, and there are plenty of places to stay.

One thing I love about the St. Pete-Clearwater area is that it isn’t as crowded as Destin and Panama City. It’s a lot more laid-back, too, not as kitschy. This is considered the off-season, so it’s easy to find lodging, and restaurants aren’t crowded during the week.

David Sikes, Ron Strait and I stayed at the Madeira Bay Resort. It’s actually a condominium and had two full rooms, a half-room with a hideaway bed, two full bathrooms, a full kitchen with refrigerator, microwave and electric range, glassware, flatware, microwave oven and coffee maker.Our balcony overlooked the canal, but east-facing rooms overlooked the ocean. Since I was the last to arrive, I got the hideaway bed in the half-room

Every locale has its signature food specialty. In St. Pete-Clearwater, it’s grouper sandwiches. We visited Dockside Dave’s, which according to the St. Petersburg Times, has the region’s best grouper sandwich. They use locally caught grouper. Strait andSikes ordered theirs lightly blackened and grilled, with a slice of provolone. They agreed there was no reason to eat grouper anywhere else because this one couldn’t be topped.

I’m more of a shellfish guy, so I ordered scallops and shrimp over linguini. It was tasty, but the scallops and shrimp were tough. It didn’t help that Sikes and Strait debated at length the urban legend that many restaurants substitute stingray medallions for scallops. These were the real deal because of the flavor and grit, but still …

On Thursday night, we ate at Conch Republic at Redington Beach. We all ordered the scallop skewers. Strait and I ordered ours sauteed in garlic and butter. Sikes ordered Cajun style. There was no debate about the authenticity of these scallops. Tender and sweet, they were the best I ever had.

Our guide was Capt. Tyson Wallerstein, who specializes in live bait, artificial lures and fly fishing. He works extremely hard to get you on big fish, but he keeps the mood relaxed and light. You can reach him at (727) 692-5868. For more information on St. Petersburg-Clearwater, go to visitstpeteclearwater.com.